2024 NFL Draft: Would Giants trade up for a QB? Maybe, if that QB is Drake Maye

It’s no secret that the Giants are seriously considering taking a quarterback in the first round of this year’s draft. The real mystery is whether one they like will be available at pick No. 6.

If not, they would have to trade up. And they might be willing to do that. But only if the right quarterback is still available.

And the quarterback who might tempt them to do that is North Carolina’s Drake Maye.

He is the prospect who could most entice the Giants to make a blockbuster move up from No. 6, according to multiple NFL sources familiar with the Giants’ thinking. With USC’s Caleb Williams almost certain to be taken by the Chicago Bears at No. 1, the 21-year-old Maye is believed by many around the NFL to be the next quarterback on the Giants’ list.

In fact, one league source said he believes that if Maye somehow gets past the Washington Commanders at No. 2 — which is far from a certainty — the Giants would consider making an aggressive offer to the New England Patriots to move up from No. 6 to No. 3 to draft him. It’s not clear if New York would be willing to do the same for LSU’s Jayden Daniels or Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy, the other two top quarterbacks likely to be available at that spot.

Now, keep in mind there are still three weeks to go until the NFL Draft and a lot of things could change — including the order of quarterbacks on the Giants’ draft board, which a team source said is far from finalized. In fact, the Giants have been heavily scouting all of the top quarterbacks in the draft, sending large contingents to their pro days and with plans to hold private workouts with most of them.

But if they’ve settled on the one they like best, or once they do, a big trade up for a quarterback might not be out of character for the Giants’ regime of GM Joe Schoen and coach Brian Daboll. Both were in Buffalo in 2018 when the Bills did a double jump up from 21 to 12 to 7 to draft quarterback Josh Allen. Those deals cost Buffalo two second-round picks, a fifth-rounder and a veteran offensive lineman, but they obviously paid off handsomely for the franchise.

So there’s definitely a possibility that New York would be willing to make a move like that. Even Giants co-owner John Mara said “I certainly would support that” if Schoen and Daboll “fall in love” with one of the quarterbacks. 

But there are still multiple issues that could make it impossible for the Giants to move up, even if they decided that’s what they wanted to do.

Perhaps the biggest problem is this: Few around the NFL think the Patriots would seriously consider a trade down, since they obviously need to find a franchise quarterback of their own. Their current No. 1 QB is veteran Jacoby Brissett, who is almost certainly a placeholder and mentor for an incoming rookie.

And even if the Patriots are willing to move down from No. 3, the price could be extraordinarily high. In 2018, it cost the Jets three second-round picks over two years to move up from No. 6 to No. 3 when they drafted quarterback Sam Darnold. That’s a problem for the Giants, who traded one of their two second-round picks to Carolina for edge rusher Brian Burns. And actually, the price could be even higher since the Minnesota Vikings have two first-round picks this year (11 and 23) and are believed to be interested in moving up for a quarterback, too.

Now, if quarterbacks are taken with the first three picks and Maye somehow slips to No. 4, the Giants would probably have better luck making a deal for that pick with the Arizona Cardinals, or even with the Los Angeles Chargers at No. 5. But that’s another thing that doesn’t seem likely to happen. 

In fact, multiple NFL sources said they don’t believe Maye will get past the Commanders at No. 2. Despite a lot of speculation that Daniels is a better fit for the scheme of new Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury and a report that GM Adam Peters was eyeing McCarthy, there are many people around the NFL who view those tidbits as smokescreens.

“I think we’re at the point where people are just overanalyzing and forgetting all the reasons why Maye is one of the two best quarterbacks in this draft,” said one NFL personnel executive. “He’s a big kid [6-foot-4, 223] with a big arm who can run. Sure, he can be inconsistent and he made some throws in college that he shouldn’t have tried.

“But so did Josh Allen, and look how that worked out.”

While Maye and Allen have similar tools, Maye “isn’t quite that kind of prospect,” said one NFC scout. “His tools are good, but not that good.”

All that matters, though, is if Schoen and Daboll think Maye’s tools are good enough to make him the quarterback they want to build their program around. And if they decide he is, how far are they willing to go to get him?

Back at the NFL Scouting Combine in late February, Schoen indicated that if the Giants were to make a trade, it likely wouldn’t be until very late in the game — not until he knows for sure which player he’d want.

“You’ve got to get around these kids and you’ve got to get to know them,” Schoen said. “Until you’re able to do that, it’s hard to make those type of moves. Then once we were comfortable, that’s when you make that type of move.”

The second part of that is before they make a move, the Giants would also have to be sure the player they want will be available. And if it’s Maye, they might not be sure of that until the first two or three picks of the draft are made.

Ralph Vacchiano is the NFC East reporter for FOX Sports, covering the Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. He spent the previous six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.

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