By now, everyone should be aware that the Baltimore Ravens have traded Joe Flacco to the Denver Broncos for a mid-round draft pick, in an unsurprising move to commit to second year quarterback Lamar Jackson. The trade has some implications for quarterback-needy teams because it means that Broncos quarterback Case Keenum is likely to move on before the season starts, now that Denver has their man for at least the next few years.
The New York Giants are one of those teams, but that doesn’t mean they should consider Keenum as a legitimate option. It’s not that Keenum is the worst quarterback in the league or that he can’t win some games with the Giants if a move was made, but at this point, there’s other things that the Giants should focus on.
Keenum was actually pretty decent last season. An 11-3 record as a starter, after all, is better than what the Giants were able to get out of their starter this season, and Keenum threw 3,890 yards and 18 touchdowns during that span. But if you asked people whether or not you could win a Super Bowl with Case Keenum, how many of them would say yes? Those numbers are good enough, but the Giants don’t need someone that’s good enough right now.
The Giants have won Super Bowls through having a franchise quarterback, Eli Manning, and the recent success of the Patriots should further show the value of a franchise quarterback. Stopgap quarterbacks have their place, yes, but the Giants aren’t in a position right now where they have to rely on a player who will likely be off the team in two to three years. They still have Manning on the roster, and a chance to draft a successor that can last for a longer time as a starter, and who can lead the team back to the playoffs.
That’s not to say that Dwayne Haskins Jr. or Kyler Murray are definitely the players that will lead the team in the future, but the point is that we don’t know yet. The Giants can either think of the future and they can bank on a rookie succeeding after spending some time learning under Eli Manning, or they can settle for a player that is good enough but is never going to be recognized as great. Some teams have to settle for players like that because they don’t have the options.
The Giants, though, have a choice on what to focus on. And it would be disappointing if they passed on a very promising player and instead settled for a player that is considered mid-level but not a player who will stick around as a long-term solution to the team’s quarterback problems.