The NY Giants won just enough games to take them out of holding a top-two pick in the 2025 NFL Draft and that means they probably won't be able to land Shedeur Sanders or Cam Ward (the top two quarterback prospects in this draft). With the draft and free agency being weak when it comes to quarterback options, the Giants are definitely in a pickle this offseason.
One potential option for them could be Sam Darnold, who revitialized his career in 2024 with the Minnesota Vikings. Darnold threw for over 4,300 yards and 35 touchdowns in a season no one saw coming considering how poorly he had played before his Vikings stint.
That one impressive season might have been enough to land Darnold a nice contract with another team. According to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, the Giants could be one of those teams and if they decide to pay Darnold, it'd be around what Baker Mayfield ended up getting from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last year.
"Several execs have Darnold in that Baker Mayfield range of contracts, which is around three years and $100 million with strong guarantees. The Raiders and Giants -- both picking outside the top two spots in the draft -- might need to pay a quarterback."
NY Giants now have an idea of how much potential Sam Darnold contract would cost
The key thing here is that the Giants don't overpay Darnold, a trap that another team (or even the Giants) might be happy to fall into. While Darnold put together a nice year with the Vikings, he crumbled in the games that truly mattered and that might end up scaring teams off.
That being said, the Giants aren't expecting to win big games right now. They simply just want to be competitive again and if Darnold plays as well as he did last year, he can hopefully help lead a competent offense.
Darnold, the third overall pick of the New York Jets in 2018, has bounced around the league. He spent the first three years of his career with the Jets, then was traded to the Carolina Panthers where he spent the next two years. In 2023, Darnold signed with the San Francisco 49ers and served as a backup to Brock Purdy.
Then, of course, he was with the Vikings in 2024 and was given the starting role once rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy was injured. Darnold's success in 2024 will help him get a nice contract but will the New York Giants be the team that gives him it? It'll be interesting to see how the Darnold situation unfolds this offseason and what the Giants end up doing at the quarterback spot.