The New York Giants decided to run things back with the regime of general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll, but it’s clear the pressure is on.
During his year-end press conference, co-owner John Mara expressed frustration with losing and wouldn’t commit to Schoen or Daboll beyond the 2025 season. While that doesn’t necessarily make them lame ducks, it does mean their situation is fluid.
Schoen has promised not to risk the future of the organization in an attempt to save his job, but that’s easier said than done. Knowing he could get the boot a year from now, will that lead to some moves of desperation?
Jaime Eisner of the Draft Network certainly thinks so.
In his latest mock draft, Eisner has the Giants mortgaging their entire future by trading up to the No. 1 overall pick to select Miami quarterback Cam Ward. In doing so, they lose almost all of their valuable 2025 NFL draft assets and some of their 2026 draft assets.
1. New York Giants
Cam Ward, QB, MiamiTrade:
NYG receives: 1.1
TEN receives: 1.3, 2.34, 3.65, 2026 2ndGeneral manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll have been given one more chance to get it right in New York. I don’t believe they’ll spend their ninth life with Russell Wilson, Justin Fields, Jimmy Garoppolo, or Jameis Winston as their starting quarterback. That means they need to be aggressive and move up to get “their guy.” Schoen and director of player personnel Tim McDonnell already have one in-person viewing of Ward. The Miami quarterback’s potential upside is the highest in the class.
For a team with so many holes, giving up their first three picks plus a second-round pick in 2026 seems preposterous for a quarterback who likely wouldn’t have been ranked among the top three or four just a year ago.
The other issue with this scenario are reports that Schoen & Co. prefer Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders to Ward. But even if you substitute Sanders for Ward in this mock, it’s still a devastating blow to the team’s depth and future draft assets.
This is not a situation the Giants can force. And a trade like the one Eisner proposes is the exact type of Hail Mary move Schoen promised not to make.
