Giants GM Joe Schoen hits bullseye by trading back into first round for Jaxson Dart

John Mara didn't mince his words when the Giants' miserable 2024 season was over. He made it clear that his GM and coach were on a very hot seat. And when he called finding a franchise quarterback the team's "No. 1 issue" of the offseason, he was basically ordering Joe Schoen to go find one.

Schoen, though, did even better than that in what might have been the team's best first round of an NFL Draft since the Giants found their last franchise quarterback 21 years ago. The GM passed on a QB at pick No. 3, taking a franchise defender in edge rusher Abdul Carter instead. Then Schoen found a way to trade back into the first round — for second- and third-round picks this year and a 2026 third-rounder — taking franchise quarterback Jaxson Dart at No. 25.

It was the Giants' biggest move for a quarterback since Ernie Accorsi pulled off the deal for Eli Manning back in 2004. And it was an absolute home run for Schoen, who couldn't afford anything less after a miserable 3-14 season and an ugly 18-32-1 record in his first three years running the team. He needed a big, bold strike like this to ensure he and head coach Brian Daboll had a chance to survive another year.

And the Giants absolutely needed a promising young quarterback like Dart after their expensive, five-year experiment with Daniel Jones went so horribly wrong at the end.

Of course, they have to be right about the 21-year-old Dart, who broke a bunch of passing records at Ole Miss that were once set by Manning. In his three years as a starter for the Rebels, Dart threw for 10,617 yards and 72 touchdowns with just 22 interceptions. That included 4,279 yards, 29 touchdowns and six interceptions last year.

But while the comparisons with Manning are obvious, those weren't