Fixing the Giants: Which door should New York open to find a quarterback?

The New York Giants’ search this offseason for a quarterback could lead them to jump down whatever rabbit hole exists behind a number of doorways. Let’s take a look at some of them.

Door No. 1

This is the fun, sexy option that will keep fans and media members talking about the Giants’ quarterback choice for the next three months.

Sitting at No. 3 in the 2025 NFL Draft, take whichever of Miami’s Cam Ward or Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders remains on the board when it is time to pick. If you have an obvious preference, move up to No. 1 via trade with the Tennessee Titans or No. 2 with the Cleveland Browns to get the quarterback you desire.

There are advantages to this path.

The Giants would have in place a young, talented quarterback on a rookie contract they could try to build around for the next four or five years before facing a financial decision. GM Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll would have the quarterback of their choice, with Daboll getting a chance to show whether he truly does have a knack for developing young quarterbacks. They would be offering a fresh start and hope to a fan base that has turned increasingly bitter over the past couple of seasons.

There are also disadvantages.

To start with, there are analysts who don’t think Ward or Sanders is as good an NFL prospect as any of the six quarterbacks taken in the first round in 2024. Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy is one of those.

“It’s certainly not last year,” Nagy said. “I don’t know if anyone in this class would be in the top six of the guys last year.”

Nagy isn’t alone in that assessment. Still, it is worth noting that neither Ward nor Sanders is a participant in this year’s Senior Bowl.

There are other analysts who put Ward and Sanders somewhere in the 2024 mix with J.J. McCarthy, Michael Penix and Bo Nix.

Another issue is that there is heat on Schoen and Daboll after a 3-14 season and a combined 9-25 record the past two years. Daboll, in particular, seems to be hanging on to his job by his fingernails. Can he survive another three- or four-win season by passing it off as the price of trying to develop a young quarterback?

If he can’t, and the Giants end up with a new coach in 2026, what does that do to the development of the quarterback? We have seen Bryce Young in Carolina and Caleb Williams in Chicago have to deal with this the past two years. Daniel Jones dealt with constant coaching turnover during his time with the Giants. All that turnover clouds the development for a potential franchise quarterback.

The other dilemma for the Giants is whether or not, considering the other holes on the roster, they can give up significant draft capital and still improve the team.

Neither Ward nor Sanders is a perfect prospect.

Ward, at 6-foot-2, 223 has the size and the tantalizing physical tools. He has a rocket arm that allows him to make some special throws, and a casual manner that sometimes makes it look easy. On the flip side, there is a carelessness about some of what he does that too closely resembles Jameis Winston, or the bad version of Drew Lock.

Sanders isn’t the physical specimen Ward is, and does not possess the big arm. He has “enough” athleticism and arm talent, but those traits aren’t special. He has accuracy and leadership ability, and his upbringing means the bright lights won’t overwhelm him.

The larger-than-life specter of his father, Deion ‘Prime Time’ Sanders, and the fact that his dad has always been his coach, are factors any team drafting Shedeur will have to consider.

Part of the reality of drafting Sanders is that the moment you do it the speculation about Deion replacing Daboll begins. If you’re the Giants, do you want to do that to yourself?

If it’s me?

I have misgivings about both. But, if one of them falls to No. 3 I am not letting him by regardless of what else I may have done in free agency or the trade market. There isn’t a clear enough, no-brainer answer among veteran quarterbacks for me to do that.

Given my choice of the two, I would choose Ward simply because the physical tools would be hard to pass on. If it is Sanders or wait until Day 2, though, I am putting my misgivings aside and taking the plunge.

What about trading up for one of these players? In the ‘Rules for Draft Success,’ which have yet to be updated for this draft cycle, I always say that there is no price too high to pay if you end up being right about a quarterback.

Right now, I am not sure I feel strongly enough about Ward or Sanders to give up picks 3 and 34 this year and a 2026 first-round pick or picks 3, 34 and 65 this year and second-round pick in 2026 — the price the Jimmy Johnson trade chart says the Giants the would have to pay — to move up.

Door No. 2

No matter what the Giants do at quarterback, adding a veteran quarterback to the mix has to be part of the plan. Lock probably isn’t going to be part of the mix, and it’s clear to everyone except the most ardent of Devito-maniacs that Tommy DeVito isn’t the answer.

The question? What level of veteran quarterback to sign or trade for?

Here, we are going to examine the idea that the Giants would acquire the best possible veteran quarterback, plan to have him as the 2025 starter, and let whatever happens in the draft happen.

