GM Joe Schoen: Giants 'comfortable' with current quarterback group heading into 2024 NFL Draft
In exactly one week, the Giants will be just a few short hours away from making what could be a monumental pick for the history of the franchise.
With Big Blue currently holding the No. 6 pick, there’s a growing belief that the Giants will look to draft their next franchise quarterback in the first round, whether that means staying put or potentially moving up.
General manager Joe Schoen held his pre-draft availability on Thursday, and while he was predictably coy when it came to all questions about the quarterback position, he did offer some insight into how the Giants are operating as an organization heading into Day One of the 2024 draft.
“My job is to do what’s best for the franchise, so if there’s an opportunity to go up, move back, stay, whether it’s in the first round, third round, fifth round, that’s what we’ll do,” Schoen said. “But you take all of that into account when you’re making those decisions. That’s some of the planning and strategy and some of those meetings that we’ll have over the next couple of days, the ‘what ifs,’ the ‘if this, then,’ and you go back and forth on it. The good things is you have the first round on Thursday. You can regroup going into Friday before the second and third rounds and have those conversations again. … Those are all things that we’ll talk about over the next week or so.”
The quarterback position was by far what Schoen was asked about the most on Thursday, and while he deflected most QB-specific questions when it comes to this draft, he did say that the Giants are comfortable heading into the season with their current trio of Daniel Jones, Drew Lock, and Tommy DeVito.
“I don’t think so,” Schoen responded when asked if the Giants need to take a quarterback in this draft. “With Drew’s experience, he’s started games and played, and Daniel’s experience and what Tommy did last year, another year in the system. Tommy’s come a long way. So, no, I think we could go in with the three that we have and I’d be comfortable with that.”
While the rumor mill has been running rampant over the last few weeks (and even months) leading up to the draft, Schoen explained that a lot of the actual talks between teams won’t start until this week, as most teams are still finishing up their boards. In fact, Schoen said that the Giants’ big board likely won’t be finished until Friday evening.
“I don’t think anybody’s ready to move right now,” Schoen said. “I know people are listening, which, we’ll all do that, from teams behind us or moving up. I think those exploratory talks and conversations will happen here shortly. We just finished up [Top 30] visits and some other teams still had some large groups, small groups [coming in], whatever it may be, so you’re still gathering information. We can still have Zooms with players up until Wednesday, so I think teams are still getting to know some of these prospects, or any loose ends that they have to tie up before the draft. So, I think again, those conversations will probably start happening over the next 48-72 hours. You’ll get a feel for who’s open to moving and who’s not.”
Here's a look at some of the other topics Schoen discussed on Thursday…
On Darius Slayton not reporting for voluntary workouts
“That doesn’t change anything. These are voluntary workouts. There have been players since I’ve been here that haven’t been here, and I understand that. I love Darius. Michael Perrett, his agent, is a very good friend of mine. I understand where he’s coming from and that’s his prerogative to not be here, but they are voluntary workouts, so that’s understood.”
On Darren Waller’s future
“We’re giving Darren his space. We’ve had conversations with Drew Rosenhaus, his agent, and he’s kept us in the loop on Darren. So, we’re giving him his space and hopefully he’s going to make a decision here in the short term. But, we’ve giving him time and space to make a decision on what he wants to do.
“We haven’t given him a deadline.”
On Daniel Jones' health
"Daniel’s doing well. He’s running straight line and he’s throwing. There haven’t been any setbacks, so hopefully he’s on track for training camp. I believe he said that the other day, and that’s the plan as long as there are no setbacks."
