The New York Giants need a quarterback, or two, so what are their options?

The New York Giants need a quarterback in 2025. Make that multiple quarterbacks, with third-stringer Tommy DeVito the only one on the roster who has a contract for the upcoming season.

“That’s obviously the number one issue for us going into this offseason, is to find our quarterback of the future,” co-owner John Mara said on Monday.

But, who? And, what kind of quarterback? A rookie first-round pick? A veteran who would be the clear starter? A lower-level veteran bridge/placeholder? A Day 2 pick? Some combination of both veteran and rookie?

Because Mara them around for a fourth year, that is GM Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll’s problem. As the co-owner also said:

“Whether that be via the draft or acquiring a veteran, it’s going to be up to them to decide, ultimately.”

The real answer to the question is that it has to be some combination of both a young quarterback AND a veteran mentor/bridge.

The Giants must take a swing at a quarterback in the draft — unless J.J. McCarthy becomes available and the Giants decide to go that route. It is just a question of how early they take that swing. There also must be a veteran upgrade over Drew Lock added to the quarterback depth chart. For the Giants it is a matter of deciding if they are going all-in on a player like Sam Darnold, if available, finding another veteran they think they can win with over 17 games, or if they just want/need a placeholder to keep the seat warm until whichever young quarterback they draft takes the reins at some point in 2025.

Let’s examine some of the scenarios.

Rookie first-round pick

If the Giants love Shedeur Sanders or Cam Ward and have the opportunity to select one of them at No. 3 overall in the upcoming draft, no one will be surprised should they do that.

The Giants spent a massive amount of time and energy looking at quarterback prospects in last year’s draft. They tried and failed to trade up for Drake Maye. Rightly or wrongly, they passed on the second tier of McCarthy, Michael Penix Jr. and Bo Nix.

By all reports, they have scouted each of the top six or seven draft prospects in this class in person. At least some multiple times.

The first issue, of course, is that they have the third pick in the draft and both the Tennessee Titans and Cleveland Browns, picking 1 and 2, could choose quarterbacks.

There is a second issue, though, and it is an important one. As much as they want the opportunity to draft and develop a quarterback, Schoen and Daboll know they have to show progress on the field in 2025. They know from Mara’s “it better not take too long” for the product to get better comment that they can’t go 3-14 in 2025, blame the learning curve of Ward or Sanders and expect to keep their jobs.

So, is drafting a quarterback at No. 3 even a smart play?

The Sam Darnold swing

If the Minnesota Vikings let Darnold hit free agency, and coming off the spectacular season he has had for the 14-3 Vikings it is hard to believe they will do that, someone is going to throw a boatload of money at the former New York Jets first-round pick.

Should that be the Giants?

Let’s be clear. Darnold has played his way out of the “bridge quarterback” conversation. No one is getting him on a relatively cheap one- or two-year deal. Best guess here considering the exploding salary cap is that we’re talking north — maybe well north — of the three-year, $100 million deal Baker Mayfield got from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Schoen said on Monday that the Giants won’t throw any “Hail Mary’s” in an effort to go for quick fix.

I don’t think a big swing at Darnold would be a Hail Mary. He will only be 28 next season, and there have been other flashes of good play from him.

There is a risk, though. Would a big swing on Darnold be the Giants making the Daniel Jones mistake again? Jones got paid by the Giants after a career-best 2022 season he wasn’t able to replicate.

Darnold is in his seventh season, and the version of Darnold who has played for Minnesota this season has never existed before. Will he turn back into a well-paid pumpkin away from Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell?

The J.J. McCarthy option

There were several questions in the most recent edition of the Big Blue View Mailbag about the idea of the Giants trading for McCarthy.

My answer, which I encourage you to go back and read in full if you haven’t done so already, was essentially that after passing on McCarthy when they had the chance to draft him I am not sure the Giants like him enough to meet the heavy price (first-round pick, plus) that NFL insider Adam Schefter believes the Vikings would command in return.

That answer, I think, has been misinterpreted by some as my being against a trade for McCarthy. That could not be further from the truth.

I thought McCarthy would have been a terrific pick for the Giants a year ago. I would have been all-in on it then, and if they decide a deal for McCarthy is the right way to go this offseason I would be all-in on it now.

