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Jordan Raanan, ESPN Staff Writer
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Despite signing Daniel Jones to a $160 million contract last year, New York Giants general manager Joe Schon and coach Brian Daboll have no choice but to play quarterback if they want. He has received the green light from the owner to draft him.
The Giants currently hold the No. 6 pick in the draft for a particularly strong quarterback.
“If they fall in love with a quarterback and believe they're worthy of going with No. 6 or moving up, I'd definitely go for it,” owner John Mara said Monday at the NFL owners conference. I will support it,” he said.
Schoen has already made it clear the team is considering a quarterback with at least a top pick, as well as Jones, who is coming off a season with two serious injuries. He is currently rehabbing a torn ACL. The Giants have already invited Michigan's JJ McCarthy and North Carolina's Drake Maye to visit. Schoen attended Caleb Williams' pro day at the University of Southern California last week with director of player personnel Tim McDonnell. Meanwhile, assistant general manager Brandon Brown and quarterbacks coach Shea Tierney were in attendance at McCarthy's pro day in Ann Arbor.
“I know they’re looking at quarterback, you’ve seen it,” Mara said. “They were part of the Pro Day, and we had some of those players as well. They're not even close to finalizing what direction we're going to go. Those discussions are expected to take place over the next few weeks. ”
Mara said he was told by the front office that “this is the most talented group.” [of quarterbacks] It will come out in a few years. ”
Regardless of the outcome, the expectation remains that Jones, if healthy, will be the Giants' Week 1 starter. Shane said Monday that Jones has started running track and field and he hasn't had any setbacks.
Mara was adamant that she still believed Jones. The Giants' owner detailed why Jones' 2023 season, in which he threw only two touchdown passes, was such a disaster. He pointed to injuries, inability to block, and overall lack of offensive talent on the field. In his assessment, that made the situation unsustainable.
Even if the Giants draft a quarterback this year, Mara doesn't think it means giving up on Jones.
“No, I don't think so,” Mara said. “Why not let them both compete? Let them both compete and let the better one win.”
This article says a lot about Giants ownership that the Giants might even go down this path. They committed to $82 million guaranteed, but if they waive Jones after this season, they'll take a $22 million dead money hit.
Mara insists it doesn't influence their decision.
“If they had a conviction against a QB and they fell in love with a QB, I don’t think there would be any consequences,” he said. “I'm never going to get in their way.”
This is all hypothetical at this point. It's possible that the Giants won't be able to get their desired quarterback in this draft. Schoen was referring to comments made by Los Angeles Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh earlier in the day in which the former Michigan coach said a top-four pick could be a quarterback. That would likely be Williams, LSU's Jaden Daniels, Maye and McCarthy. That would put the Chargers in fifth place and the Giants in sixth place, an unenviable situation.
The general consensus at this point is that the top three players from the Chicago Bears, Washington Commanders and New England Patriots will be the quarterback. Shane didn't buy into the idea that none of those pickups were for sale.
“I wouldn't say that,” he said. “No one's slamming the door. I think everyone's going to listen.”
Schoen said there's still a chance the Giants move up, fall back or stay in sixth place. everything is on the table.
That will be his and Daboll's decision. In fact, Mara resented the idea that she was an intrusive owner.
“We let the general manager and head coach create the roster. We've operated the same way here for years,” he said. “If they have a conviction on a player, I'm not going to get involved. I'm going to question them about it. I'm going to let them defend their position. But I'm not going to get involved and do some sort of That's the only time you use force.'' “The only thing that matters is whether I think it's a matter of off-field conduct. And that has happened. It was a very rare case.”
“In terms of them evaluating a player, if they're confident about a player and they want to draft that player or get him in free agency, I want to make sure they're both on the same page. It just means you have it.”
