Deshaun Watson injury setback just shattered NY Giants’ NFL Draft hopes

New York Giants co-owner John Mara announced on Monday that he was retaining general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll for the 2025 season. It’s a move that wasn’t necessarily popular move for Giants fans, who witnessed the team regress in each year since the duo was hired in 2022. But Mara, even though he didn’t do much to quell concerns with his comments, is trusting his process and hoping for better results next year.

The Giants’ number one priority is to get a quarterback after finally ending the Daniel Jones experiment. Free agency and the trade block don’t have real enticing, long-term answers for the Giants, so their best hope was to draft one. The thing is, they earned the No. 3 overall pick after going 3-14. The Tennessee Titans hold the No. 1 pick, and are expected to pick a quarterback. The Cleveland Browns, meanwhile, are planning on bringing in competition for Deshaun Watson in 2025. With that, there was a slight chace the Browns could pass on a quarterback.

But on Monday, hours after the Mara announcement, Browns general manager Andrew Berry revealed that Watson suffered a setback in his recovery from a torn Achilles, and his status for the 2025 season is uncertain. With that, the Browns taking a quarterback with the second-overall pick is now much more likely.

Just like that, the Giants’ win over the Indianapolis Colts in Week 17 became even more costly.

The 2024 quarterback class was top-heavy, with six players being selected in the first 12 picks. This year, there are only two surefire first-round quarterbacks in the class — Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders and Miami’s Cam Ward. While they are nowhere near the caliber as Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye, or Caleb Williams, they are the most pro-ready out of all of the options in the class. Sanders has the accuracy, while Ward has the play-making ability.

Besides Sanders and Ward, there are no quarterbacks in this class who are ready to start Day One. Names like Jalen Milroe, Carson Beck, Dillon Gabriel, and Jaxson Dart have the name recognition, but ay need to develop further before actually seeing meaningful snaps. So, not exactly ideal options for the Giants in what is a make-or-break season for Schoen and Daboll.

Either option would be great for the Giants. However, they are on the outside looking in. The fact that Watson’s status is up in the air, it’s entirely possible that Cleveland could be more enticed to take a quarterback instead of addressing another position of need or drafting the best player available.