The New York Giants need a franchise quarterback in the worst way. But according to one NFL insider, even though the Giants brass has already done extensive research into the top quarterback prospects set to be in the 2025 draft, that doesn’t mean that they will select from that group.

So thinks SI.com’s Albert Breer in his January 9 mailbag.

“This class isn’t even the 2023 class, let alone last year’s class—within which there were three quarterbacks who’d go first overall in ’25,” Breer wrote.

“Now, that doesn’t mean you can’t dig one out. In 2017, many teams punted on the class, looking forward to a bumper crop in ’18. And ’18 was one, producing four of the 14 quarterbacks set to play in the postseason (Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Baker Mayfield, and Sam Darnold).

“But the teams with top-10 picks and a need for a QB that chose to wait also wound up passing on Patrick Lavon Mahomes II.”

Breer emphasized that the Giants will need to continue doing their due diligence to see if there is someone in the 2025 quarterback class worth a roll of the dice on or if the answer is to lean on a veteran as a bridge quarterback.

This is what the Giants did at the turn of the century, when their franchise quarterback heir apparent (Dave Brown), chosen to succeed Phil Simms, didn’t work out. This led to a string of uncertainty at the position until they picked up Kerry Collins, who led them to a Super Bowl.

With Collins in place, the Giants were able to bide their time until they were abe to work out a deal to acquire Eli Manning in a blockbuster draft day trade in 2004, a franchise altering decision that resulted in stabilizing the position and two Super Bowl championships.

Rolling with a veteran as a bridge isn’t the worst thing that can happen if the Giants wwant to bide their time and wait for the 2026 draft which is supposedly going to have a strnger group of quarterbacks.

In recent years, we have seen veteran bridge guys like Baker Mayfield and San Darnold help the Bucs and Vikings get into the postseason.

While a veteran bridge quarterback can ultimately last several seasons, the Giants would probably prefer to find their next Manning, whom they can develop and retain as a key cornerstone of the franchise.

The challenge, though, is that this year’s quarterback class is not believed to be as rich in talent as last year’s class, which the Giants declined to enter.

And while next year’s quarterback class is thought to be better than the upcoming one, there is no guarantee that the Giants will be in a position to draft from that class unless they stock up on assets for the future should they need to trade up.

As Breer noted, the Giants have a tall task to determine if a quarterback in the 2025 class is worth spending a premium pick.

And if there is, they need to hope that the Browns and Titans, who pick ahead of them in the draft order, don’t snatch that guy up.

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