Respected NFL Head Coach Glad Not to Be in the Quarterback Market This Year

If any head coach in the NFL knows a thing or two about scouting and developing quarterbacks, it’s Sean Payton of the Denver Broncos.

And Payton, who managed to get his franchise quarterback for the foreseeable future in Bo Nix, certainly doesn’t sound like a man who envies teams like the New York Giants, who are in the market for their long-term franchise signal caller.

“I appreciate not being in that quarterback market. That’s difficult,” Payton said at Monday morning's AFC head coaches breakfast. “We were talking last night—[General Manager] George [Paton] and [Owner & CEO] Greg [Penner]—obviously there’s a lot of pressure to get that right.

“When you don’t have it right, it’s one of those positions where it can kind of consume you as an organization.”

No one knows that more than Giants general manager Joe Schoen, who tried to trade up for one of Drake Maye or Jayden Daniels last year only to be rejected by the Patriots, who drafted in front of the Giants.

Rather than take a swing at another prospect in what was a historically deep and talented quarterbacks group, Schoen decided to put his eggs into Daniel Jones’s basket with the hope that head coach Brian Daboll, also regarded as a quarterback whisperer, might be able to help Jones regain his competent form from 2022.

Of course, that didn’t happen. The Giants cut Jones ten weeks into last season and two years into the four-year, $160 million contract he signed after that 2022 season, which saw the Giants record their first winning record and postseason berth since 2016 and their first postseason win since 2011.

With Schoen and Daboll having been granted a mulligan by team ownership despite the Giants record regressing since that surprising 2022 season, Schoen was all set to trade away some draft assets and pay Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford to come riding in from Los Angeles to be the team’s franchise quarterback for at least the foreseeable future.

That planned overture strongly suggested that the Giants were likely not too enthralled with this year’s quarterback class.

Since Stafford's decision to remain with the Rams rather than approve a trade did not result in a deal, the Giants were left having to pick up the pieces and ponder their next move, which was to bring in a veteran.

Aaron Rodgers's name was floated as a possibility. However, the meticulous Rodgers, who visited with the Steelers a couple weeks ago and is still trying to decide what he wants to do, is not believed to have visited with the Giants believed to have visited with the Giants.

Wilson, who visited with the Giants last year, was largely thought to be the Giants' veteran backup plan. Still, when the team signed Winston to a two-year deal, that initially gave people some pause until it was revealed that Winston's contract was a backup as far as money goes.

Regardless, neither Wilson or Wisnton are the long-term answer, leaving people to believe that the quarterback needy Giants intend to draft a quarterback in the first round, where it's looking like Colorado's Shedeur Sanders should be available for the Giants if they remain at No. 3.

But Schoen, in speaking with reporters at the league meetings, seemed to prefutethat idea.

“You want to be able to plug in a quarterback for the next 15 years, but there's got to be one available,” Schoen said, adding, “They've got to check a lot of boxes.”

And if there isn’t a guy in the first round? Schoen said he’s not going to force a pick just for the sake of it, adding, "We can go any which direction (in the first round of the draft)."

For the time being, the Giants have taken a different approach by adding Russell Wilson as their projected starter and Jameis Winston as the backup.

The unusual double-dipping of two veteran signal callers with starting experience, while not backbreaking in terms of money spent, seems as strong of an indicator as any of what the Giants might think of this year’s projected first-round group of quarterbacks after Miami’s Cam Ward, who is projected to go to the Titans at No. 1 overall.

Payton, who coached Winston in New Orleans and Wilson in Denver, said he had good experiences working with both.

“I think they’re passionate about playing. I think they’re very passionate workers about playing. I would say they’re football-driven, which is important.”

But he also admitted that the two signal callers have very different personalities.

“That’ll be interesting,” Payton said of the Giants pairing. “Jameis is infectious. A lot of times, you hear him before you see him. That’s not a bad thing. And Russ is internally driven-- someone who you see the work ethic.

“I think it will be a good room,” he added.

Schoen said the Giants' current plan is for Wilson to take the first-team reps when the team begins its on-field spring workouts in May.

Whether those workouts will ultimately include a rookie drafted at some point in the process remains to be seen.

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