The New York Giants have a chance to turn the page at the quarterback position and move on from Daniel Jones after the 2024 season. Given his financial liabilities and injury clause, which would pay him his entire 2025 salary if he sustains another season-ending injury, it is in the team’s best interest to reset the position and draft a rookie.
Of course, if the top four quarterbacks are off the board and the Giants want to stay at the 6th overall pick, they can walk away with one of the best receivers in the draft class, which certainly isn’t a bad consolation prize.
However, the New England Patriots need substantial roster-building capital, and the Giants can offer them a future first-round pick and a mid-round selection from this year to help support their cause. The Patriots walk away with a tier-1 receiver, but if not, they could consider moving back a second time to gain more draft capital. They would also add another first-round pick in 2025 to re-tool and build for the future.
Giants Mock Draft Scenario
New York Giants Receive: 3rd Overall Pick
In this mock draft, the Giants end up with a 3rd overall pick, allowing them to grab whichever quarterback falls, which at this point seems most likely to be Drake Maye out of UNC.
Maye has some flaws to his game, but considering he’s only 21 years old and has a prototypical quarterback frame at 6’4″ and 230 pounds, he makes a ton of sense for head coach Brian Daboll and his offense.
Daboll wants a gunslinger, and Maye doesn’t lack the aggressiveness he’s looking for. Last season, Maye tallied 3,608 yards, including 24 touchdowns and nine interceptions. However, he also added 582 rushing yards and nine touchdowns on the ground, so he certainly has a dual-threat capability.
Regarding his passing depth, Maye attempted 84 passes 20+ yards downfield, completing 40 for 1,452 yards and 13 touchdowns. With Maye helping refine his skill set and iron out some of his weaknesses, there’s no question he could be a star at the NFL level, and the Giants have to be aggressive in making that move. He has fantastic touch on his passes and has made a number of premium NFL throws at the collegiate level, so the tangible traits are there to work with.
At this point, the Giants simply need to target a quarterback with the upside to make a deep playoff push, and Maye has the leadership qualities and physical tools to get there.
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New England Patriots Receive: 2025 1st round pick, 2024 3rd round pick
To move up two spots, the Giants have to leverage their 2025 first-round pick and a third-round pick from this draft. The Patriots may want the Giants’ second-round pick at 47th overall. Still, their future first-round selection gives New England plenty of ammo to continue building and potentially securing a quarterback next year.
Normally, teams with rookie quarterbacks struggle to begin with, so the Patriots may see that selection as a quality asset for next year. In this instance, the Giants would maintain their second-round pick, allowing them to add a receiver in this draft class, and considering how deep the position is, it would be a luxury.
Moving next year‘s first-round selection should be easy since the team can get a maximum of nearly $30 million from cutting Daniel Jones, which will help supplement the loss of their draft pick.