The New York Giants‘ 10-game losing streak during the regular season positioned them to land the first overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, providing them with a chance to have the quarterback of their choice. Beating the Indianapolis Colts on Dec. 29 might’ve had a significant influence on their offseason plans.
Throughout the regular season, NFL rumors surfaced about the Giants front office and scouting department being watching Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders and Miami Hurricanes star Cam Ward in person on multiple occasions. By December, there was already buzz that New York really liked Sanders.
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Beating the Colts in Week 17 cost the Giants the No. 1 overall pick, dropping them to third in the 2025 NFL Draft order. With general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll retained, sliding to the No. 3 spot meant New York might have to trade up for Sanders.
The buzz intensified early in the pre-draft process. New York met with Sanders at the East-West Shrine Bowl and was among the clubs that encouraged him not to practice. Heading into the Senior Bowl, NFL rumors kept pointing to Schoen and the front office being focused on Sanders. The tone seems to be changing now.
On Friday’s Inside Coverage podcast, senior NFL reporter Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports shared that he’s been surprised by the amount of talk inside the league regarding the amount of work the Giants are doing on the veteran quarterbacks potentially available this spring.
“When you do your due diligence, in February, what you hear is a lot of ‘Man, they’re really working hard on veteran quarterbacks right now.’ That to me, was a little bit shocking. particularly for let’s say the Giants. The Giants, I think until we got into this month and I think a lot of people thought, qwll they’re in position to draft QB1…Then, all of a sudden, the feedback when you start to get when you’re doing this work is, “Man, they’re really hard on the veteran class of quarterbacks right now'”
Yahoo Sports’ NFL reporter Charles Robinson on the New York Giants QB plans
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Robinson did make a point to note that this is misinformation season around the NFL, with teams intentionally putting out reports to try and hide their actual plans. With that acknowledged, the buzz coming out of the Senior Bowl now points to New York being focused on a veteran quarterback.
It coincides with recent reports tying the Giants to a potential Matthew Stafford trade, with the Los Angeles Rams currently in a contract stalemate with the Super Bowl-winning quarterback. New York has also been tied to Russell Wilson and Sam Darnold.
It doesn’t necessarily mean that the Giants won’t spend their first-round pick on a quarterback. The team could cover its bases, bringing in a veteran to provide stability for the 2025 season with the hope they win enough games for Schoen and Daboll to stick around in 2026. That strategy would also allow New York to essentially redshirt Ward or Sanders, giving that time to develop before taking over as the Giants quarterback in 2026.
At the very least, it’s no longer a foregone conclusion that the Giants will attempt to trade up for the first pick in the 2025 NFL Draft so they can choose whichever quarterback they want. It could provide New York with a little more leverage in negotiations, both in trade talks with the Tennessee Titans and with agents representing the top available veteran quarterbacks.
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