Hope springs eternal in the NFL offseason, as all the scorecards are set back to zero, and every team tries to figure out how to engineer a playoff run. The prospects of reaching the postseason are more realistic for some franchises than others, but the large amount of moving pieces during the NFL offseason can change a team’s outlook in a hurry.
It is not a stretch to say that the Giants had the worst collection of starting quarterbacks of any team in the NFL last season. Luckily for the Giants, they should have multiple legitimate QB options available to help them compete in 2025. Whether they should use the third-overall pick in order to acquire their next QB will be a hot topic of debate, as the team has plenty of needs on both sides of the ball. Entering a make-or-break year, the Giants’ decision-makers can’t afford any missteps if they want to keep their jobs past 2025.
All salary cap figures are from Over The Cap.
Projected free agent contract values are from Spotrac.
Projected draft capital is from NFL Mock Draft Database.
New York Giants
2025 Effective Cap Space: $22.2M
Top-100 Picks in the 2025 Draft: 3, 34, 65, 99*
Total Number of Picks in the 2025 Draft: 8
* Compensatory Pick
Going Older or Younger at QB?
The Giants have remained adamant this offseason that they want to add a veteran QB to their roster. It was no secret that the team was pursuing a trade for Matthew Stafford before the QB ultimately restructured his contract to stay in Los Angeles. Now it appears that the best option available to them is a QB already residing in the New York area: Aaron Rodgers.
Rodgers hit the open market at the start of the new league year with a post-June-1 cut designation. Already 41 years old, Rodgers’ declining production last season will not lead him to the top of the MVP odds for 2025, but there is not much of a debate that he represents an upgrade over every QB the Giants put out on the field last season. If Rodgers gets a better opportunity to play for a contender elsewhere — with current rumors suggesting Minnesota is his preferred destination — Russell Wilson could make for a solid backup plan, with the 2024 Steelers QB already having visited New York to talk with the Giants’ front office.
If the team fails to sign Rodgers or Wilson, their best opportunity to secure a viable starting QB for 2025 lies in the draft. Shedeur Sanders is almost certainly going to be available when the Giants are on the clock with the third-overall pick, but his draft stock has seen a significant drop since the college football season ended. There is always a chance that Cam Ward falls to the Giants’ pick as well. But if the team wants to make sure they land this year’s top rookie QB, they should be willing to trade up to the first-overall pick.
In the 2025 RotoViz Rookie Draft Guide, Shawn Siegele outlined how strong of a prospect Ward proved to be over his final two college seasons:
In evaluating QBs, we start with Travis May’s recommendation to clean up the data by removing play action and jet motion, and to focus on passes at least 6 yards down the field. Ward impresses just in the sheer number of these passes he’s thrown. Among Power conference passers, his 180 yards per game in 2023 and 174 yards per game in 2024 rank No. 1 and No. 2.
Ward’s 2024 was also impressively efficient. He posted the second-highest boom rate and the second-lowest bust rate, reinforcing the idea that he thrives on the most representative types of throws.
Get even more rookie content with the 2025 RotoViz Rookie Draft Guide, featuring over 90 prospect profiles by Shawn Siegele, rankings and tiers, and advanced metrics from Sports Info Solutions. For a limited time only, purchasers of the Rookie Guide can also save $29.99 off the cost of a new 1-year RotoViz subscription.
It is no secret that the Titans are open to moving back from the top of the draft, and one of the players they are targeting would likely still be available with the third pick. Seeing the Giants give up an additional Day-2 pick to move two spots may be steep, but the certainty of securing a potential franchise QB is worth it.
Regardless of who the starting QB for the Giants ends up being in 2025, the pass blocking of the offensive line will need to improve in order for them to find success. The Giants currently have four of five starters returning from an offensive line that was dead last in points earned per passing snap and tied for the worst in the NFL in blown pass block percentage. The team has added tackles Stone Forsythe and James Hudson in free agency, but neither would probably be able to usurp Andrew Thomas or Evan Neal for a starting spot on the outside. Whether it is an aging veteran or a rookie under center for the Giants in 2025, it will be hard to find success if they are forced to run for their life every time they drop back to pass.
Who Can Help Take Pressure Off of Malik Nabers?
Between a lack of talent at QB and routinely crumbling pass protection, it is a shock that Malik Nabers was able to finish as the PPR WR6 in his rookie season.
Wan’Dale Robinson’s WR36 season looks good on the surface until we realize that it came attached to a finish as the WR248 in overall FPOE. To make matters worse, his WR13 rank in expected points didn’t result in a single WR1 finish and only three weeks as a WR2.
