Where Dart will land is one of the draft’s biggest mysteries
The New York Giants are one of the four teams Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart has spent the “most time” with leading up to the 2025 NFL Draft, per NFL insider Ian Rapoport.
The others, per Rapoport, are the Cleveland Browns (who have picks 2 and 33), the New Orleans Saints (who have pick No. 9) and the Pittsburgh Steelers, who have pick No. 21. The Giants, of course, have picks 3 and 34 in the first two rounds.
Dart visited the Pittsburgh Steelers on Friday, with Rapoport saying that will be his last visit. That, of course, would mean Dart has almost certainly already visited with the Giants in East Rutherford.
“If you’re the Giants and you view him as a first-round quarterback do you take him at 3? But then there’s no guarantee you’re going to get him in the back half of the first round if you trade back in,” Rapoport said.
I can attest to the trickiness of that. In the SB Nation writer’s mock draft I selected Travis Hunter at No. 3 with the hope of trading back into Round 1 for Dart. Finding a trade that is late enough that I don’t need to include a 2026 first-round pick and also crossing my fingers that Dart is still on the board wherever I can work out a trade are nerve-wracking.
Paying attention to a draft prospect doesn’t mean a team will select him, even if the opportunity is there. Remember a year ago when quarterback J.J. McCarthy said he spent more time with the Giants than any other team. The Giants, of course, passed on the chance to select the former Michigan quarterback.
With the Saints among the teams spending a lot of time with him, it is worth wondering if Dart could rise into the top 10. ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky is certainly on that bandwagon.
“I’m a Jaxson Dart guy and I don’t think that he makes it out of the top 10,” Orlovsky said on the Pat McAfee Show. “He sees it well and he can throw it.
“I think he’s gonna be an awesome pro.”
