Giants could have these options as they decide on their next quarterback
(L-R) Justin Fields of the Steelers, Cam Ward of Miami and Sam Darnold of the Vikings all could be options for the Giants next season. Credit: AP
Who’s next?
That’s the question Giants fans — and the Giants themselves, frankly — are asking regarding the quarterback position. As the NFL has shown during the last decade or so, teams can’t compete without having a premier talent at that position. To build themselves into contenders, the Giants need to find not just a solid player for this most important spot on the roster but a superstar . . . either budding or already formed.
Assuming general manager Joe Schoen and coach Brian Daboll retain their jobs once this season is over — Giants co-owner John Mara said last month that he is inclined to have them back, but if this season of debacles and embarrassments continues to spiral, he may be forced to change his stance — they will be the ones deciding to whom the franchise turns next. Given their clear miss on assessing and developing Daniel Jones, it almost certainly will be their last chance to give the Giants a franchise quarterback.
Should they start over with a rookie? Does the organization have the patience for that? Or should they spend big money in free agency and bring in a veteran? Might they give up a boatload of draft picks for a proven winner?
Here, then, are some of the options they will be evaluating and discussing in the coming months from the college and NFL ranks.
(Oh, and keep this list handy . . . the Jets and their fans probably will need it at some point very soon too!)
Cam Ward: The University of Miami quarterback doesn’t have the size and strength of Josh Allen or the zippy elusiveness of Lamar Jackson, but he comes close to both. He’s also a strong passer with a willingness to trust his receivers and take chances in tight windows. All of that sounds terrific, but there are some sloppy elements to his game. He’ll likely be the first quarterback taken, which means if the Giants want him, they’ll either have to lose a bunch more games this season or figure out how to trade up.
Shedeur Sanders: The last time the Giants hit gold on a quarterback, they were buying into a name brand. Will the Sanders line do for them what the Mannings once did? The University of Colorado quarterback actually is more of a traditional-style player than his oversized personality would suggest: very good at pinpointing targets from the pocket, not as dynamic on the move or running with the ball as NFL quarterbacks playing behind so-so offensive lines probably need to be. And then there is the Deion baggage. Coach Prime ain’t Archie. If the Giants draft Shedeur, they have to be all in on the entire package.
Carson Beck: This past summer, NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah said of the Georgia quarterback: “Considering his size, talent and play style, he reminds me of Eli Manning coming out of Ole Miss.” For many in the organization, that could mean one thing — Sold! But Beck’s stock has fallen with a disappointing season. Reaching for him in the first round would, at this point, seem like a big mistake.
Sam Darnold: If only the Giants had been able to sign him this past year. The Vikings brought him in to help guide J.J. McCarthy through his rookie season, but when McCarthy got hurt in training camp, the former Jet/former Panther/former 49er took over as the starter and has Minnesota in good position for a playoff run. Darnold, though, will be asking for (and possibly getting) a huge contract as a free agent this offseason. While he’d be a good fit football-wise, the Giants probably should shy away from his pricetag and concentrate on finding the next Sam Darnold rather than the actual one.
Justin Fields: What a full-circle moment it would be if Fields, the player selected with the 11th overall draft pick the Giants traded to the Bears in 2021, wound up with them after everything that has happened to him and them. Fields probably has the best mix of experience and potential of all the options. He’s been a starter for the Bears and the Steelers and is only 25 years old. There are risks, naturally. Fields hasn’t played up to expectations yet. But he hasn’t had an offensive coach with a quarterback-developing track record like Daboll, either.
Trey Lance: This would be something of a blind stab, given that Lance hasn’t played in a regular-season game since Week 2 in 2022. He was beaten out of a job (and a roster spot as a first-round pick) by Brock Purdy in San Francisco and hasn’t even been able to get on the field in Dallas with the injury to Dak Prescott. Still, Daboll and Schoen always say the pre-draft work they do on quarterbacks remains valuable years later, and if they liked what they saw when he came out of North Dakota State, they might be willing to roll the dice on him now.
Tommy DeVito: We’ll find out soon enough where DeVito stands on this list . . . or if he’ll be on it at all come the offseason. The Giants like his swagger and passion and attitude. He plays the position the way you imagine Daboll would if he could. But he might not be able to actually play much better than Daboll would, which is not ideal. Regardless, he’ll get first crack at being Daniel Jones’ replacement on Sunday. Even if he’s just mediocre for the rest of this season, that could be enough to earn him consideration as the backup next season and tilt the scales toward the acquisition of a veteran rather than a rookie.
Jimmy Garoppolo: He’s still in the league? Yep. He’s the backup for the Rams, which means he’s spent this season soaking up all that Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford have to offer. He also began his career in New England, where he learned from Tom Brady and played on teams for which the tight ends coach was . . . Brian Daboll. Garoppolo isn’t the player you put the franchise’s future into, but he can be a good place-holder if the Giants want to develop a rookie at a slower pace or decide they’d rather take their chances on a draft pick in 2026, when the class figures to be a little stronger at that position.
Joe Burrow: It sounds absurd, we know, but a quick peek at the body language of a quarterback who is playing at an MVP level but stuck on a team that is 4-7 suggests that Joe Cool might be open to a change of scenery. And if the notoriously frugal Bengals, who already traded away Joe Mixon last year, decide they aren’t going to invest in Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, it might be time for a complete rebuild in Cincinnati. It would take a load of draft picks to pry away a quarterback in his prime — there aren’t many comps to even project what it would cost — but the Giants do have a little bit of a history, ancient though it may be, of doing that with Fran Tarkenton and Y.A. Tittle.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.