Giants' 'worst-kept secret' about alleged NFL Draft desires revealed

As is to be expected with teams embracing misinformation tactics at this time of year, it appears the alleged draft desires of those within the New York Giants may be a moving target. 

"The worst-kept secret of the NFL combine might not just be the Giants' desire to select a quarterback in the upcoming NFL Draft, but their willingness to trade up to go get a quarterback in this year's draft," SNY NFL insider Connor Hughes (h/t Bleacher Report) reported on Friday afternoon. "The problem, though, is just, is there going to be one for them to go up there and take?"

It was reported earlier this week that there did not "seem to be much of an appetite within the Giants hierarchy to trade up" from the sixth overall pick to No. 3, where Big Blue could take either former North Carolina Tar Heels quarterback Drake Maye or former LSU Tigers signal-caller Jayden Daniels. The Chicago Bears are widely expected to select former USC Trojans quarterback Caleb Williams first overall, and the Washington Commanders (pick No. 2) aren't doing business with the division-rival Giants for obvious reasons. 

Daniel Jeremiah of NFL Network told reporters last week that the Giants would have to give New England the sixth overall pick this year along with three second-round selections to move up three spots. Many analysts believe Giants general manager Joe Schoen won't spend such a price considering the club isn't one player away from competing for more than a wild-card playoff berth, at most, next season. 

While the Giants remain hopeful that current starting quarterback Daniel Jones will be good to go for training camp coming off the torn ACL he suffered on Nov. 5, the fact that he's missed a total of nine games since the start of the 2021 season because of neck-related problems is concerning. Jones' injury history coupled with his poor play this past fall could result in Schoen "reaching" for a signal-caller such as J.J. McCarthy of the Michigan Wolverines at No. 6.

McCarthy's draft stock is rising, but it's unknown if Schoen would sacrifice multiple assets to prevent a club from leapfrogging the Giants in the draft order for the Michigan product.