The quarterbacks who likely fit into this category for consideration are: Sam Darnold, Kirk Cousins, Russell Wilson/Justin Fields, Derek Carr (if the Saints decide to move on).

Darnold was clearly the best of this lot in 2024. Because we saw the proof of concept of how good he could be last season, a move for Darnold would carry the most upside. It would also carry the most risk because of the money that would likely be involved. Estimates of Darnold’s market value have ranged from three years, $123 million ($70 million guaranteed) to four years, $160 million.

Can the Giants go there with a quarterback whose 2024, easily the best of his seven-year career, draws parallels to Daniel Jones’ 2022 season?

ESPN’s Benjamin Solak thinks the Giants might have no choice:

Desperation should drive the Giants to the Darnold market. Darnold plus a highly drafted rookie passer would give Daboll and Schoen the most routes to a job-saving performance in 2025.

I am not a fan of paying Darnold big money. Doing so has the potential of being the Jones mistake all over again. Of course, considering their tenuous employment status I could understand the move, even if it would feel like the ‘Hail Mary’ swing that Schoen has promised not to take.

All of the quarterbacks on this list have obvious warts. I would not trade for Cousins or Carr, giving up assets and taking on their big contracts. I might take a low-cost swing if one or both is cut.

I don’t have interest in Wilson. I would take a flier on Fields on a one-year deal. I have no reason to believe Daboll and Mike Kafka can make him into more than he has been in Chicago and Pittsburgh, but it might be worth trying.

Door No. 3

This is the Day 2, or late Day 1 if you think your guy won’t last until pick No. 34, option.

No matter the level of veteran quarterback the Giants end up with, if they don’t land Ward or Sanders — or don’t want either — this is a door I think has to be opened. In my view, there has to be a rookie quarterback in training camp this summer that the organization believes at least has a legitimate chance to become a starting-caliber NFL quarterback.

The names that get bandied about are Jaxson Dart, Jalen Milroe, Kyle McCord, Dillon Gabriel and a couple of others.

Frankly, the guy I am focused on here is Dart. There would be a learning curve coming out of the Ole Miss offense, and the failed NFL stint of Matt Corral, drafted out of Ole Miss in Round 3 of the 2022 draft, is a cautionary tale of a quarterback transitioning to the NFL out of the Rebels’ offense, but Dart is clearly QB3 for me.

The question is, can you get Dart at No. 34? The way things always trend with quarterbacks, probably not.

How high would you have to move in the draft to get Dart? Can you get him if you move to, say, No. 20 (Denver Broncos) in Round 1. The Johnson chart says that would cost you picks 34 and 65. I would do that.

Our Tony DelGenio believes that move is “too expensive.”

Tony, you’re not going to like the suggestion from BBV’s Chris Pflum. Trade down from No. 3 to No. 6, let the Las Vegas Raiders have Sanders, and take Dart at 6.

“I think If I would have a “1-2” grade on him, which would basically be 34, then taking him in the first isn’t that big a leap. The fifth-year option makes it worth it if you develop him, and I’d rather “reach” and have a chance at having a stable foundation for the rest of the team than not have one at all,” Pflum told me. “If that’s where you have to draft him to make sure you get him, then that’s what you have to do.”

I am not a Milroe to the Giants guy. There is a lot to like with his athleticism, but his development curve as a passer is a long one. Watch some of the Senior Bowl practice highlights and you see how far he has to go.

Again, I think Pflum’s thinking on Milroe/Dart is on target.

“I think Dart is a better option right now, and people are over-reacting to the ‘Kiffin offense,’” he said. “Milroe is better than Anthony Richardson was coming out — he at least has a track record of improving over the course of the last two seasons at Alabama. Right now, I think Ward is The Guy, and Dart is the best second option to win in the near term because he has more experience and a higher floor. I do think Milroe could be a “Cam Newton” type quarterback if Daboll gets more than eight games worth of leash to work with him. But if the time to develop him isn’t going to be there, then they can’t take the chance.”

So, what would I do?

I am not signing Darnold to a big-money deal, or giving up anything close to premium draft assets for Cousins/Carr. I am probably adding Fields or another placeholder veteran on a one-year type deal.

I am aiming to get one of Ward-Sanders-Dart is in a Giants’ uniform this summer. There is a great deal of skepticism around the NFL that any of the three is actually worth an early pick in the draft. In the corner the Giants are backed into, though, they might not have a choice.

I would not trade up to get Ward or Sanders. If one falls, he falls. Would I trade down with the Raiders and grab Dart at 6? Today, that is a hard sell for me. Missing out on the top two, though, might make Dart a necessity for Schoen and Daboll.