The Giants tanked everyone’s plan for them to lose out and select Shedeur Sanders or Cam Ward with the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
A slew of results Sunday — none more surprising than their own 45-33 victory against the Colts to snap a franchise record 10-game losing streak — bumped the Giants down to the No. 4 pick in the projected draft order and complicated the path to adding a new franchise quarterback.
The Giants finished Sunday behind the Patriots (No. 1), тιтans (No. 2) and Browns (No. 3). All four teams have 3-13 records, but the Giants lose the tiebreakers by having the best strength of schedule among the group, per Tankathon.com.
The fall actually could’ve been worse, but the Raiders beat the Saints for their fourth win of the season — keeping the Giants out of No. 5.
All the Giants had to do to clinch No. 1 for the first time since 1965 was lose their final two games — a possibility that a boisterous segment of the fan base was clinging to. Players never buy into a tanking narrative the way fans do, however.
“You would rather your team go out there and fight for every inch than lay down and take an ᴀss-whooping,” right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor said after the Giants’ highest scoring game since 2015. “Yeah, you get the pick that you want, but what is that player they want coming into? Being 3-13 is not for everyone, but everyone is out there trying and we’re trying to establish a culture that can lead into next year.”
Of course, there is still a week of games left to decide the final draft order.
The Patriots host the Bills (13-3) and the тιтans host the Texans (9-7). Both the Bills and Texans could be playing backups with nothing to gain after clinching the No. 2 and No. 4 seeds, respectively, in the AFC playoffs.
The Browns visit the Ravens (11-5), who need a win to clinch the AFC North over the Steelers.
The Giants face the Eagles (13-3), who are locked into the No. 2 seed after winning the NFC East. The only thing that the Eagles could be playing for is Saquon Barkley’s chance to set the NFL single-season rushing record by risking injury to gain 101 yards against his former team.
If the order doesn’t change, the Patriots could create an interesting auction if they wanted to trade back because their future quarterback (Drake Maye) is already in the fold. The Giants likely would want to make a compelling offer — one year after not being able to agree to terms with the Patriots on compensation to move up from No. 6 to No. 3 to draft Maye.
Will the Giants be willing to trade a future first-round pick to move up for the right to select either Sanders or Ward after doing months of scouting homework on the draft class’ projected top two quarterbacks? Will either head coach Brian Daboll or general manager Joe Schoen — or both — be retained to be the ones making that decision?
The quarterback-needy тιтans hold the No. 2 pick after losing Sunday’s Three-Win Bowl against the Jaguars. Whichever team lost that game was going to be ahead of the Giants, while one was going to join the hapless four-win group.
If the Giants beat the Eagles, they could fall as low as No. 9 depending on tiebreakers.
“That’s not talked about with us,” receiver Wan’Dale Robinson said. “Coaches aren’t coming to us telling us, ‘We need to lose this for a certain pick.’ Guys are playing for their livelihoods.”
