Where could the giants next QB with Stafford in Los Angeles? Rodgers, cousins ​​and more

The first major swing of the general manager of the Giants, Joe Schoen, for a field marshal, this low season was a failure. The Rams They are maintaining Field Marshal Matthew Stafford, adjusting the contract of the Super Bowl winner after entertaining the commercial interest for the 37 -year -old.

As promised, Schoen aggressively made a quarterback update by attacking Stafford. Granted permission from the Rams to participate in contract conversations with the Stafford agent, the giants felt comfortable offering a two -year agreement that included between $ 90 and $ 100 million guaranteed, according to The AtléticoDianna Russini.

It is not clear if the giants and the Rams once participated in serious negotiations about commercial compensation, but the New York second round (No. 34) would probably have been a starting point in those discussions.

That Schoen was willing to make such a considerable investment in Stafford illustrates that the GM is committed to finding “the best available player who can help us win games in the ’25”, as He said earlier this week In the NFL Scouting combines in Indianapolis. Stafford would certainly conform to that criterion, but he would not have brought the giants to build a sustainable winner given their advanced age.

The construction of a sustainable contender must be Schoen’s goal that comes out of a 3-14 season. But Schoen is also under immense pressure to win in 2025 after co -owner John Mara expressed his lack of patience with this regime after unfortunate consecutive seasons.

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Stafford’s trade would have been “a farm Maria for self -preservation”, which Schoen promised to avoid after the season. Stafford would have been a quick solution that would have exhausted financial resources and drafts that can be better aimed at pieces that can establish giants for the future.

Then, the Rams took a step forward to keep Stafford saved the giants to make another myopa mistake. But now the question is what is Schoen Plan B?

The giants have changed their approach to Aaron Rodgers, According to Russini. The Jets have already informed Rodgers who are moving forward, and they are expected to officially release the 41 -year -old when the new year of the League opens on March 12.

Sources: New York giants are interested in Aaron Rodgers and have been discussing the possibility throughout the week, for @Dmrussini. pic.twitter.com/btemaf7xdd

– Atlético (@theathletic) February 28, 2025

Rodgers’s game has decreased, while distractions around four times MVP have increased in recent years. But he offers benefits compared to Stafford, since the demands of the Rodgers contract should be significantly cheaper and there will be no draft compensation involved in the firm.

Rodgers launched for 3,897 yards, 28 touchdowns and 11 interceptions on his return last season of a torn aquiles that left him aside for all but four photos of the 2023 season. The jets had 5-12 with Rodgers as a starter during a tumultuous 2024 season, which led to a cleaning of the house of the entire organization that extended to the seafood.

Among other potential options, it is widely assumed that the Falcons will cut Kirk Cousins ​​after banking at the end of last season and replacing him with the rookie Michael Penix. But the general manager of the Falcons, Terry Fontenot Continue insisting that the equipment will keep cousins ​​as Penix’s backup.

Cutting cousins ​​for a year in the four -year agreement and $ 180 million signed the last low season would leave the Falcons with a charge for dead money of $ 65 million (either all this year or divided in the next two years, depending on the time of a release). Cousins ​​would be in a position similar to Russell Wilson last year, when it was available for a minimum contract with the Steelers because the Broncos were in the hook for the rest of their guaranteed salary after cutting it.

Although Cousins ​​had problems in the second half of last season, the salary of $ 1.3 million of 36 years would increase its attractiveness as a bridge option. A consideration with Cousins ​​if available: I could wait until after the draft to sign with a team to avoid a repetition last year when he joined the Falcons in March only so that they surprisingly take Penix with the eighth selection in the Draft a month later. The giants cannot wait until after the draft to acquire a veteran since Tommy Devito will be the only field marshal on the list when the new year of the League begins in two weeks.

The two 2024 field marshals of Pittsburgh, Wilson and Justin Fields are other potential objectives, but the giants must wait to see which player hits the market after the GM of the Steelers, Omar Khan, reiterated the team’s preference to be one of the two quartbacks.

There has not been much buzz connecting the giants with Sam Darnold, who can get the most lucrative seafood contract in free agency after a professional year in Minnesota. That could change with Stafford outside the Board, but there is skepticism of the League’s sources about Darnold’s desire to return to New York after three difficult years with the jets after being the number 3 selection in the 2018 Draft.

The other significant element of the Giant Field Marshal Plan is the Draft. It is difficult to imagine that the giants would have used the number 3 selection of a field marshal if Stafford landed, since their approach would have been complementing the list around their veteran holder. But now taking a “great swing” in a QB in the draft becomes a great possibility.

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It has been speculated that the giants will channel their efforts to negotiate the number 1 selection to be assured to obtain their best field marshal. That would be an alarming axis. If the giants feel strong enough on a field marshal in this kind of draft to renounce assets and take it with the number 1 team, why would they have followed Stafford so aggressively?

An executive of another team saw the interest of the giants in Stafford as a sign that their first impressions of Draft’s prospects were not favorable. Commerce until number 1 would feel like another desperate movement for a regime that has been exhausted in a quarterback solution since it arrived in 2022.

It is important to keep in mind that the evaluation of these Quarterbacks is still in what Schoen called the “childhood” stage. The main office of the giants has done an extensive exploration and background work in the best CAM Ward and Sheders Sanders quarters, but the coaches do not join the process until after the season. That is significant since coach Brian Daboll’s voice will be extremely shocking in the decision. The 18 -minute interview of the giants with Ward this week in The Combine was Daboll’s first interaction with Miami’s Marshal.

Schoen continues to promote the giant process to evaluate quarterbacks based on how their evaluations have compared with the performance of players in recent drafts. There is no way to verify Schoen’s claims since the giants have not chosen a quartback in their three drafts. The only traceable database in his field marshal evaluations with the giants was his decision to give Daniel Jones a four -year contract and $ 160 million after having a close exposure to the QB for a full year.

Changing Stafford to a superior selection in the draft would be the last change in Schoen’s plan, which seems to be written in the sand.

Stafford would have been the best path to the type of season that could have kept the works of Schoen and Daboll. But the objective should be to build a true contender in a division with the 26 -year -old Field Marshal, Jalen Hurts and the 24 -year -old field marshal, Jayden Daniels.

It is difficult to see the path of the giants towards that goal at this time, but Schoen needs to demonstrate the stomach to begin to build the “correct way” as promised from his hiring. Going to Stafford would have been another help for a franchise that needs reconstructive surgery. The Rams saved Schoen from that mistake. Now the GM will regroup and prepare for its next field Marshal swing.

(Photo: Emilee Chinn / Getty Images)