In recent weeks, almost all of the NFL Draft speculation has focused on which quarterbacks will be selected and in what order, after USC’s Caleb Williams went off the board with the Bears’ No. 1 pick . The Washington Commanders are expected to take a quarterback at No. 2, and while the New England Patriots are also looking for a QB at No. 3, several teams are fighting to reach that spot and/or the Cardinals Arizona. ‘ choose No. 4 to land the QB of their choice.
One of these rumored teams is the New York Giants. General Manager Joe Schoen recognized as much earlier this month, while saying the team could go in a different direction. The Giants currently have the 6th overall pick and should likely land Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye and JJ McCarthy who are available at #3 or 4.
According to The Athletic, however, Giants owners may be reluctant to make that move after the team paid Daniel Jones a four-year, $160 million contract last offseason. By Diane Russini:
That general manager, Joe Schoen, didn’t draft Daniel Jones, but he gave him that contract last year. There was a time when I was looking to see if they were willing to trade. There was some teasing that pushed the Giants to go get a quarterback. It was explained to me that it was just a very tough sell on ownership after giving Daniel Jones that contract last year that we were now going to give up assets to replace a quarterback that we’re paying $40 million for. . I think there is a very small chance that they will. I think there’s a better chance they trade for more picks.
This is obviously not a good team building process. This is called the sunk cost fallacy, where you feel like you have to double down on a previous move because it cost you a lot to make that move.
Jones is expected to hit the Giants’ books for $47.9 million in 2024 and $41.6 million in 2025, but the Giants can trim $19.4 million off that 2025 figure by releasing Jones after this season, or $30.5 million by designating it as post-June 1. released next year. Going on a rookie contract schedule would allow the Giants to better build their roster, and with as many needs as they currently have, it could be a good idea. If owners don’t want to move in that direction, it’s unlikely to happen.
That makes it especially noteworthy that earlier this offseason, owner John Mara expressed a lot of confidence in Jones.
“I still have a lot of confidence in Daniel,” Mara said. by NFL Media. “I think the Daniel we saw in 2022 is the real deal. Last year he was injured, a lot of his offensive linemen were injured, and things just didn’t work out in our sense. But I still have all the confidence in the world that I hope he can participate in training camp, and yes, I think we all expect him to be a starter in 2024.
However, Mara also said he would be willing to support a move up the board if the front office had enough confidence to make it happen. “If they fall in love with a quarterback and think it’s worth picking No. 6 or moving up, I would certainly support that,” Mara said at the time, according to ESPN.
It remains to be seen how the early picks pan out, but the Giants are clearly in the market for a pass rusher, even if they have a ton of other needs to fill. The more pressing question is whether and how they are able to do so.
