Schoen Provides Update on Giants' Quarterback Situation

The New York Giants, with the third pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, are guaranteed to have one of the class’ blue-chip prospects available to them, assuming the Tennessee Titans take Miami quarterback Cam Ward at No. 1. That doesn’t mean they’ll take one.

The post-Eli Manning era has not been kind to the Giants under center, and without a franchise quarterback, it will remain a priority. Just how much of a priority will be revealed on draft day, but New York has know idea when it will be in position to take a franchise quarterback again.

General manager Joe Schoen signed Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston to insulate the passing offense and win games in 2025. Either that plan works, and the Giants look fairly competitive, or New York is picking in the top 10 again and Schoen hires a realtor. That pressure makes any quarterback more enticing, especially one like Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders, who has had plenty of first-round hype throughout the process.

On Wednesday, Schoen provided an update on the Giants potentially picking a rookie quarterback.

“I don't know where everybody else is, but you're dealing with 31 other teams and how they see their board, but yeah, if the value matches up with what we have on a player and there's an opportunity to take any position, we'll do it. Not going to force it if it's not the right value,” Schoen said.”

“Again, if the board lines up and we're on the clock and that's the position we want to go with, we'll go with it.”

With one of receiver/corner Travis Hunter or edge rusher Abdul Carter likely to be on the board, Schoen would have to stray far from the consensus to take Sanders. His words indicate he isn’t interested in reaching for a passer, and that if Sanders is the pick, it’s because he tops their board. That’s an awfully good way to cover for forcing a quarterback selection, but nothing Schoen said on Wednesday tipped his hand toward picking a passer.

With Wilson and Winston in the room, he might not have to. And if his path to keeping his job is winning games, drafting a rookie phenom instead of a rookie quarterback is viable, too.

“With the signing of those two players, I think we put ourselves in a position where I don't think it's mandatory or something with our feet to the fire, that we have to do,” Schoen said.

“... We're happy with the makeup of the room right now.”

The realities of life without a franchise quarterback are not lost on Schoen. But acquiring two veteran quarterbacks and bringing back multiple free agents from the 2024 squad shows Schoen thinks this roster is close to winning games. With a blue-chip talent added to the defense, New York would expect to compete for a playoff spot.

A first-round rookie quarterback stunts that progress. Schoen has spent the offseason buying himself flexibility. He was never going to give that up days before the most important decision of his Giants tenure.

“I'm not going to be backed into a corner on that.”