ESPN sends an important offseason warning to the New York Giants
This offseason is an extremely important one for New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen. Near the end of last season, it was uncertain whether Daboll and Schoen would return for the 2025 season after going 3-14 in 2024. Giants owner John Mara, however, announced the day after the regular […]
This offseason is an extremely important one for New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen.
Near the end of last season, it was uncertain whether Daboll and Schoen would return for the 2025 season after going 3-14 in 2024.
Giants owner John Mara, however, announced the day after the regular season ended that Daboll and Schoen will return in 2025.
New York will need to show some serious improvement in 2025, though, for Daboll and Schoen to return in 2026.
The Giants' biggest offseason task is figuring out their quarterback situation after moving on from Daniel Jones last year. New York, which has the No. 3 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, could choose to either draft a quarterback, trade for a quarterback, or sign a "bridge quarterback" via free agency.
One popular offseason suggestion for the Giants is to trade for Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford.
Stafford, who turned 37 earlier this month, could be traded this offseason if he and the Rams can't come to an agreement on a restructured contract.
The idea of the Giants trading for Stafford is popular with some folks in the media, but ESPN's Aaron Schatz thinks it's a bad idea for New York.
Schatz made some "bold offseason suggestions" for each NFL team and his suggestion for the Giants is "Don't trade for quarterback Matthew Stafford".
From ESPN: There is a lot of discussion of Stafford getting traded by the Rams, with New York as the most likely destination. Some of this talk is based on a relative, as Stafford's brother-in-law Chad Hall is the Giants' new assistant quarterbacks coach. Obviously, the Giants need a quarterback, and Stafford is still playing at a high level.
But are the Giants just a veteran quarterback away from winning? The best-case scenario for adding Stafford is probably a wild-card team in a difficult division where the Eagles just won the Super Bowl, the Commanders went to the NFC Championship Game, and the Cowboys will likely rebound with a healthy Dak Prescott. Stafford might help everyone in New York keep their jobs for another year, but that's not a bold move. It's not the kind of move that will build a Super Bowl contender for the Giants.
Instead, the Giants need to sit at No. 3 in the draft and hope that at least one of the two teams ahead of them doesn't take a quarterback. Shedeur Sanders and Cam Ward come with upsides that could make the Giants serious contenders in the future. It's not likely to happen immediately — neither Ward nor Sanders is seen as good as last season's six first-round quarterbacks — but it's a shot the Giants really need to take if they want to be bold and build a winner.
Stafford definitely isn't a longterm answer for the Giants. And he's not necessarily a "sure thing" at this point in his career, either. There's no guarantee that he would find instant success in New York's offense.
I think there would be value in bringing Stafford in via trade while also drafting a quarterback in the first round (similar to the Kurt Warner/Eli Manning setup the Giants had in 2004). But that could be difficult for New York to pull off depending on what kind of return the Rams are asking for in a deal for Stafford.
It's going to be an interesting and important offseason for the Giants. I'm sure this is a decision that Daboll and Schoen will spend plenty of time agonizing over for the next couple of months.
