INDIANAPOLIS — As the world saw on “Hard Knocks” last year, New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen preps for his annual news conference at the NFL Scouting Combine to ensure he avoids revealing, well, anything. So, it wasn’t surprising Schoen swiftly brushed aside any direct questions about the Giants’ interest in trading for Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford.
But despite Schoen’s best efforts to disguise his intentions, fragments of his outlook seeped out during his 30-minute session with reporters. One comment signaled that going all-in for the 37-year-old Stafford is firmly on the table.
“We’re going to look for the best player available that can help us win games in ’25,” Schoen said.
The emphasis of the 2025 season contrasts with co-owner John Mara’s message that the top priority of the offseason, “is to find our quarterback of the future.” Acquiring Stafford would not be a move made with the future in mind. However, he’s the best potential option for the present, which understandably is the focus for Schoen and coach Brian Daboll as they each enter their fourth season on the hot seat.
There are complications to acquiring Stafford, beginning with the fact that the Rams want to keep the quarterback who led them to a championship three years ago. There are major financial considerations involved, with Stafford’s desire for a significant raise on a contract that averages $40 million per year the only reason he could become available.
GO DEEPER
2025 NFL free-agency rankings top 150: Where do Aaron Rodgers, Tee Higgins, Sam Darnold fall?
That salary makes Stafford the 15th-highest-paid quarterback in the league, which isn’t commensurate with his status as a borderline top-five QB. But the Rams could balk at meeting Stafford’s reported asking price of at least $50 million per year. If the Rams, who went 10-7 and had a chance to beat the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles in the divisional round, decide against that type of investment in Stafford, one has to question the wisdom of the Giants, coming off a 3-14 season, spending so much.
The financial commitment doesn’t even account for the draft pick compensation that would be involved in a trade. The Giants wouldn’t consider giving up the No. 3 pick for Stafford in a trade. But the 34th pick at the top of the second round would be a premium asset that surely would be targeted by the Rams as a starting point in negotiations.
It’s hard to reconcile how giving up Day 2 pick(s) and a contract worth $50 million per year to a 37-year-old QB would make sense for a team in the Giants’ position. But Mara put Schoen in this corner by demanding immediate results when the regime was retained after last season. So, it can’t be surprising that Schoen’s priority is landing the best quarterback for 2025. And he has been insistent that poor quarterback play is the primary reason the Giants have won just nine games over the past two seasons.
“I think the quarterback elevates the rest of the roster,” Schoen said. “If you can score more points, then the defense and the defensive line can rush more. They’re not playing down seven, down 10 — whatever it is — where teams are in mixed downs or they can run the ball better. You get leads and they pin their ears back and get after it. It makes it a little bit easier on the defense.”
Even if the Giants don’t land Stafford, a veteran quarterback will be added by the time the new league year kicks off in mid-March. Schoen repeatedly mentioned that third-stringer Tommy DeVito, who will be re-signed as an exclusive rights free agent, is the only quarterback on the roster.
Another quarterback will likely be added in the draft. But how much the Giants invest in a veteran will set the table for their urgency in the draft.
If the Giants acquire Stafford, the plan would have to be for him to serve as the starter for at least two years. That could free up Schoen from feeling pressured to take a quarterback with the third pick. Instead, he could add a player at No. 3 to help immediately and then take a flier on a developmental quarterback later in the draft.
If the Giants strike out on Stafford, the other veterans are far less appealing as win-now options. Signing a bridge QB like Russell Wilson or Justin Fields would likely add urgency to take a quarterback at No. 3 — or earlier.
“We’re going to have to address the position somewhere,” Schoen said. “And even if you get a young quarterback, you’d like to have a vet in the room with them to show them the ropes and how to be a pro. So we’re looking at all different avenues. It’s ‘Hey, is this guy going to be really good for a young quarterback, or is this guy a starter?’ Can we get a guy in the draft, or if we do, should we have a guy who’s more of a guy that can develop and show a guy how to be a pro?
“We’re going to look at vets; we’re going to look at the draft; we’re going to look at trade candidates. We’re going to look under every rock to find the best prospect for us going into the 2025 season.”
GO DEEPER
Four Giants questions we’ll be looking to answer at the NFL combine
The offseason calendar complicates the process. Schoen said the Giants are in the “infancy” of their extensive evaluation process of the draft prospects. So they’re going to need to make the plunge with a veteran without knowing if any of the quarterbacks in this class are worthy of their top pick. And then, even if the Giants fall in love with a prospect, there’s no guarantee they can land their quarterback of choice since they have the No. 3 pick in a class with Miami’s Cam Ward and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders widely regarded as the only top options.
“Whoever gives us the best chance to win right now where we are,” Schoen said of his quarterback target. “As of today, I don’t know if one of those guys is going to be there (at No. 3) or if there’s one in this draft. We’re still going through that process. In theory, you take a rookie quarterback, you’re on the rookie deal for five years and where we are salary cap-wise, you can build around them. But you’ve got to make sure one of those guys are going to be there or they’re even in the draft.”
Such uncertainty didn’t exist a year ago. Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye were all viewed as worthy top picks at this stage of the process. There’s no guarantee the Giants’ evaluations will lead to a conviction to take Ward or Sanders with their first pick.
“You can’t manufacture these things,” Schoen said. “So if you draft one, and you don’t believe in who that player is just to say you did it — you’ve got to believe in who the player is and that they can be an eventual franchise quarterback.”
One of the most curious statements made by Schoen was that he’s a proponent of taking swings at quarterback.
“It’s the most important position, and it’s hard to find them,” Schoen said. “So, keep swinging. Keep swinging at the position until you find one.”
Schoen’s only quarterbacks swing was the whiff on Daniel Jones’ $160 million contract after the 2022 season. Schoen hasn’t taken a quarterback with any of his 24 picks in his first three drafts. That includes passing on Michael Penix Jr., J.J. McCarthy and Bo Nix, who all went immediately after the Giants took wide receiver Malik Nabers with the No. 6 pick last year, or electing not to take a late-round flier on a quarterback like Brock Purdy, Sam Howell or Joe Milton over the past three years.
It seems impossible for that streak to continue this year. But how big of a swing Schoen takes in the draft will largely be determined by how much he invests in a veteran in the coming weeks.
(Photo: Stacy Revere / Getty Images)
