Giants have to approach quarterback with both present and future in mind

Daniel Jones’ health, performance are both in question

The New York Giants have to do something at quarterback this offseason. GM Joe Schoen has admitted as much. They probably have to do multiple things.

What, though, are those things?

Let’s go through the possibilities as we lay out the Big Blue View blueprint from the major decisions Schoen and the Giants have to make before the 2024 NFL season.

Let’s acknowledge something else as we begin. The Giants may or may not be in quarterback hell, but with questions about both the present and the future they are at least in quarterback purgatory.

It all starts with Daniel Jones

Kayvon Thibodeaux facial expressions aside, the Giants want us to believe that all is well with Jones.

They want us to be believe that Jones’ surgically-repaired knee will be fine, and that he will be ready to go when training camp begins at the end of July.

We know, though, that nothing is guaranteed. Sure, he is running in a pool. Sure, he works hard. Sure, we saw him during Super Bowl week sitting comfortably on a couch with Eli Manning and Sean Payton on the ‘Up & Adams Show’ with Kay Adams.

None of that guarantees that he will be ready. Even if he is ready, we know that history tells us players aren’t often the same in their first year after ACL surgery. That can be important for a quarterback like Jones, whose legs have been so important to his game.

They want us to believe that they still have faith in Jones. That they still believe after a rough 2023 season, a knee injury and a second neck injury that he can still be the quarterback they saw in 2022 — or better. They want us to believe they still think he was worth the four-year, $160 million contract ($82 million guaranteed) they gave him.

At his season-ending press conference, Schoen simply said “yes” when asked if he felt he could still build a team around Jones.

Can they, though?

The Giants need to be prepared for the short term if Jones is not healthy, and for the long term if it becomes obvious he can’t be their guy.

Free agency

As optimistic as Schoen has sounded about Jones, he has admitted that the Giants are “going to need somebody that can hopefully win you some games early on” if Jones isn’t ready.

The Giants don’t seem to believe that is Tommy DeVito. For sure it’s not Jacob Eason, currently on the 90-man roster as a camp arm.

It probably isn’t a rookie quarterback, at least not in an ideal world. Even one drafted in Round 1.

So, that leaves free agency. Here are some of the plausible options with a fair amount of starting experience.

Tyrod Taylor — A return to the Giants by the 34-year-old 13-year veteran can’t be counted out.

Jacoby Brissett — Eight-year veteran who has played in 79 games and has an 18-30 record in 48 career starts. He made $8 million last season while playing in three games with no starts for the Washington Commanders.

Mitchell Trubisky — The 2017 No. 2 overall pick has become a journeyman, and was just released by the Pittsburgh Steelers. He wasn’t good for the Steelers in 2023, going 0-2 in his starts and throwing five interceptions and just four touchdown passes in five games. Trubisky can’t be discounted as an option after spending the 2021 season as a backup for the Buffalo Bills where Daboll was offensive coordinator and Schoen assistant GM.

Marcus Mariota — Has 74 career starts, although 2022 (13 starts with the Atlanta Falcons) is the only time he has been a full-time starter since 2018. Made $5 million with the Philadelphia Eagles last season.

Gardner Minshew — Actually made the Pro Bowl after stepping in for an injured Anthony Richard with the Indianapolis Colts and starting 13 games in 2023. He made $3.5 million last season, and will likely be looking for a significant pay bump. He may also justifiably be looking for a real chance to be a QB1.

There are others to consider, as well. Sam Darnold, Jameis Winston, Drew Lock and Joshua Dobbs are expected to be part of the 2024 quarterback free agent class.

There are also guys like Tyler Huntley, Carson Wentz and short-time Giant Matt Barkley out there — not that those are desirable options.

My instinct is that if the Giants truly think Jones will be ready at the beginning of the season they won’t play at the deep end (the Minshew end) of the quarterback pool. They would be more likely to cast their line for someone like Dobbs, Trubisky or even Taylor. Especially if they plan to draft a quarterback in April.

If they do try to play at the deep end of the pool, that might be an indication they plan to punt on drafting a quarterback this spring.

If it’s me, I don’t think I swim with the sharks. I think I would select a mid-tier option and try to save a bit of money. That is partially because I am in favor of selecting a quarterback at some point in the upcoming draft.

2024 NFL Draft

Draft a quarterback? Don’t draft a quarterback? If you want one, do you try to trade up from No. 6 to get “your” guy? Do you sit at No. 6 and simply react, taking your guy if he happens to fall there? Do you trade back from No. 6 and collect some assets while trying to get one of the second tier quarterbacks? Do you pick a position player at No. 6 and use other draft assets to trade back into Round 1 for a quarterback? Do you sit tight and see if a quarterback you like as a developmental option is available to you on Day 2, or even early on Day 3?

