The New York Giants have quite a few large chores to perform this offseason but none larger than finally locating a franchise-level quarterback.
They hold the third overall section in the 2025 NFL draft and have nearly $50 million in available salary cap space to deal with, but the pool to choose from is not the deepest.
Many ex-players have chimed in on what they believe the Giants should do this offseason. Former All-Pro and Super Bowl champ wide receiver Victor Cruz says the Giants should roll the dice on free agent Sam Darnold.
From RG.org:
In Cruz’s ideal scenario, he says the Giants should target Darnold as a stopgap quarterback before ultimately selecting Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning in the 2026 NFL Draft to be their longtime future franchise quarterback.
“I think he’s the perfect QB to go get,” says Cruz in a one-on-one interview with RG of Darnold while speaking on behalf of his partnership with Finish Ultimate. “You obviously have to pay him a little bit, but I think from a cap perspective, we can afford him. I think he could come in and then Arch Manning comes in (in 2026). He doesn’t necessarily have to start right away, he can learn from a guy like Sam Darnold.”
That is exactly what the Minnesota Vikings did last season. They drafted Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy in the first round and signed Darnold to a one-year, $10 million deal to serve as his mentor/backup.
That worked out well for the Vikings after McCarthy suffered a season-ending knee injury in preseason. The Vikings turned to Darnold and he led them to the playoffs with a 14-3 record.
The Giants will likely check in on Darnold as well as every other available option they have available to them. They are currently in the midst of scouting all and every eligible quarterback in the draft and they may very well luck into one of the top ones come April.
But they’ll need to add a veteran to the room as well. Even though Darnold crumbled down the stretch, he won’t come as cheap as he did in 2024 and it’s doubtful he’ll settle for another one-year deal.
Cruz likes what he’s seen from Darnold, and it’s not a bad idea, but the logistics of bringing him aboard just don’t seem to be right at this time.
