Why the New York Giants hold the keys to the 2025 NFL Draft

While the NFL Draft starts with the first pick, it doesn't heat up until the pre-draft questions are answered, and the rumors become reality. 

Many years, there are certain prospects clearly locked into the top spots, so, anticipation is instead directed toward later selections. When it comes to the 2025 NFL Draft, which starts on Thursday, that's the case with the New York Giants, who currently sit at No. 3.

The first two picks are seemingly secured, with the Tennessee Titans honing in on quarterback Cam Ward and the Cleveland Browns unable to pass-up on a generational prospect in Travis Hunter. 

The Giants' decision isn't as easy to predict. 

They could keep it simple and add the best available prospect in defensive lineman Abdul Carter. They could take a risk and select a polarizing quarterback prospect in Shedeur Sanders. Finally, they could trade the pick, and try to double-dip on talent, as they had a 3-14 record in 2024 and have numerous positions of need. 

Whatever they decide to do will have an impact on the teams behind them, such as the New England Patriots at four and the Jacksonville Jaguars at five, as well as the teams in the latter part of the first round, who could be sniped of a prospect if the Giants accumulate more picks. 

These endless machinations make draft day so exhilarating. While it's tough to predict the inner-workings of an NFL front office, Fox Sports' Nick Wright and Colin Cowherd went through and analyzed the Giants options, and how each could alter the draft, when Wright joined The Herd on Tuesday. 

Cowherd had Sanders slotted in at three, predicting that the former Colorado quarterback would go to the Big Apple. Wright countered, saying that it would make more sense for them to take Carter and, potentially, trade back into the first round to snag Sanders, who's slipped down boards recently.

"If you're the Giants, and everyone's job is on the line, don't you probably try to double-dip?" Wright said. "By that, I mean, draft Abdul Carter at three — everyone seems to think that Shedeur is going to slip out of the top 10 — and then use next year's first round pick — which is someone else's problem if you get fired anyway — to then trade up and get Shedeur. I do think the Giants could end up with Shedeur, I just don't think they would take him over Abdul Carter at three."

Cowherd agreed with Wright's point, explaining that he didn't include trades in his mock, and put Sanders to the Giants because he felt that the future of the quarterback position is their most significant need. 

If the Giants were to follow the plan Wright laid out, they'd add Carter to an already strong defensive line group, which includes 3-time Pro Bowler Dexter Lawrence and Kayvon Thibodeaux. Then, they'd get Sanders and, presumably, stick him behind quarterback Russell Wilson, who New York signed to a 1-year deal worth $10.5 million during this past free agency period, to develop him for a season. 

"I think there's division in the room on Shedeur," Cowherd said about the Giants front office. "But I did not know what to do with the Giants." 

If the Giants followed the plan Cowherd laid out, and take Sanders at three, it could be the Patriots who end up with Carter. Defensive line, though, is not a position of need for them. They signed Milton Williams to a 4-year deal worth $104 million and Harold Landry III to a 3-year, $43.5 million contract during free agency. They will also get defensive tackle Christian Barmore back, who missed 13 games last season because of blood clots. 

Still, it would be hard to pass up Carter if he made it to four. 

"The Patriots are staring at a worst-case scenario of it going Cam Ward, then the two Blue Chippers — Travis Hunter and Abdul Carter," Wright said. "The Patriots would love if, somehow, another quarterback went in the top three, and they had the opportunity to draft Abdul Carter. I just don't think that's how it's going to fall for them."

If the draft goes Ward, Hunter, Carter, as expected, the Patriots may reach for a position of need, such as an offensive lineman like Will Campbell, or we could see them trade out of the top five, entirely. 

Their decision, again, will ultimately come down to what the Giants do at three. 

The final path New York could take is to stay at three and take Carter and then trade less future draft capital for a lower pick in the first round and select quarterback Jaxson Dart, rather than giving up more capital for Sanders.

Cowherd, though, isn't as bullish on the idea of Dart in New York. 

"The idea that the Giants now think Jaxson Dart is the dude for the future in New York — let me just ask you this: 'Do you ever notice that the quarterbacks who don't make it, you weren't paying much attention to in college, and they suddenly got really hot after they stopped playing college football?" Cowherd said.

He compared Dart's rise to that of other quarterbacks who didn't work out, such as Zach Wilson, Daniel Jones and Paxton Lynch. Each had a middling college football career and rose up draft boards because of their NFL combine performances and tape, but ultimately didn't work out. Cowherd's fears that may happen with Dart, and that he would turn out to be the result of the Giants over-compensating for their decision to "choose Daniel Jones over Saquon Barkley" last offseason. 

While we won't be able to assess these decisions until we get years of NFL sample size from the prospects drafted on Thursday, it's an annual pastime to predict where each player goes, and why. All the drama will be settled during the draft, all the questions will be answered, starting at the third pick, where the New York Giants will end months of speculation when they cement their decision to select a player or trade back.

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