Giants Country

NFL Draft Analyst on Why Giants Could Seek a Trade-up to No. 1

As the veteran quarterback market unravels, a few teams could be left trying to make big moves for their next arm on the draft board. 

Stephen Lebitsch

Feb 25, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen speaks during the NFL Scouting Combine at the Indiana Convention Center.
Feb 25, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen speaks during the NFL Scouting Combine at the Indiana Convention Center. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
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Matthew Stafford's return to the Los Angeles Rams in 2025 was the first quarterback domino of the NFL offseason to fall into place. The complicated market for the position just got smaller and more frenetic. 

The Rams might be able to breathe a sigh of relief that they retained their starting gunslinger for the upcoming season, but several teams, a few of which hold top-10 selections like the New York Giants, are still desperately searching for the answer to their offensive helm. 

Losing Stafford doesn’t mean a team's options for acquiring a veteran quarterback are bare. There are still a handful of starting-caliber and serviceable bridge arms available to be courted, but that doesn’t mean each team wants to commit to those players or views them as long-term assets for the stability of that franchise. 

A few of the names out there, such as Aaron Rodgers, Sam Darnold, Russell Wilson, and Jameis Winston, will certainly find themselves on new rosters come the end of the free agency period in the next couple of weeks. Still, that same table of teams is now turning its lonely eyes toward the draft board to see if it can pursue its true franchise guy in a limited prospect pool. 

That means the potential could be there for a significant number of phone calls for trade action in the first round of the NFL Draft in Green Bay this April, something that ESPN’s Field Yates spoke about on The Pat McAfee Show at the Scouting Combine.

“I think what is interesting with Tennessee is that they might be able to draw up a bidding war between Cleveland and the Giants,” Yates told McAfee.

“Not that either one of them would make a move up there…but I think the league, on average, views Cam Ward as the higher-rated prospect than Shedeur Sanders…If the Giants say, ‘Hey, we’re bigger Cam Ward fans than Shedeur Sanders,’ and the Browns might see it the same way, then you’re not going to settle.

“Teams normally view quarterbacks almost like house hunting, where you get different preferences for what you want in their players. So if Tennessee can say Cleveland and New York are both going to take Ward without a problem over Sanders, they might be able to create some leverage there and potentially move down.”

Yates’s theory also alluded to the fact that the Titans are in a much different predicament than the two teams sitting behind them regarding needing the No. 1 overall pick. 

The Titans are mainly in year two of a regime with a first-year general manager and head coach and aren’t under the same timeline as the Giants to preserve the current regime with a quarterback and a winning season. They still have a young guy in Will Levis, who they believe could right the ship with the extra pieces they could acquire with extra picks.

Joe Schoen needs to get the Giants quarterback situation right.
Feb 25, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen speaks during the NFL Scouting Combine at the Indiana Convention Center. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Meanwhile, the Browns and Giants don’t share that same luxury as they ponder their next moves. The former team is stuck in salary cap hell with the contract of Deshaun Watson, who has suffered two consecutive Achilles injuries. They will need a rookie quarterback to fill in and eventually assume his place. 

On the Giants’ end, general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll have their backs against the wall in 2025 and didn’t hit on their preferred veteran choice of Stafford in a trade with the Rams. 

They will likely add a veteran from the remaining pool, with Aaron Rodgers reportedly earning some consideration to assist their rookie at the least. However, they want to make a big swing in the offseason, and that goal now turns toward which rookie they will breed for the future. 

That has always seemed like the role for Sanders, whom the organization has scouted closely from his last college season at Colorado to the combine, where Sanders was among those the Giants met with. 

Perhaps those whiteboard conversations behind closed doors revealed something bigger to the Giants about Ward, who many draft analysts project will be the first quarterback to go off the board. With the lucrative draft capital they have at their disposal, they could try to outpace the Browns for an agreement to move up the two spots and have their perfect choice of either player. 

If only it were that easy for the Giants, though. Even if they are ready to compete with what Cleveland can offer, Yates also believes there could be some additional action lurking from teams behind them, like the Las Vegas Raiders and New York Jets, each new quarterback search party member. 

“I think we will have some traded at the top of the draft,” Yates said. “It reminds me of where we were in picks 9 through 12 last year, where at No. 10, the Jets ended up trading back to No. 11 with the Vikings.

“We were all saying, ‘Why would you move up one spot?’ It was just to beat out the Broncos and ensure that Denver didn’t get ahead of the Vikings to draft J.J. McCarthy, who we now know was their target.

“That could happen at the top…if the Giants and the Raiders don’t land a veteran quarterback, then they need a draft one early. The Jets might be in the same boat…they could call the Jaguars and try to get ahead of Vegas, and that could cause a chain reaction that leads to Vegas calling the Patriots and saying ‘we’re trying to get back ahead of the Jets.’”

There will be many more rumors and smokescreens to come that could change the thinking and strategies of each team before the draft. With each free agent option that doesn’t fall in their laps, the price for landing that premier novice passer could get more expensive for the Giants.

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Stephen Lebitsch
STEPHEN LEBITSCH

“Stephen Lebitsch is a graduate of Fordham University, Class of 2021, where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Communications (with a minor in Sports Journalism) and spent three years as a staff writer for The Fordham Ram. With his education and immense passion for the space, he is looking to transfer his knowledge and talents into a career in the sports media industry. Along with his work for the FanNation network and Giants Country, Stephen’s stops include Minute Media and Talking Points Sports.

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