The New York Giants are self-evidently one of the most quarterback-needy teams in the NFL. They cycled through Daniel Jones, Tommy DeVito, Drew Lock and Tim Boyle this season, and none of them inspired any confidence in their ability to be NFL-caliber players at this point, let alone starts.
The situation under center is so dire that even Giants owner John Mara was willing to state on Monday that figuring it out is the team's No. 1 issue heading into this offseason. With that in mind, we wanted to take a look at some of the options available to the Giants, and where they might be able to turn.
Option 1 -- Top of the draft
- Cam Ward, Miami
- Shedeur Sanders, Colorado
Ward and Sanders are considered the top two quarterback prospects in this year's draft. They're not your typical top-five picks and largely have grades later in the first round, but quarterbacks always get pushed up the board and so they will likely each come off the board very quickly. Sanders, in particular, has made no secret of his desire to land in New York, and it's not hard to see his father/head coach Deion Sanders pushing for that outcome over the next several months.
Option 2 -- Later in the draft
- Jalen Milroe, Alabama
- Quinn Ewers, Texas
- Carson Beck, Georgia
- Jaxson Dart, Mississippi
The SEC quarterbacks are a bit further down the board, with most having Day 2 or even early Day 3 grades. But if Ward and Sanders go with the first two picks -- or if one of them goes and the Giants don't have a first-round grade on the other, or if New York elects to trade down -- then these guys could come into play. With Dart, we know the Giants are always looking to recreate the Eli Manning experience, for some reason, so drafting a guy out of Ole Miss could hold some appeal.
Option 3 -- NFL free agency
Darnold's performance on Sunday night against the Lions may have cost him some money, but he also may not even make it to free agency, because the Vikings could just elect to use the franchise tag on him. We've seen this year that he can be an effective bridge quarterback, though, when put in an advantageous situation. The Giants don't actually present that situation, but they might convince themselves that they do. And then there are the two young, athletic quarterbacks who will presumably be looking for another shot after spending time as backups. If the Giants don't expect to land someone in the draft, perhaps they bring in one of these guys and maybe another veteran to compete for the job.
Option 4 -- Trade market
The trade market actually has some interesting names available, though the first two hold significantly more intrigue at this point than do the aging veterans. Milton played quite well in New England's regular-season finale, and with the Patriots already having Drake Maye locked in, they could be willing to deal. Willis also fared well in his limited action in relief of Jordan Love this season, and could be an interesting target. Neither Cousins nor Rodgers showered themselves in glory in their respective returns from Achilles tears, but teams can always talk themselves into name-brand QBs.
