Giants’ Targeted Free-agent Quarterback Options All Have This in Common

What do Matthew Stafford, Aaron Rodgers, and Russell Wilson all have in common besides having drawn interest from the New York Giants?

They represent a specific type of quarterback that Giants general manager Joe Schoen is looking for: an older veteran with a winning track record that includes at least one Super Bowl appearance.

Given the team's struggles of late coupled with an unspoken "must-win" mandate from ownership, it’s hard to blame Schoen for wanting that type of quarterback.

Perhaps the thought is that by bringing in a quarterback of that championship pedigree, a little magic will rub off on the rest of the team, who will be able to get an up-close look at the preparation and the sacrifices those winning signal callers have made during their respective careers.

Of course, there is also the mentoring aspect for a potential draft pick who will still likely be added to the roster in the first round or later in next month’s draft.

Although Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll came after Eli Manning had called it a career, there are still plenty of mainstays in the Giants organization who saw firsthand how a young Manning thrived under the guidance of then-future Hall of Famer Kurt Warner in 2004, and then years later how Manning tried to help now-former quarterback Daniel Jones start his career the right way.

So it is no surprise that another potential quarterback solution (as first suggested by the New York Post) who, like Stafford, Rodgers, and Wilson, has a Super Bowl appearance on his resume, has come up as a potential solution should Rodgers and Wilson, who as of this writing have yet to decide where they are going to sign, for the Giants.

That option is Joe Flacco, a 17-year NFL veteran who was most recently with the Colts, where he got a chance to start when Anthony Richardson hit a rough patch. Flacco has been to a Super Bowl (XLVIII) with the Baltimore Ravens, emerging victorious.

Flacco also boasts a Comeback Player of the Year award, which he earned in 2023 after rejuvenating the Browns offense and helping the Browns to their last postseason appearance in which they lost their AFC Wild Card game to the Houston Texans.

Besides his getting on in football years, the challenge with Flacco is that he hasn’t played an entire season since 2017. That’s not to say he couldn’t do so if he ended up being the Giants’ emergency option if Rodgers and Wilson rejected them.

Still, it’s fair to wonder if the Giants have to turn to Flacco, would that force the team to accelerate the development and readiness of a drafted rookie to carry them the rest of the way after so many games played by the veteran?

Remember, the Giants went all-out to get Stafford, coming oh-so-close to pulling it off after meeting the money and trade compensation criteria.

If they had gotten him, their intention would have been for him to start the entire season so long as he was healthy while a drafted rookie sat and acclimated, much how the Chiefs sat Patrick Mahomes for a year behind Alex Smith.

That appears to be the same thinking, regardless of whether they land one of Wilson or Rodgers.

Again, this is not to say that Flacco, if he ends up being the fallback option, couldn’t play an entire season. If he were among the options available, wouldn’t it stand to reason that a deal might have been struck by now?

Giants’ Targeted Free-agent Quarterback Options All Have This in Common

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