Three Things Giants Should Not Do Regarding Their Quarterback Opening

There have been many creative suggestions on how the Giants should solve their quarterback issue. But here are three that we hope they avoid.

Dec 17, 2023; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; A detailed view of a New York Giants helmet before the game against the New Orleans Saints at Caesars Superdome. | Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

The ideas on fixing the New York Giants quarterback situation have been flying about as fast and furious as the confetti that falls during a New Year’s Eve celebration. 

But while some of these unconventional ideas deserve credit for being creative and, in some cases, different, these three suggestions should be left out in the cold, no matter how much of an argument is made for them to happen. 

New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) may have played his last game for the Jets on Sunday, January 5, 2025, in East Rutherford. | Kevin R. Wexler-NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Sign Aaron Rodgers as the Bridge Quarterback

Jay Glazer of FOX Sports reported before the Super Bowl that the New York Jets and quarterback Aaron Rodgers are about to part ways after a failure of grand proportions given the Super Bowl expectations the team had when it acquired Rodgers never transpired. 

While Rodgers hasn’t indicated if he wants to continue playing, there has already been a suggestion or two that he move his locker belongings across the hall to the Giants’ locker room. 

I’m unsure where to begin with this one and how it doesn’t make sense in the Giants structure. For starters, Rodgers, who has had injuries develop over the last few years, isn’t the same quarterback he once was.

That was proven even though the Jets' prior management gave him just about everything he wanted in terms of reuniting him with some of his old teammates from his glory days in Green Bay. 

But more importantly, what kind of effect would Rodgers have on a still relatively young and impressionable locker room?  

Does anyone think for a moment that a fragile Giants locker room in dire need of leadership will benefit by having a guy in the room who thinks nothing of it to incur an unexcused absence from a mandatory minicamp because it conflicts with a previously scheduled trip overseas?

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Jake Browning (6) prepares to play the final minutes in the game after quarterback Joe Burrow (9) throw an interception during the NFL Week 8 matchup at Paycor Stadium on Sunday October 27, 2024. The Bengals lost 37-17 and remain winless at home. | Cara Owsley/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Trade a Fourth-round pick for Jake Browning

SI.com’s own Conor Orr pitched this idea as part of a bold predictions piece, in which his big picture “bold prediction” (which, in all honesty, really isn’t that bold as it is more common sense) is to “pair a quarterback in one of the first two rounds with an established veteran.”

Again, this isn’t a bold prediction so much as common sense–there is no way the Giants, if they plan to take a rookie in the draft, will leave the kid to sink or swim right out of the gate. 

But where Orr’s proposal goes off the rails is in his suggestion of a veteran quarterback to pair with the rookie: Cincinnati Bengals backup Jake Browning, for whom Orr proposes the Giants use their extra fourth-round pick that’s been projected as a comp pick for having lost safety Xavier McKinney to get Browning.

I’m not sure why Orr suggested Browning as the veteran to pair with a rookie. Still, I’m 99.99% sure that the Giants brass will want a veteran quarterback who has played in more than the 12 games Browning has under his belt, especially since jobs are potentially on the line this year if the Giants don’t start winning.

I’ve believed all along, as I did last year, that the Giants, if they draft a rookie, will let the kid sit for a bit. At the same time, a veteran carries the load to start the season, much like when they acquired Eli Manning via trade in 2004 and let him sit for several games while Kurt Warner started for the team. 

The last thing the Giants need to do is rush a young quarterback into the starting lineup. They did that with Daniel Jones, tossing him into the lineup three games into the season despite not having fortified the talent around him. That set off a mostly five-plus-year unsuccessful run for the sixth overall pick in the 2019 draft.

I understand that Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll weren’t with the team back then and that everyone progresses at a different pace, so there is no one-size-fits-all approach to quarterbacks. 

And yes, the fact that teams don’t have an infinite amount of time to fully develop a quarterback plays into the equation, though by taking a first-round pick, teams have the fifth-year option at their disposal.

Jayden Daniels hit the ground running for the Commanders and had success. Back in the day, Peyton Manning did so with the Colts. But then you have other quarterbacks who got a little extra time to acclimate, such as Manning, Patrick Mahomes, and Tom Brady.

The point is to be prepared for either scenario and to me, having a veteran quarterback who has only appeared in 12 games with seven starts, as Browning has, is not the best choice to prepare for the scenario where the rookie isn’t ready to hit the ground running.  

Nov 30, 2024; Syracuse, New York, USA; Miami Hurricanes quarterback Cam Ward (1) looks to pass against the Syracuse Orange during the first half at the JMA Wireless Dome. | Rich Barnes-Imagn Images

Trade Up in the Draft

More and more mock drafts seem to be convinced that if the Giants want one of Cam Ward or Shedeur Sanders, they must trade up in the draft order, especially if, as has been widely reported, the Tennessee Titans, holders of the first overall pick, are willing to trade down a few spots.

The problem with this proposal is that it reeks of desperation. (I know, I know. The Giants don’t have a quarterback, so yes, an argument could be made that they are desperate.) 

But here is the problem with this suggestion that the Giants trade up for a quarterback. This year’s class is not as deep as last year’s group or next year’s class. Ward and Sanders might very well turn out to be top-shelf quarterbacks. 

In speaking with draft analysts such as Emory Hunt of Football Game Plan and CBS Sports, Nick Baumgardner of The Athletic, and David Syvertsen of Ourlads, just to name a few, there is a growing consensus that if you’re stacking up Ward and Sanders in last year’s class, at best one would be fourth, behind Caleb Wiliams, Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye in terms of talent and grade.

If the NFL scouting community agrees, does it make sense for a team like the Giants, which has many needs, to give up assets this year? 

Unless it’s for a proven commodity that is a can’t-miss prospect, probably not. 

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