So many questions. Let’s examine some of the scenarios.

Move up from No. 6

Word is that the Chicago Bears want ‘historic compensation’ for the No. 1 overall pick and the right to select Caleb Williams. Forget that. The Washington Commanders will almost certainly not move off the No. 2 pick, and they will get new coach Dan Quinn a quarterback.

The farthest move up that seems realistic is to No. 3, where there has been chatter that the New England Patriots might be willing to shop that pick rather than take whichever of the Big Three quarterbacks remain on the board.

The NFL Mock Draft Database simulator would allow me to move up in exchange for the sixth and 47th (the Giants’ second Round 2 selection) picks.

Here is how the value of that would look via several draft trade calculators from Jefe’s Handiwork:

If you believe that is all it’s going to take to move to that spot, I’d wager you would be wrong. New England would have several suitors for that pick, as would the Arizona Cardinals for the fourth overall pick. Both teams would want a ransom to move up.

Here is what the value would look like to give up both of the Giants’ 2024 second-round picks to get to No. 3:

Maybe it would cost one of the two second-round picks and a 2025 Round 1 pick. Here is what that would look like value-wise:

As much as I have always said that if you need a quarterback and believe there is a guy available who could be a franchise one no price is too steep, I’m not sure I could do this if I were Schoen. He and Daboll are not in Year 1. They are in Year 3. They need to show some on-field results. Is trading a bunch of draft assets to move up for a guy not likely to be your starting quarterback until late 2024 or the beginning of 2025 going to help that mission? Probably not. Could you be drafting a quarterback of the future for a future you won’t be part of? Maybe.

Drafting a QB at No. 6

The Giants could sit at No. 6 and take Drake Maye or Jayden Daniels should one of them fall that far.

On its face, I would be fine with that. Long-term, I think it’s the right move if you believe one of those two is a franchise quarterback. Again, though, the Year 3 heat on Schoen and Daboll might be a complicating factor. I would be hesitant to take that swing here if I were the GM and coach unless I felt reasonably certain that I had at least a two-year window to make that work. Otherwise, I’m using the sixth pick on a certain Day 1 starter who can help me win games — and keep my job — right away.

Getting a QB later in Round 1

If you use a pick at No. 6 on a position player and are targeting the J.J. McCarthy, Bo Nix, Michael Penix Jr. tier and think there will be a run before you pick at No. 39, you have to make a move like this.

This is a scenario I like because it gives the Giants a potential impact player at No. 6 and a potential quarterback of the future.

I don’t know what it would realistically cost if the Giants took a position player at No. 6 and then tried to move into the middle of the first round for a quarterback. For argument’s sake, with the Big Three off the board and McCarthy, Nix and Penix still available, I swung a trade with the Tennessee Titans at No. 15. (In this simulation, the Titans had traded with the Colts to get into that spot). Here is what the NFL Mock Draft Database simulator let me do:

Giants get: Pick No. 15
Titans get: Picks 47 and 70 in the 2024 draft and the Giants’ Round 2 pick in 2025

Honestly, I think this probably costs a first-round pick in 2025 and maybe pick No. 47, but whatever. It is what the simulator allowed. Here is how the mock draft value charts feel about it:

Seems like the older value charts are cool with it. The newer ones? Not so much.

This, incidentally, is a scenario I would be good with. Especially if I didn’t have to give up a 2025 first-round pick.

What about moving down from No. 6? Just for consistency, let’s use the 15th pick again, this time belonging to the Colts, and see what the models would allow the Giants to get in return.

Colts get: Pick No. 6
Giants get: Pick No. 15, 46 and 117 (the simulator allowed the deal with just picks 15 and 46, but adding pick 117 made this a right down the middle trade per the simulator).

This type of trade is one I might do. I don’t like trading out of the top 10 and giving up on that tier of players because the Giants need difference makers, but it is tempting. It adds a fifth pick for the Giants in the top 70 and gives them seven picks in the top top 117. How about you?

Drafting a QB on Day 2 or Day 3

This is another scenario I would be fine with. It leaves the Giants at the mercy of the market in that it is absolutely possible that McCarthy, Nix and Penix are gone by pick No. 39 or pick No. 47.

If that’s a risk the Giants are willing to take and they would be OK with selecting a Spencer Rattler or Michael Pratt should those be the available choices, then staying where they are is fine. It allows them to use premium draft capital to help the roster in 2024 and gives them a young quarterback to assess should they ultimately decide to move on from Jones.

What about not taking a QB at all?

You never want to force a quarterback pick in the draft, or take one just to take one. If the right scenario to take a quarterback doesn’t materialize, then it doesn’t.

Ideally, though, I think the Giants would be better off if they can at some point draft a quarterback they believe has NFL starting potential to give them an option in 2025.