INDIANAPOLIS — Everything Joe Schoen said Tuesday at the NFL Combine pointed to the Giants taking a run at Matthew Stafford if the L.A. Rams make the Super Bowl winning quarterback available in a trade.
“We’re gonna look for the best player available that can help us win games in ’25,” Schoen said of his quarterback search, when asked if a player’s age would deter him. “That’s what we’re gonna do.”
The Giants’ GM didn’t blink when asked if he would be willing to pay for a top-end quarterback, either. And that’s what the team acquiring Stafford, 37, would have to do: sign him to a market level extension.
“I’m for taking swings at that position,” Schoen said. “It’s the most important position, and it’s hard to find them, so keep swinging. Keep swinging at the position until you find one.”
The fourth-year GM would not disclose if the Giants were one of the teams that is having authorized, exploratory conversations with Stafford and his agent here this week about the potential parameters of a new situation.
“You have to ask the Rams that,” Schoen said. “You can get that from the Rams. I can’t talk about that. He’s under contract with them. So that’d be a question for the Rams.”
It’s possible the Rams will put an end to all of this drama soon anyway by agreeing with Stafford on a new deal to keep him on the West Coast.
But for now a Stafford trade remains possible, which means the door is still open to another intriguing quarterback relocation:
Aaron Rodgers to the Rams.
Sources tell the Daily News that Rodgers, 41, prefers to play for the Rams and that the outgoing Jets QB would bring Davante Adams with him once the Jets wide receiver becomes a free agent.
So hypothetically, the Rams could acquire significant assets by trading Stafford and wide receiver Cooper Kupp. Then they could also add Rodgers and Adams to a Sean McVay offense with No. 1 wide receiver Puka Nacua and running back Kyren Williams.
Los Angeles has done an impressive job turning its roster over with promising young talent recently, so trading an older QB to add one wouldn’t be a sustainable solution. But it could reload them for a run back to the playoffs.
Whether the Rams help them out or not, though, the Giants are thinking big at quarterback. And their depth chart is so barren at the position that Schoen admitted he could take big swings on both a veteran and a draft pick in April.
“Even if you get a young quarterback, you’d like to have a vet in the room with him to show him the ropes and how to be a pro,” Schoen said. “So we’re looking at all different avenues: It’s, ‘Hey, is this guy gonna be really good for a young quarterback, or is this guy a starter?’
“Can we get a guy in the draft, or if we do, should we have a [veteran] guy that’s more of a guy that can develop and show a guy how to be a pro?” the GM added. “So we’re gonna look at vets, the draft, trade candidates. We’re gonna look under every rock to find the best prospect for us going into the 2025 season.”
This puts Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders and Miami’s Cam Ward firmly still in the Giants’ mix with either the No. 3 overall pick or a trade up.
Schoen came off as lukewarm about the overall quarterback class so far, though. He frequently mentioned that the Giants are still trying to determine if a franchise-changing QB even exists in this draft.
He said it would be nice to land a 15-year franchise QB, but the decision can’t be forced.
“In theory, yeah, everybody wants that. There’s just not a franchise quarterback tree over there,” Schoen said. “So what’s available is what you’re looking at. So to take one just to say we checked the box, you want it to be the right one, because you don’t want to be in this position again.
“So if there’s not one of those guys, then you look at the other options,” he said. “And then there’s the vet options you can look through, too.”
None of the other vet options move the needle toward Schoen’s goal to find the best winner for 2025 like Stafford, however. Not even the four-time MVP Rodgers at this stage of his career.
The Giants GM needs high-end quarterback play to change the performance and perception of his roster, to support his case that Daniel Jones’ offense has held the rest of the team back.
“I think the quarterback elevates the rest of the roster,” he said.
And while Schoen said he has “several different plans” for addressing the QB position that co-owner John Mara is aware of, “there’s only so many of those guys” who are true difference makers.
“It depends who it is,” he said. “I don’t know who that player is. We’ll see.”
He noted that adding a veteran before the draft can prevent a GM from having to “draft for need,” freeing him to “take the best player available.”
So which quarterback are the Giants ultimately trying to add?
“Whoever gives us the best chance to win,” Schoen said. “That’s what it is. Some people are available for certain reasons, whether it’s a 28-year-old, 26-year-old, whatever it is. Sometimes these quarterbacks are available.
“So whoever gives you the best chance to win,” he said, “that’s what we’re gonna do.”