Item No. 1 on the New York Giants’ offseason to-do list is finding their new quarterback, and this decision will directly affect if head coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen will be back in 2026. Matthew Stafford would have been a great fit with the Giants, but now that he’s back with the Los Angeles Rams, what will the Giants do?
New York could swing a deal with the Tennessee Titans and take Miami QB Cam Ward at No. 1 overall, or the Giants could turn their attention to free agency. Regardless of which route they take, this is the most important decision Schoen and Co. will make. Speaking of options, what is the best route for the Giants to take in finding their new quarterback? Is it worth it to trade up for someone like Ward? Should they take another quarterback later in the draft, or is there a sleeper free agent hitting the market?
Below, we will rank the Giants’ best options when it comes to acquiring their new signal-caller.
5. Trade back and draft Shedeur Sanders
Usually when a team is sitting at No. 3 overall in the draft order, they have a good chance to select their quarterback of the future. However, two QB-needy teams are sitting above New York, and then we don’t exactly know who the QB2 is or where he will go in the draft.
This is how the QB “narrative” in the 2025 NFL Draft has evolved: It started off as a debate between Ward and Shedeur Sanders. Then, it evolved into Ward being QB1 and Sanders QB2. On Saturday, we saw another shift in the narrative, as the NFL Network revealed something incredibly interesting during the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine. It was reported on the broadcast that other quarterbacks like Jaxson Dart and Quinn Ewers are in contention to be QB2/QB3. It’s very much up in the air.
Personally, I think Sanders is QB2 — but is he worth the No. 3 overall pick? Depending on what happens with Travis Hunter and Abdul Carter atop the draft, there could be a market for the Giants to trade down once or even twice. There’s a reality where New York can both acquire draft capital, and find its prospective franchise quarterback in the top half of the draft.
Sanders threw for 4,134 yards, 37 touchdowns and 10 interceptions last season at Colorado. He was named the 2024 Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year after leading the FBS with a 74% completion percentage — which was the sixth-highest in FBS history. Sanders’ 71.8% career completion percentage is the highest in FBS history, and he accomplished this behind a questionable offensive line. No quarterback was sacked more than Sanders was over the last two seasons (94 sacks taken).
Sanders is worth a first-round pick, and he made a good point this past week in saying that he had a hand in two different program turnarounds. The Giants need a “program turnaround.”
2025 NFL mock draft: Giants pass on quarterback, Jets replace Davante Adams in post-combine edition
Ryan Wilson
Darnold will probably be the most popular free agent quarterback on the market — if he even makes it to free agency. The Minnesota Vikings surely have some level of interest in keeping Darnold, but at what price? There are over a dozen quarterbacks making at least $45 million per year on average. Will the Vikings give Darnold a multi-year contract with that kind of AAV? Is he worth more than that? Would he take a pay cut to remain in the system where he found the most success he ever had in the NFL? There are plenty of questions when it comes to Darnold’s future.
Spotrac’s market value tool estimates Darnold could sign a four-year deal that carries an AAV of $40.1 million. That number seems a bit low, but the Giants should at least entertain the possibility of signing Darnold if he hits free agency. Maybe pitch it as some kind of New York revenge tour.
While the season ended on a low note, Darnold still went 14-3 as the starter, while putting up career numbers across the board with a 66.2% completion percentage, 4,319 passing yards, 35 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He found success pushing the ball downfield to targets like Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, as no other quarterback had more completions (34), a higher completion percentage (49%), more passing touchdowns (9) or passing yards (1,182) than Darnold on throws 20+ yards downfield.
3. Sign Aaron Rodgers, and draft a rookie
Speaking of a New York revenge tour, Rodgers is a legitimate option for the Giants. This is not some sexy option that the fan base is pushing for, as the 41-year-old registered career-worsts in losses (12), yards per attempt (6.7) and passer rating (90.5) this past season with the New York Jets. Still, Rodgers would provide more consistency at the quarterback position than New York has had in quite some time.
What would make the fan base feel better about signing Rodgers is New York also drafting a quarterback somewhere on Day 2 or Day 3. There are different reasons to be optimistic about prospects like Quinn Ewers from Texas, Syracuse’s Kyle McCord, the dual-threat Jalen Milroe out of Alabama or the veteran Tyler Shough from Louisville, and all four would benefit from sitting and learning behind a future Pro Football Hall of Famer for a full year.
2. Sign Justin Fields, and draft a rookie
Fields may be the sleeper free agent, but his case is a bit more complicated. The Pittsburgh Steelers have already made it clear that they would like to re-sign either Fields or Russell Wilson and run it back in 2025. The thought is Pittsburgh would rather move forward with the soon-to-be 26-year-old Fields compared to the 36-year-old Wilson, and the Steelers have motivation to get a deal done in the next week before Fields has the opportunity to check out his other options in free agency. If no deal is struck by March 10, the Giants should inquire.
Fields started the 2024 regular season with Wilson sidelined due to a calf injury. He went 4-2 as the starter and played the most efficient football of his career. The former Bear finished the regular season having completed a career-high 65.8% of his passes for 1,106 yards, five touchdowns and one interception, plus, he scored five more touchdowns on the ground.
1. Trade up for Cam Ward
Trading for the top pick in the draft is scary, but it won’t cost the Giants what it did the Carolina Panthers to move up to No. 1 two years ago. I’m not Mike Borgonzi, I don’t know what he’s looking for in a potential trade or what the market is, but in this hypothetical, the Giants send picks 3, 34, 104 and a future second-rounder to Tennessee.
Ward doesn’t have the excitement surrounding him like Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels did, but he is the QB1 of this class. He set Miami single-season records by passing for 4,313 yards and an FBS-leading 39 passing touchdowns. It was the first time an ACC quarterback had ever led the FBS in passing touchdowns. We watched Ward get better and better each year, from a zero-star quarterback at Incarnate Word, to his two years at Washington State, and then finally, the incredible season for the Hurricanes. The quarterback with the highest ceiling is Ward, and if the Giants fall in love with him, they should chase him.
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