The New York Giants are plenty busy trying to reshape the organization, and at the top of their to-do list is finding a solid franchise quarterback.
While the Giants have the third overall section in the 2025 NFL draft and almost $50 million in available salary cap space, the new class doesn’t have too many franchise-ready quarterback picks.
That leaves the Giants with the possibility of picking up a big-ticket signal-called in free agency, which many experts and analysts think they’ll do. Now, former Giant and All-Pro wide receiver Victor Cruz is predicting who the Giants will pick up in free agency, and it’s a big name.
Giants’ Quarterback Woes Could Be Solved, Victor Cruz Says
Cruz is going with Sam Darnold of the Minnesota Vikings as the team’s new franchise quarterback. He calls him the “perfect” guy for the job.
“I think he’s the perfect QB to go get,” Cruz said in a January 15 interview with RG on behalf of his partnership with Finish Ultimate. “You obviously have to pay him a little bit, but I think from a cap perspective, we can afford him. I think he could come in and then Arch Manning comes in (in 2026). He doesn’t necessarily have to start right away, he can learn from a guy like Sam Darnold.”
If the Giants do take a quarterback in the NFL Draft who isn’t quite ready for the job, “Sam Darnold is an exceptional quarterback to learn from,” Cruz added.
Cruz isn’t the only one. ESPN NFL analyst and expert Ben Solak, in a January 28 feature, predicts the Giants will take either Darnold or, if he’s not available, Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy during the offseason.
“The Giants aren’t just desperate for a new quarterback — they’re also desperate for a big offseason win to wash the taste of the Saquon Barkley debacle out of their mouth,” Solak stated.
He adds that “whichever quarterback the Vikings don’t commit to — either free agent-to-be Sam Darnold or injured rookie J.J. McCarthy — will end up in New York and be the starting quarterback in 2025.” That’s quite a prediction.
‘Desperation’ Could Lead the Giants to Veteran Quarterback
In a separate piece for ESPN, Solak leans to Darnold going to the Giants, stating that New York will have a “viable free agent starter before the draft comes around in April” and “that isn’t Drew Lock, who is a free agent this offseason.”
“Will coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen — who have been informed by ownership that their jobs are in jeopardy — place their eggs in a Jarrett Stidham basket?,” Solak stated in the piece. “Throw their lot in with Andy Dalton?”
Solak adds that “desperation” should make the Giants go for Darnold, even if it’s a pretty penny to get him.
“Darnold plus a highly drafted rookie passer would give Daboll and Schoen the most routes to a job-saving performance in 2025,” Solak added.
So, either way you slice it, many NFL insiders are predicting that Darnold is the guy for the Giants, and if it’s not him, perhaps McCarthy. Seems appropriate, since the Vikings picked up former Giants quarterback Daniel Jones during the 2024-25 season.
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