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Dave Gettleman has made it clear he wants to find the Giants' Quarterback of the Future, and he seems intent on doing it sooner than later.
But don't be so sure that he'll do it in the draft this year.
Despite the fact that the Giants have two first-round picks, and are in good position at No. 6 to take one of the first quarterbacks available, multiple NFL sources caution that the Giants seem to have other things in mind. They are looking into all the first-round quarterbacks, and taking one is definitely a possibility, a team source said.
It's just not guaranteed.
"They have so many needs, especially on defense," said one NFC scout. "I don't see how they could pass on one of the pass rushers up there (at 6). And by the time they get to their next pick (17), all the good quarterbacks might be gone."
A team source cautioned it's "way too early" to know anything about the Giants' direction yet, but that it does not appear that Gettleman has focused on a quarterback the way he locked in on running back Saquon Barkley last year before the Giants took him with the second overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft. They are investigating all the top ones -- including Oklahoma's Kyler Murray and Ohio State's Dwayne Haskins -- but there are many options on the table as they ponder who'll replace Eli Manning when his contract expires at the end of this year:
They could draft a QB at 6: There only appear to be two options if the Giants take a quarterback here -- Murray and Haskins. It's possible both will be gone by then, and there doesn't appear to be much interest from inside the Giants in trading up to grade either one. Murray still seems too small at 5-foot-10 for the Giants' liking. And their interest in Haskins appears to be lukewarm at best -- at least at the moment. A lot can change in the next month, but Haskins doesn't seem to have won them over yet. And some in the Giants organization are enamored by the possible pass-rushers who could be available to them this high.
They could draft a QB at 17: If the Giants really find a quarterback they love and think is their guy for the next decade, waiting until the bottom half of the first-round is a risky proposition. It would allow them to draft the pass rusher they so desperately need at 6, but they'd need a little bit of luck to land a guy like Missouri's Drew Lock here. Maybe Duke's Daniel Jones could make it this far. The other problem is this could be the range where some of the best offensive linemen go, and we all know Gettleman can't resist those "Hog Mollies". He needs some young offensive linemen to protect his future quarterback too.
Trade for Josh Rosen: If the Cardinals decide to draft Murray first overall they'll have to put Rosen, last year's 10th overall pick, on the block. There have been some reports that the Cards are already shopping him, but one Giants source said it wasn't completely clear yet if he's available. What if he is? The Giants would undoubtedly look into it, especially if the cost is low (like a third-round pick). This would allow the Giants to use their first-round picks on a pass-rusher and an offensive lineman -- two areas of immediate need. There were some in the organization who liked Rosen in the draft last year, but it sounds like he ranked third or fourth of the five first-round quarterbacks on their board. The concern with him seems to be the same thing that concerned them last year: How will his personality play in New York? He can be outspoken and a little prickly. He's not likely to be the calm, stoic, controversy-free presence Manning has been for the last 15 years.
Wait until 2020: Gettleman doesn't want to do this, but he might not have a choice. The 2020 class is thought to be much better than the 2019 class of quarterbacks, with Oregon's Justin Herbert, Alabama's Tua Tagovailoa, and even Georgia's Jake Fromm available. Ideally, Gettleman said, he prefers to "stay in the moment" because, as he so colorfully put it at the scouting combine two weeks ago, "It's like, really, you don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. Someone drops a bomb on this table right now, we're all dead. You know what I'm saying?" There are just no guarantees the Giants would even be in position to draft or trade up for a top quarterback in 2020. Also, if they really want to utilize the "Kansas City model" and have a rookie learn from a veteran, waiting until 2020 would force them to extend Manning's contract for at least one more year.