Giants GM Joe Schoen prepared to take a few swings at solving quarterback problem
Giants general manager Joe Schoen speaks during a press conference at the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025. Credit: AP/Michael Conroy
INDIANAPOLIS — At a time of year when most teams speak as carefully, vaguely and generally as possible about their rosters, the Giants are in a spot where it’s pointless to even bluff coyness.
“We need a quarterback,” Joe Schoen said at the NFL Combine on Tuesday. “Everybody knows that.”
No one more than him, the general manager entering his fourth season with a team that has gotten increasingly less competitive in each of his previous years, with ownership that is running out of patience and a fan base that already has, and a pretty big whiff on his record after giving a four-year contract to Daniel Jones that lasted less than two.
So one way or another Schoen plans to deliver one — possibly two — quarterbacks in the coming weeks and months. The person who winds up taking the first snap of the 2025 season is almost certainly not yet on the team.
Although the pressures and mechanics of it all may be complex, Schoen’s overall philosophy is a simple one.
“I’m for taking swings at that position,” he said. “It’s the most important position and it’s hard to find them, so, keep swinging until you find one.”
Of course if he doesn’t hit this time around, it may not be his at-bat before long. He’s certainly down in the count.
Still, Schoen said he often reflects on John Schneider’s tenure with the Seahawks that included such misses as trading for Charlie Whitehurst and giving Matt Flynn a big contract before he drafted Russell Wilson in the third round and won a Super Bowl with him shortly afterward.
Right now, the Giants are open to all avenues. That includes blockbuster trades (Matthew Stafford of the Rams is the most intriguing possibility there having recently been granted permission from his team to test his market), free-agent splashes (Sam Darnold), or moving up or down in the draft from their current slot with the third overall pick. Perhaps it will be a combination of them.
Schoen certainly made it sound as if the Giants will have a potential Game 1 starter on the roster shortly after free agency opens in about two weeks and that will impact how the team approaches the draft.
Who those players will be, though, is a mystery even to Schoen.
“That’s what keeps you up at night,” Schoen said. “You are trying to figure it out. You go through 9,000 different scenarios on what it looks like and you have to control what you can control. Some of it is out of your control, whether someone decides to go somewhere else for more money or somebody is not there when you pick. Whatever it is, there is uncertainty and you are trying to have contingency plans in place. If somebody is not there or you can’t sign somebody, what is next in the pecking order? We’re going through all of that right now.”
It's no secret that this Giants offseason will be defined by how that plays out. Team president and CEO John Mara called the quarterback search “the top priority” for the coming months when he spoke at the end of the regular season. Coach Brian Daboll, following a rare win over the Colts in Week 17, noted how important play from the position is to the team’s success.
“That's how the quarterback needs to perform,” Daboll said after Drew Lock’s five-touchdown performance. “If you get good quarterback play, you have an opportunity in every game.”
“It’s important however we address it that the play has to be better than what it’s been,” Schoen said. “It’d be nice to have one guy out there who can give you the best chance to win games and also stay healthy. We need better play out of that position than we’ve had."
While Schoen said ideally he’d like to have a young quarterback in place to build around for the next 15 years, there may not be one in this draft class.
“We are looking for the best player available who can help us win games in 2025,” he said.
It’s swing time.
Notes & quotes: Schoen said he was not concerned that some top quarterbacks including Shedeur Sanders will not throw at the Combine. “If they throw that’s great,” he said. “I’m never going to downgrade one for not throwing and if they don’t have a great throwing session I’m not going to downgrade them for that either because they’ve never thrown to these guys . . . If a guy decides he wants to throw at his pro day, I’m OK with that.” . . . Schoen said the Giants feel comfortable with four of their returning offensive linemen (he said Andrew Thomas, who missed time with foot surgery, is out of his boot and looks “humongous” in the weight room), but they will look to pick up a guard in free agency. He said there have not been any discussions about moving Evan Neal from tackle to guard but that may change depending on whether the Giants can sign a starter . . . Schoen said he has not spoken with Daboll about who will handle the offensive playcalling duties this coming season, a topic Daboll and Mara both said would be discussed this offseason.
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.
