Giants working out multiple QBs including Shedeur Sanders just before the NFL Draft
The New York Giants didn't exactly impress anyone with how they fixed their quarterback room this offseason.
Russell Wilson was an uninspiring one-year addition. Jameis Winston got backup money, and we know what he is as a quarterback. Tommy DeVito returns, so there's that too.
For a franchise that probably needs to show signs of life this season or risk a total reset, you'd like more long-term hope at quarterback. For most of the offseason the Giants hadn't shown any tangible signs that they were interested in a quarterback with the third pick or even beyond that, which made some sense because the quarterback class beyond Cam Ward is full of questions.
Then, in the final week before the NFL Draft, the Giants decided to take another look at multiple quarterbacks.
Earlier this week it was reported that the Giants would work out Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders in Boulder. Then came a report from SI.com's Albert Breer that they're also working out and meeting with Alabama's Jalen Milroe on Saturday and Louisville's Tyler Shough on Sunday.
That's an interesting development, though general manager Joe Schoen said that the private workouts are only coming late because of the way the pre-draft calendar fell. Are the Giants in the quarterback market, or do they just want other teams to believe they are?
Giants keeping all options openSchoen met with the media on Wednesday and kept all the team's options open. He said the Giants aren't desperate to draft a quarterback because they have Wilson and Winston.
"With the signing of those two players I think we put ourselves in a position where I don't think that's mandatory or something we have to do," Schoen said.
But clearly the Giants are looking closer into the quarterback class. NFL teams don't waste their time, especially less than a week before the draft starts.
Milroe and Shough aren't considered options early in the first round; they would either be late first-round candidates or early in the second round. The Giants have the second pick of the second round.
The Sanders workout is a little more interesting. Sanders' draft stock is hard to pin down. He could be a top 10 pick as the second quarterback off the board, or have a long slide next Thursday night. Maybe the Giants are preparing themselves in case Sanders falls.
"You would like to have a young franchise quarterback, any general manager would, everybody wants that," Schoen told the Giants media. "But the value has to be right or it doesn't matter."
Or maybe they're just trying to gain some leverage for a team that does like Sanders, or another quarterback early in the first round, and might get antsy to move up.
The New Orleans Saints are in a bind. News of Derek Carr's shoulder injury, and the possibility of him missing the 2025 season if he gets surgery, presumably changed the Saints' urgency level of drafting a quarterback. They draft ninth overall. If they really like a quarterback, the Giants poking around at some prospects in the few days leading up to the draft can't make them feel too comfortable. Maybe that was the point.
The Giants are also in an odd position. They draft third overall and if the Browns take Travis Hunter at second overall, the clear best player available is Penn State defensive end Abdul Carter. But the one thing the Giants have is a good defensive line. Schoen said you can never have enough pass rushers and he wouldn't pass on a generational talent, which will probably play out if the Giants don't trade down.
But perhaps the Giants will trade down. Or draft a quarterback, though perhaps the late quarterback workouts mean little. Or stay put and take Carter. It's hard to say, which is always the goal of a team heading into the draft.