The New York Giants are reportedly considering taking a quarterback with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft.
According to SNY’s Connor Hughes, some leagues sources believe Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy is “the player the Giants want.”
New York has several other holes on its roster, and it has two veteran quarterbacks under contract in Daniel Jones and Drew Lock, but it can be argued that neither of them are the long-term answer under center.
This year’s draft class is considered one of the best in recent memory for quarterbacks with USC’s Caleb Williams, LSU’s Jayden Daniels and North Carolina’s Drake Maye headlining the position.
Those three signal-callers are widely considered strong bets to go in the top three of the draft, and McCarthy looks like a first-round lock as well.
Assuming the Chicago Bears trade Justin Fields and take Williams first overall and the Washington Commanders then take Daniels or Maye at No. 2, things could get interesting at No. 3.
The New England Patriots are slated to pick third and they have a clear need at quarterback, but ESPN’s Dan Graziano is one of many to report that the Pats may be open to trading back in order to gain more picks and fill holes on their roster.
On Friday, the Minnesota Vikings acquired the No. 23 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft from the Houston Texans, meaning they now own the Nos. 11 and 23 overall selections.
Nos. 11 and 23 are nearly enough value to get No. 3 should New England want to move back, which would allow the Vikes to take whoever is left between Daniels and Maye.
However, if the Patriots shun trade offers, the Vikings have the ammo to move up to No. 4 or 5 ahead of the Giants to take McCarthy,
The Giants don’t necessarily need to come out of the 2024 draft with a quarterback since they have Jones and Lock, but Jones may not be long for the team.
After he had a career year and helped lead the Giants to the playoffs in 2022, Jones signed a four-year, $160 million contract extension.
The Giants are locked into Jones and his $47 million salary cap hit this year, but according to Spotrac, they can cut him next offseason and save about $19 million against the cap while incurring about $22 million in dead cap.
That is tolerable enough for the Giants to be fine with moving on from Jones after the 2024 season if he doesn’t rebound after throwing two touchdowns and six interceptions in six games during an injury-riddled 2023 campaign.
McCarthy went 27-1 in two seasons as the starter at Michigan, and he led the Wolverines to a perfect 15-0 mark and a national championship win last season.
He threw for a modest 2,991 yards, 22 touchdowns and four interceptions in a run-heavy offense, but Hughes noted that a high-ranking NFL executive believes he will be a “better pro than college player.”
Also, an NFL general manager told Hughes that McCarthy has all the tools teams look for and is “very coachable.”
If the Giants draft McCarthy, he will join a team that is essentially devoid of quality offensive weapons, which suggests he could sit and learn for the entirety of the 2024 season behind Jones and Lock in that scenario.
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