Interesting Trade Proposed for Giants to Get Their Franchise Quarterback

If only the New York Giants had been able to hang onto the first overall pick in the 2025 draft, there wouldn’t be trade proposal ideas such as the latest proposed by Bleacher Report.

Much like the Tennessee Titans and the Cleveland Browns, the Giants are the two teams drafting in front of them, and they need a quarterback.

But according to emerging early analysis by draft experts, this year’s class isn’t exactly overflowing with first-round talent at the position, with many believing that if the Giants want one of the two top prospects who are being thought of in the first-round discussion (Cam Ward of Miami and Shedeur Sanders of Colorado), they’re going to have to swap places with the Titans in the draft order to make it happen.

“If in the wake of the Daniel Jones era the Giants convince themselves they need a quarterback right here and right now and it has to be Ward or Sanders, a jump from No. 3 to No. 1 could be on the table,” wrote Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report.

“And if the Titans decide they don't care about either quarterback and want someone like Hunter or Carter in the three spots, they could be compelled to add some draft capital and make this deal.”

Gagnon's article proposes that the Giants seeking a deal with the Titans “makes more sense than any other potential trade-up."

With all due respect, no, it does not.

Before getting to why, Gagnon proposed that the Giants and Titans swap first-round picks and that the Giants throw in their 2025 second-round pick for good measure.

Using the trade value chart on DraftTek, the value of the Giants’ first—and second-round picks would be 2700 points, 300 points shy of the 3,000 points the first overall pick is worth.

So right off the bat, the proposed trade probably wouldn’t fly, though that’s not the main reason why we say the trade doesn’t make sense.

As we have noted repeatedly, the Giants are not in a position to be trading away premium draft capital.

While a franchise quarterback is high on the needs list, the team is likely to invest heavily in a veteran bridge quarterback who can potentially hold the fort down for the next season or two, much like what the team did in 1999 when they signed Kerry Collins to be their bridge after failed runs by Dave Brown, Danny Kannell, and Kent Graham.

Collins played five seasons for the Giants and even took them to a Super Bowl (XXXV), which they lost. After his final season in 2003, the Giants traded for Eli Manning to be their long-term franchise quarterback during the 2004 draft, and the rest was history.

The point here is that it doesn’t make sense for the Giants to consider packaging up draft picks to move up unless there are zero doubts that Sanders and/or Ward can have the kind of long-term impact Manning had on the Giants.

The Giants would be better off sitting still and taking the best available at No. 3. If it’s not a quarterback, then if they want to make a trade that won’t cost them as much and also won’t necessarily force them to skip an entire round in the draft, they could trade back into the bottom of the first round to select a signal caller from the next group (Kyle McCord, Jalen Milroe, and Jaxson Dart).

Doing so would assure them of having the option year as part of their new quarterback’s contract, giving them an extra year to ensure the next signal-caller is fully developed before taking over the offense.

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