Giants General Manager Joe Schoen wanted to move up from the sixth overall pick to the third overall pick to select a quarterback in the 2024 NFL draft. But Schoen wasn’t willing to meet the price demanded by the Patriots.
Patriots V.P. of Player Personnel Eliot Wolf told Schoen before the draft that the Patriots would need to be bowled over by an offer if they were going to move down.
“You guys still listening, or you guys make a decision?” Schoen asked Wolf, as shown in a preview for tonight’s Hard Knocks.
Wolf answered that the Patriots would want multiple first-round picks and multiple second-round picks: “I think we’re pretty happy with sitting here picking. But, again, if you offer us 1, 2, 3 this year, 1, 2 next year . . .” Wolf said.
Schoen asked, “It would have to be something crazy like that?”
“It would probably have to be pretty significant,” Wolf answered.
Schoen was willing to offer the Giants’ sixth overall pick, plus their 2025 first-round pick, plus another pick in 2025 to move up to No. 3 overall. That wasn’t enough for Wolf.
The Patriots ended up taking quarterback Drake Maye at No. 3 overall, and that’s who the Giants would have taken if they had moved up. That the Giants wanted to move up shows that they’re ready to move on from quarterback Daniel Jones, but the Patriots’ high asking price gave Jones another year to prove he deserves to be the Giants’ QB1.