The New York Giants had their fingerprints all over the Shedeur Sanders conversation leading into the 2025 NFL Draft. Personnel were spotted at nearly every Colorado game. Speculation swirled that if they didn’t use the No. 3 overall pick on a quarterback, Sanders could be their guy later in Round 1. But when the dust settled, the Giants traded back into the first round to grab Jaxson Dart—and Sanders’ sudden fall was just beginning.
While Dart is already being hailed as a franchise building block, Sanders spent the weekend sliding further and further down draft boards before finally being scooped up by the Cleveland Browns in the fifth round. The fall was jarring for a player once hyped as a potential Top-5 pick. And now, the alleged reasons behind it are starting to come into sharper focus.
According to Todd McShay of The Ringer, Sanders’ private meeting with Giants head coach Brian Daboll went sideways—and it left a lasting impression. As McShay explained, Sanders arrived unprepared for a critical install session, didn’t handle being called out well, and made it clear he wasn’t responding to criticism the way the Giants expected.
“Shedeur’s not in play with the New York Giants as far as I’m told,” McShay said. “Shedeur didn’t have a great interview with Brian Daboll in a private visit. An install package came in, preparation wasn’t there for it. Got called out on it, didn’t like that. Brian didn’t appreciate him not liking it.”
Giants had their minds made up on Shedeur Sanders before the draft
The fallout from that meeting seemed to be confirmed by how Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen handled questions about Sanders once the draft wrapped up. When asked directly if they thought Sanders was better than his draft slide suggested, Schoen firmly shut it down:
“I’m not going to get into — this is Darius’s press conference and the New York Giants, so we can talk about that if you want, but I don’t want to talk about any other players,” Schoen said.
Translation: The Giants’ minds were made up long before Sanders slid into Day 3.
If Sanders had nailed his meeting, maybe the Giants would have taken a longer look. Instead, they locked onto Dart—who dazzled during the process—and never looked back. It was never just about arm strength or stats. It was about trust, preparation, and attitude.
The NFL is filled with reminders that talent isn’t enough at quarterback. Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase showed how the right mentality and chemistry can change everything for a franchise. The Giants, for all their draft struggles in the past, weren’t willing to roll the dice on potential without the mindset to match it.
Now, Sanders will try to prove his doubters wrong in Cleveland. But in New York, the Giants made one thing crystal clear: preparation matters just as much as talent—and when it came to that test, Sanders apparently didn’t pass.
We’ll probably never know exactly what happened during that meeting between Daboll and Sanders — and Schoen made sure of that with how quickly he shut it down. For now, though, it’s full steam ahead with Jaxson Dart leading the Giants’ next chapter.