David Helman
NFL Reporter
The New York Giants, at the very least, will be more entertaining in 2025.
However far he might have fallen from his peak, Russell Wilson can still win games with a decent roster around him, as he demonstrated last year. Jameis Winston will be a media darling, providing midweek soundbites and game-day viral moments. If pressed into action, we know he can heave a touchdown — and an interception — or two.
For those reasons alone, the Giants’ decision-making this week makes sense. The brain trust of general manager Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll signed Winston to a two-year, $8 million deal over the weekend, and they followed that up Tuesday with a one-year deal for Wilson worth as much as $21 million, with $10.5 million of it guaranteed.
You don’t need to be an NFL executive to know the Giants are covering themselves if a quarterback prospect doesn’t fall to them at No. 3 overall in next month’s draft.
But what if these signings take them out of the top-five QB sweepstakes entirely? With one exception — the opportunity to draft Cam Ward — they should.
That’s what I find myself thinking in the wake of these decisions, as NFL clubs begin to leave free agency behind and focus on the draft.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not ready to advocate that the Giants are now contenders with these veteran signal-callers on their roster. Wilson’s limitations were on display as the Steelers sputtered to five straight losses and another wild-card exit last season. Winston’s career interception rate is an alarming 3.5%.
Still, it’s not hard to imagine the Giants being an improved team in 2025. Wilson’s performance in Pittsburgh might not have been inspiring, but 10 wins is a world away from what we’ve seen in New York recently. Ten wins in New York would buy Schoen and Daboll another year of job security, giving them time to give the quarterback dilemma a more long-term answer.
And that’s the most pressing issue in New York, isn’t it? The seats in the Giants’ front office are piping hot, judging from their 9-25 record the past two seasons — not to mention owner John Mara’s blunt attitude about where things stand.
This is a team that needs to flirt with success, or relevance at least, if it’s going to avoid yet another overhaul in 2026.
Understandably, that ultimatum has led them on quite a quarterback chase. They attempted to trade for Matthew Stafford. They were connected to Aaron Rodgers. Wilson was in the mix for weeks before they signed Winston, and it all concluded with both guys winding up on the roster.
Despite all of that, half the NFL community still expects the Giants to be in the mix for a quarterback with that No. 3 overall pick.
I don’t buy that it makes sense. Not this year.
At this point in the draft cycle, I’m buying what’s being sold about Ward. It feels like a near-lock that Ward is going to go No. 1 overall one month from now, and I don’t think Tennessee is going to trade out of the pick. First overall selections don’t come around often, and Ward is good enough to take a chance on — even if he’s not quite the same caliber of QB prospect we’ve seen taken in that spot recently.
This obviously complicates things for the Giants. The Browns, sitting above them with pick No. 2, are equally desperate for a quarterback and could take Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders right in front of them.
Or, even if Sanders falls into the Giants’ laps, that presents an agonizing decision. Sanders is a first-round talent and the clear-cut second-best option in this quarterback class. He’s also universally regarded as a lesser pure prospect than Penn State’s Abdul Carter and his Colorado teammate, Travis Hunter, despite playing the more valuable position.
New York wouldn’t be the first team to reach for a lesser prospect at a more important position, but I just don’t think it’s necessary in 2025. Not with a player of that caliber, potentially two of them, available.
The Giants’ roster is better than many might admit. The defensive front is strong, especially when Dexter Lawrence is healthy again. The additions of Paulson Adebo and Jevon Holland should help the back end. Malik Nabers is a superstar in the making, and Tyrone Tracy emerged as a playmaker at running back. The offensive line could be decent if Andrew Thomas stays healthy for a full season.
That said, it’s hard to imagine this is a team that’s ready to make a run at the NFC East, much less hang with the conference’s elite. I’m aware we said similar things about Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders last year, but I’m not sold that these are comparable situations.
If anything, taking a quarterback too quickly helped create this mess. The Giants are 32-67-1 since they drafted Daniel Jones No. 6 overall in 2019 — a move that was met with immediate skepticism. Notably, their only good season during that stretch came when Daboll arrived and helped maximize Jones’ athletic skill set en route to a surprising playoff berth.
I’d like to see Daboll do something similar if he’s going to keep his job beyond 2025. Wilson has his flaws, such as his inability to push the ball downfield, but he has thrown 42 touchdowns the past two seasons while taking good care of the football. Winston is essentially the opposite. He’d no doubt uncork his share of moon balls to Nabers, but the interception ratio would be a concern.
As far as turning that into relevance, that’d be on Daboll to get the most out of them, the way he did for Jones in 2022. But as far as the draft, the Giants spent draft weekend adding to the rest of the roster.
It’d be hard to go wrong between Carter and Hunter at the top. The trio of Carter, Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux working around the gravitational pull of Lawrence would make the Giants’ pass rush one of the league’s best. Hunter could make their secondary a true strength, and he could add to the depth of the receiving corps beyond Nabers and Darius Slayton.
The fun wouldn’t end there. The Giants also own picks 34, 65, 99 and 105 in the draft’s early going. They could use those slots to solidify the interior of the offensive line and continue to beef up the defense. They could even draft a quarterback of the future with another selection. Perhaps Alabama’s Jalen Milroe or Louisville’s Tyler Shough could be their guy with pick No. 34. Maybe Syracuse’s Kyle McCord would be hanging around at pick No. 99 or 105. There should be options.
Point being, it doesn’t have to happen with the No. 3 overall pick. And it doesn’t have to stop them from being competitive with a veteran quarterback — whether it’s Wilson or Winston. Let’s be honest, both might get their chance to start before it’s all said and done.
But let Schoen prove his team-building acumen next month and then let Daboll prove his coaching chops in the fall. The quarterback issue can be solved in 2026, with what’s expected to be a stronger crop of prospects.
For now, let the focus be on building a stronger overall team — which now means leaning on Russ and Jameis in 2025.
David Helman covers the NFL for FOX Sports and hosts the NFL on FOX podcast. He previously spent nine seasons covering the Cowboys for the team’s official website. In 2018, he won a regional Emmy for his role in producing “Dak Prescott: A Family Reunion” about the quarterback’s time at Mississippi State. Follow him on Twitter at @davidhelman_.
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