With the NFL seemingly turning every piece of news into an event—here’s looking at you, NFL schedule release—no one would blame you if you’ve already forgotten about the 2025 NFL Draft. That feels like ages ago. Before the draft, it was free agency, and that... well, that almost feels like ancient history. The league moves quickly, so let’s slow things down and rewind a bit.
The New York Giants have had quite an offseason. The NFL schedule release set the stage for what’ll likely be a difficult season for the G-Men. Free agency brought Big Blue some new toys to play with, especially in the defensive back and quarterback rooms. Meanwhile, the draft gave New York hope with some top prospects ready to contribute immediately, such as Abdul Carter, Darius Alexander, and Cam Skattebo.
Oh yeah, and the draft also brought the Giants the one thing fans have been clamoring for since the days of Eli Manning: a quarterback. And his name is Jaxson Dart.
Giants GM Joe Schoen breaks down decision to draft Jaxson Dart
The Giants traded back into the first round with the Houston Texans to select Dart with the 25th overall pick. It was a move that screamed conviction. Dart wasn’t widely considered a first-round pick. Heck, he wasn’t even widely viewed as the second-best QB in the class—that title belonged to Shedeur Sanders. But when you like what you like, you throw perception out the window and go for it.
That’s exactly what general manager Joe Schoen did on draft night. And while appearing on the Up & Adams podcast, fans got an in-depth tell-all about when he knew Dart was coming to the Big Apple. Host Kay Adams asked Schoen when he specifically knew Dart was his guy:
“The week of the draft, the Monday before the draft, we had a final meeting and, you know, it’s like now we have all the information, we’ve seen these guys multiple times, we had dinners with them, we’ve been on campus, we’ve done private workouts, and we really sat down—and as the draft gets closer, you really start to narrow your circle, you want to eliminate outside voices, Scheon responded."
"My leadership group, along with a couple of the other coaches, we sat down and we went through our final rankings, and that’s when we started to devise a plan—whether we’d go with a player at three and then potentially try to trade back into the first round. We had a pretty good idea that Abdul would be there at three, and then what were the other scenarios where we could potentially acquire Jaxson.”
Schoen’s answer confirmed what fans were hoping—this wasn’t a desperate swing or draft-night scramble. The Giants had a plan. They knew what they wanted, knew where Dart might go, and worked the board to go get him. It was calm. It was calculated. And honestly, that kind of clarity hasn’t exactly been the norm around here.
The 2025 schedule looks like a nightmare on paper, and it might play out that way on the field. But Dart’s arrival gives Giants fans something they haven’t felt in a long time—real hope. Maybe he doesn’t play right away. Maybe this year’s all about survival. But at least there’s finally a plan. And in a season packed with difficult matchups, that might be the only thing keeping us all from losing our minds.