The New York Giants will cast a wide net to find their next starting quarterback this offseason. After benching Daniel Jones during the bye week, it’s evident that the Giants’ front office will be all in on finding their next franchise quarterback in 2025.
Most mock drafts have the G-Men taking a signal-caller with their first-round draft pick. However, one recent projection had them going in a different direction — a direction that would allow them to address their need at quarterback in free agency while taking the best player available in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft.
Could the Giants address the quarterback position in free agency?
In a recent mock draft episode from the NFL Stock Exchange podcast by Trevor Sikkema and Connor Rogers, the hosts of the show had the Giants foregoing the chance to draft a first-round quarterback under the notion that they had addressed the position already in free agency.
Picking fifth overall in this mock draft, the top quarterback prospects are expected to be just out of reach for the Giants. Alabama’s Jalen Milroe was still on the board, however, questions about whether or not he could make an immediate impact as a starter deterred the selection. For that reason, Sikkema and Rogers projected that the G-Men would find their next starting signal-caller by way of free agency:
“Do they really want Milroe to be the guy that they have all those chips on?” Sikkema questioned. “Because, I think Milroe can be really good in the NFL. Is he going to be good next year? I don’t know. So I almost feel like this is a team that is much more confident and more confident selling out for Sam Darnold or selling out for even Justin Fields.”
Minnesota Vikings QB Sam Darnold and Pittsburgh Steelers QB Justin Fields are expected to be two of the top free-agent quarterbacks available in the offseason. While they’re mostly viewed as high-end bridge quarterbacks, Sikkema argued that signing such a categorized signal-caller might make more sense for a head coach and general manager regime that is on the hot seat and needs to win games to keep their jobs.
“Would you rather take a quarterback who is going to take a little bit of time to develop and not give him the time to develop? Because I think that’s the worse answer,” Sikkema said. “So I’m actually going to say that the Giants go after a free-agent quarterback.
Adding a veteran quarterback under center could be a wise strategic move for New York. This would allow them to take the best player available in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft regardless of position. Even if they sign a veteran quarterback, they could still draft one, too, treating the veteran as a bridge to hold in place before the rookie is developed and ready to become the starter. Or the Giants could address another major position of weakness.
Giants add defensive talent in 2025 mock draft with free-agent QB signed
After projecting a free-agent quarterback to the Giants, Sikkema and Rogers decided to address cornerback with their first-round selection in the mock draft. With the fifth overall pick, they had the Giants taking Michigan’s Will Johnson.
“Man, just the secondary overall, they gotta get better in the secondary,” Sikkema explained. “So we’re going veteran quarterback route here in this mock draft, and I’m going Wil Johnson here at No. 5.”
Johnson is a prototypical, 6-foot-2, 202-pound cornerback with a championship pedigree as a key cog in Michigan’s defensive success en route to a National Championship in the 2023-24 season. He was ranked as the best cornerback in college football prior to the 2024 season following a consensus first-team All-Big Ten selection in 2023.
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He allowed just a 29.1 passer rating into his coverage as a sophomore and has been solid again as a junior. Johnson has recorded two interceptions this season, both being pick-sixes, along with three pass defenses and 14 combined tackles.
The Giants have a young and inexperienced secondary. Adding Johnson in the first round might not change that much, however, he adds more high-end talent to the unit that is currently dealing with some struggles from 2023 first-round pick Deonte Banks. Adding Johnson on the opposite boundary would help take some pressure off of Banks and give the G-Men an exciting cornerback duo to build around for years to come.
