There are some intriguing players who might be available
Whether or not the New York Giants are able to select their quarterback of the future in the 2025 NFL Draft, they will need a bridge quarterback to hold down the fort. Or, at least a veteran backup option.
With apologies to fans of Drew Lock and Tommy DeVito, right now it looks like neither of the Giants’ current starting options is the answer.
So, here are six who might be. The first five are pending free agents.
Jameis Winston
Winston’s Monday night performance against the Denver Broncos was everything. He threw for 497 yards and four touchdowns, including a 70-yarder. He threw three interceptions, including two that turned into Pick Sixes. This was the full Jameis Winston Experience.
Jameis Winston: “I’m just praying for the lord to deliver me from pick sixes”
Having Winston as your quarterback is exhilarating and excruciating at the same time. The floor and the ceiling are Lock on heavy doses of steroids. It is a wild ride. It might be fun, at least sometimes, while the Giants wait for Cam Ward or Shedeur Sanders or whoever to develop … or for Arch Manning to arrive.
Sam Darnold
The 2018 No. 3 overall pick is having the best year of his career as the starter for the Minnesota Vikings, and the bridge to J.J. McCarthy … or Daniel Jones. Whenever anyone considers who the quarterback might be for the Giants next season, Darnold’s name comes up.
The idea makes sense, but there is a problem. Darnold is almost playing “too” well. He has a career-high 23 touchdown passes, career-highs in passer rating (102.5) and QBR (56.0). He is just 77 yards from a career-high in passing yards. The Vikings are 10-2.
The 27-year-old Darnold might have already played his way out of “bridge” quarterback territory and into a franchise quarterback contract on the free agent market this offseason.
Justin Fields
Both Pittsburgh Steelers quarterbacks, Fields and Russell Wilson, can be free agents at the end of the season. The way he is playing, and the way the Steelers are winning with him behind center, I have to believe that Pittsburgh will sign Wilson to a multi-year deal after the season.
That likely leaves Fields on the open market.
When Fields was still with the Chicago Bears, readers used to ask me about the idea of trading for Fields to replace Jones. I was against that at the time because of his rookie contract and the idea that the Giants would have quickly faced a fifth-year option decision.
None of that is in play now. Fields will likely never justify the Bears swapping places with the Giants in 2021 to select him No. 11 overall. He is an inconsistent passer and, while Pittsburgh was 4-2 under his stewardship, the Steelers are clearly better with Wilson running the show.
Still, Fields will just be 26 next season. He has 44 starts under his belt. He has raw athleticism and ability. He might still be one of those guys who, if he hits the right circumstance, can become more than just a bridge quarterback. A career-low 0.6% interception rate and a career-high 93.3 passer rating this season show Fields might be trending in the right direction.
Jacoby Brissett
Perhaps nobody in the NFL does the journeyman backup quarterback/bridge quarterback role as well as Brissett.
The 32-year-old filled that role for Drake Maye this season with the New England Patriots. He has been with the Patriots twice, Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins, Cleveland Browns and Washington Commanders. He has 53 starts in 86 career games and has been a full-season starter three times.
Brissett is what he is — a good backup or adequate placeholder. He fits the description perfectly.
Marcus Mariota
A 2015 first-round pick by the Tennessee Titans, the 31-year-old Mariota has been a full-time starter just once in the last five years. He went 5-8 in 13 starts for the Atlanta Falcons in 2021.
Mariota has now been with five teams. He has 74 starts in 92 NFL regular season games. He still has mobility and can be used in the quarterback run game, something Brian Daboll would appreciate — if Daboll is still the head coach.
As a former first-round pick who entered a difficult situation in Tennessee — the Titans were 2-14 the year before they drafted him and went 3-13 his rookie season — Mariota has the perfect experience to help guide a rookie quarterback through his NFL transition.
The wild card
That would be Kirk Cousins of the Atlanta Falcons. He would be 37 next season. He isn’t mobile. He is having an up-and-down season with the Falcons. He is expensive.
Cousins, though, also seems likely to be available. The Falcons drafted Michael Penix Jr. No. 8 overall and it seems inevitable that the mediocre Falcons (6-6) turn things over to Penix eventually. Maybe even before this year is over.
The Falcons might be looking to move on from Cousins after this year. Would they be willing to eat some of the three years remaining on Cousins’ four-year, $180 million contract?
