Report: Giants Have Done Significant Research on Oregon QB Justin Herbert

So what does that mean for the Giants and Daniel Jones?

A year ago, just before the 2019 deadline for college draft prospects to declare for the draft, there were strong whispers that the Giants, who were beginning to think about life after Eli Manning, were very interested in Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert.

Herbert, of course, returned to school for another year, and the Giants drafted Daniel Jones with the sixth overall pick in the 2019 draft. Now a year later, with Herbert in this year's draft class, the NFL Network's Ian Rapoport has reported that the Giants have spent "a lot of time" researching Herbert.

A draft tidbit to file away for Thursday: The #Giants have spent a lot of time researching #Oregon QB Justin Herbert, a process that’s included FaceTime conversations with coach Joe Judge, per me and @MikeGarafolo. NYG has been exhaustive in its draft prep at No. 4.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 20, 2020

What does this mean for the Giants and, more importantly, for Jones, the team's second-year signal-caller?

Probably nothing. While the Giants could go ahead and ship Jones out much like how the Cardinals sent Josh Rosen, their first-round pick, to Miami and brought in Kyler Murray to run new head coach Kliff Kingsbury's offense, that's unlikely to happen.

While it's true that Giants head coach Joe Judge has seemingly gone out of his way to avoid offering any opinions about Jones, let alone mention the former Duke star's name, that's all likely a motivational tactic.

From the Giants' front office perspective, general manager Dave Gettleman once said that if a team isn't investigating every available player in the draft, then he's not doing his team's board the justice it deserves.

But more importantly, the Giants reported interest in Herbert could be seen as a ploy to get one of Miami or the Chargers to trade places with the Giants in the first round. 

The scenario is a longshot, but it's not entirely out of the question considering the Giants are starting from scratch with their offensive and defensive schemes.

Further, it's been known that former head coach Pat Shurmur pounded the table for Jones, who last year struggled with ball security issues after he was anointed the permanent starter for the now-retired Eli Manning. 

But at the end of the day, it would be a surprise if the Giants gave upon Jones after one season, even if it was for a quarterback in whom they had a prior interest.