The New York Giants will almost certainly pass on taking a quarterback with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
The team committed over $15 million in guaranteed money to veterans Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston in free agency, and at least one of the two can’t-miss prospects in this draft class — Penn State’s Abdul Carter and Colorado’s Travis Hunter — will be on the board, with the Tennessee Titans locked into Miami QB Cam Ward at No. 1 overall
If the Giants do, for example, pass on Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders at No. 3, Andrew Harbaugh of USA TODAY’s Vikings Wire sees them making a bold trade back into Round 1 to land Jaxson Dart, the star QB prospect from Ole Miss.
Harbaugh predicts the Giants will send pick Nos. 34 (second round), 65 (third round) and 154 (fifth round) to the Minnesota Vikings for pick No. 24 (first round) and a 2026 sixth-rounder — but only if Dart is on the board:
“If the Giants want to make a splash in the potential last year of Brian Daboll and Joe Schoen's tenure with the team, trading back into the first round does that,” Harbaugh wrote. “If Dart falls past the Steelers, then they may start calling teams like the Vikings to move up. The package here gives the Vikings three picks in the top 100, which returns them to where they would have been before trading up twice last year.”
The Giants are expected to come out of this draft with a quarterback, just no longer with the third overall pick. The team didn’t sign Winston to a two-year, $8 million deal to lead the scout team in 2025. If New York drafts a QB, the plan would be for the youngster to sit behind the team’s pair of established veterans with an eye on promoting to QB1 in Year 2 of his rookie-scale contract.
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While not apples-to-apples, the Vikings had a similar situation play out in 2024 with veteran Sam Darnold and rookie J.J. McCarthy. While McCarthy lost his rookie season to a torn meniscus, he was able to do enough physically and mentally to remain on track to supplant Darnold as the starter in 2025. Even if Wilson has a Pro Bowl caliber season for New York this season, Dart would be the guy for ’26, in this hypothetical.
While blessed with a stacked roster, the Vikings should not hesitate to trade No. 24 overall to restock their depleted draft board. Minnesota needs to infuse more young talent into the team, and coming out of this draft with its four scheduled selections would be kind of brutal.
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