Giants' bizarre pre-draft meeting with Shedeur Sanders looms large as Jaxson Dart shines, Sanders struggles in debut

Billy Heyen

Giants' bizarre pre-draft meeting with Shedeur Sanders looms large as Jaxson Dart shines, Sanders struggles in debut image

For a time, the New York Giants seemed a candidate to draft Shedeur Sanders.

They held the No. 3 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, and they clearly needed a quarterback of the future.

Sanders, before his wild fall to the 144th pick, seemed in contention to be one of the two best QBs in the draft, along with Cam Ward.

New York went with Abdul Carter, the pass rusher out of Penn State, at the third pick. And then when the Giants traded back into the first round, they took Ole Miss passer Jaxson Dart at No. 25, and not Sanders.

That looks fine now. Dart has played great, and Sanders made his NFL debut Sunday with a 4-for-16 performance.

The Giants' impression from their pre-draft meeting with Sanders pushed them in this direction.

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Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer provided details on that meeting in an interview over the summer.

“The Giants one … they give players an install, and there are mistakes intentionally put in the install," Breer said. "He didn't catch them and got called on it, and it didn't go well after that... He was pissed that they did that to him.”

There was more.

"He throws a bad interception. It was a deep throw early in the game," Breer said. "They go in the meeting, they show the interception and they say, 'What happened here?' (Sanders responds,) 'Well, I like to get into a rhythm earlier in the game.'

“They get into it over that, and his conclusion is, 'Well, maybe I'm not a fit for you…’ The person who told me that story was like, 'I've never heard that before.' It was in a combine interview when you're just going from team to team trying to put your best foot forward."

Sanders still has a chance to improve his NFL chances.

But for now, the Giants probably don't mind where they're at at all.

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Staff Writer