New York Giants GM Joe Schoen knows he might not get his QB in 2025 NFL Draft

Schoen lays some groundwork for the possibility of having to punt on the position again

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen dreams of finding a young franchise quarterback for the organization.

“Where we are, yeah,” Schoen said during his pre-draft press conference on Wednesday. “We’d like to have a young franchise quarterback. I think every general manager would. Everybody wants that. The value has to be right or it doesn’t matter if you get that one wrong.

“You just got to get that right. In a position to get the right one at the right time, that’s when you pull the trigger.”

Schoen, with picks 3 and 34 in the first two rounds of the 2025 NFL Draft, is well aware that in a draft with a limited number of potential franchise quarterbacks he might not be able to find that young franchise quarterback.

“If there’s not one or you don’t perceive there to be one or it’s not available when you pick, that’s out of your control,” Schoen said. “We’d love to have one if there’s one available.”

Back in January, co-owner John Mara said that “obviously the number one issue for us going into this offseason is to find our quarterback of the future.”

Neither 37-year-old Russell Wilson or 31-year-old Jameis Winston, free agents signed to handle the position in 2025, are the team’s quarterback of the future. Schoen said that while he wants to put that quarterback of the future in place, Mara’s words don’t make it “mandatory” that it happens in this draft.

“With the signing of those two players, I think we put ourself in a position where I don’t think that’s mandatory or something that our feet are at the fire and we have to do,” Schoen said. “The two guys we signed have played a lot of ball, they’ve got a lot of skins on the wall, and I do think we’ve upgraded that room compared to where it was a year ago.”

Schoen has not selected a quarterback in any of his three drafts as Giants GM. At the NFL Scouting Combine, Schoen said he would not take a quarterback just to check that box. He reiterated that on Wednesday.

“You’re dealing with 31 of our teams and how they see their boards. So, yeah, if the value matches up with what we have on a player,” Schoen said. “If there’s an opportunity to take any position, we’ll do it.

“I’m not going to force it if it’s not the right value, and again, if the board lines up and we’re on the clock and that’s the position that we want to go with, we’ll go with it.”

The Giants, of course, will be hitting the road for private quarterback workouts over the next few days. They will watch Shedeur Sanders of Colorado on Thursday, Jalen Milroe of Alabama on Friday and Tyler Shough of Louisville on Saturday. Along with Jaxson Dart of Ole Miss and probable No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward, those are the quarterbacks likely in play in the top 34 selections.

“We’re going to run out the shot clock here,” Schoen said. “We have until next Thursday. We’re going to continue to keep doing our due diligence. I think a lot of teams around the league are doing the same thing.”

Valentine’s View

My immediate takeaway is that I don’t think Schoen and the Giants will take Sanders at No. 3. Admittedly, that is what I have believed for a while. In talking about the value needing to match the draft slot and the need to get the pick right, my clear impression was that Schoen doesn’t see Sanders as the right pick in that spot.

The GM also laid the groundwork for the realistic possibility that supply and demand means the Giants might not be able to get the quarterback of the future they seek in next week’s draft.

There are more teams potentially seeking that commodity than there are quarterbacks available. We have to wait eight more days to find out if Schoen and the Giants can get one.