Here is something I wrote about McCarthy during the 2024 draft cycle:

For me, this is a 21-year-old kid with room — and time thanks to the presence of Jones and Drew Lock for at least a year — to grow and learn. He has the physical traits, including being able to throw accurate, catchable balls that can create yards after catch. He’s a winner. He went 27-1 as a starter at Michigan and won a national title. He was part of teams that won a state title one year in high school and a national title another year. Isn’t the ultimate goal to win? Don’t we ultimately judge quarterbacks by how much they win?

Those things still apply.

During a recent ‘Valentine’s Views’ podcast, ex-Giant Jonathan Casillas talked about the importance of having a winner at quarterback. Phil Simms was a winner. Eli Manning was a winner. Patrick Mahomes is a winner. McCarthy has won everywhere he has been, and beyond the physical traits I believe that is important.

Jeff Howe recently wrote this about McCarthy for The Athletic:

McCarthy would rank as the No. 1 quarterback if he were in the 2025 draft class, according to several executives and coaches who have evaluated Miami’s Cam Ward and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders.

I certainly would not surrender the third overall pick in this draft for McCarthy. The Giants need that pick even if they don’t use it on a quarterback. Travis Hunter would be a pretty nice addition to the roster. The idea of trading down a few spots and collecting assets also has merit.

I might offer Minnesota second-round picks in 2025 and 2026 for starters. This year’s second-round pick is 34th, a glorified late first-round pick. I would probably be willing to go as far as giving up the 2026 No. 1 pick and some other assets if the pair of second-round picks was not enough to swing a deal.

Still, the idea that I would do it does not matter. Whether or not the Giants would does. I still wonder if the Giants had a reason beyond “we like Malik Nabers better” for passing on McCarthy when he was there for the taking last April.

Benjamin Solak wrote this for ESPN recently:

The Giants aren’t just desperate for a new quarterback — they’re also desperate for a big offseason win to wash the taste of the Saquon Barkley debacle out of their mouth. Whichever quarterback the Vikings don’t commit to — either free agent-to-be Sam Darnold or injured rookie J.J. McCarthy — will end up in New York and be the starting quarterback in 2025.

It won’t shock me if Solak is right.

A veteran bridge

The Giants have to acquire a veteran bridge/backup quarterback this offseason. There is no question about that. It doesn’t seem likely that Lock showed the Giants enough for them to think he is that guy.

How they approach this spot depends upon what they are expecting from this player. Are they looking for a potential 17-game starter? A bridge/placeholder to begin the season until they think a rookie quarterback is ready? A backup/mentor?

The high end of this category would probably be Kirk Cousins, via trade or free agency based on what the Atlanta Falcons decide to do with Cousins this offseason. Or Russell Wilson, if the Pittsburgh Steelers decide to be one-and-done with him.

The list of potential free agent options includes Jacoby Brissett, Marcus Mariota, Andy Dalton, Justin Fields, Jameis Winston, Joe Flacco, Jimmy Garappolo, Carson Wentz and a few others.

Maybe the Giants could get through 2025 with Cousins, Wilson or someone like Fields. Is there anyone else in this last group, though, the Giants would really be comfortable with as more than a backup or early-season placeholder?

Day 2 draft options

Let’s suppose the Giants don’t have an opportunity, or don’t want, to draft Sanders or Ward. In that scenario, anything short of acquiring McCarthy, even signing Darnold, puts the Giants in a position where I believe they have to draft someone from that next tier of quarterbacks.

I am not getting into a deep analysis or ranking this group, but here is who we are likely talking about:

Jalen Milroe (Alabama), Drew Allar — if he declares for the draft — (Penn State), Jaxson Dart (Ole Miss), Carson Beck (Georgia), Quinn Ewers — if he declares — (Texas), Dillon Gabriel (Oregon).

I am also aware that since quarterbacks are perennially overdrafted it might require moving back into the first round to get someone like Milroe or Allar.

If you want some perspective on these players, and take this with a grain of salt because overall Pro Football Focus grades are — in my view — not a great way to judge quarterback play, take a look at this:

Bottom line is that in one way, shape, or form there has to be a young quarterback on the roster next season for Daboll and the staff to try and develop. Whether that is a first-round pick, or someone they like and select later.