NY Giants Final Mock Draft: Joe Schoen trades up for the next franchise QB

As we are officially at the week of the 2024 NFL Draft, there’s a general feeling that the NY Giants are a team that wants to trade up for a quarterback. Given the uncertainty surrounding Daniel Jones and his health, plus the contract that continues to be the subject of a lot of criticism, it makes sense that the Giants make a move up for a star QB.

Well, 20 years ago in the 2004 NFL Draft, the Giants made the draft-day trade to acquire Eli Manning from the Los Angeles Chargers. At the time, the Giants could have stuck with Kerry Collins, who had gotten the Giants to a Super Bowl and another playoff appearance the year prior. However, with Manning not wanting to play for the Chargers and the Giants in need of a quarterback for the future, the Giants drafted Philip Rivers, only to send him and several other picks to get Manning - yeah, that turned out pretty well.

Now the Giants, who have the No. 6 overall pick heading into Thursday night, have a choice to make. Do they decide to stick it out with Jones, or do they roll with the next guy at quarterback? Again, it sure seems and feels like the Giants are trying very hard to move up.

Ever since Joe Schoen took over as the Giants general manager back in 2022, he has yet to draft a quarterback in the two drafts he’s overseen. He has, though, made several trades in both of them. In the 2023 NFL Draft, Schoen traded up twice to land cornerback Deonte Banks and Jalin Hyatt, choosing quality over quantity. His term was, “scared money doesn’t make money.” So with that theme in mind, he decides to go all in for a stud out of North Carolina in Round 1:

TRADE ALERT: NY Giants trade No. 6, No. 70 and a 2025 first-round pick to the New England Patriots for No. 3 and select UNC QB Drake Maye

It was a tough swallow to give up a 2025 first-round pick, but in order for the Giants to move up and move ahead of the Minnesota Vikings to get their guy at quarterback, they had to offer something to the Patriots as well for New England to be enticed enough to pass on a new QB too. The Giants had to do it back in 2004 in order to get Manning, so in order to get Drake Maye, that’s the price Schoen pays.

The junior quarterback had a fine season for the Tar Heels, as he threw for 3,608 yards with 24 touchdown passes and nine interceptions. The year before as a sophomore, Maye threw for 4,321 yards with 38 touchdowns and just seven interceptions. With the Bears having the No. 1 pick secured for what seemed like the entire 2023 season, the focus of most Giants fans shifted from Caleb Williams over to the idea and hope of drafting Maye.

In Schoen’s third draft with the Giants, he gets his guy and puts Jones on notice. There also might be a chance that Drew Lock plays the majority of the 2024 season if Jones still hasn’t recovered from the ACL surgery or suffers another injury. By the time 2025 rolls around, Jones and Lock are gone and it’s Maye’s time to shine.