The preferred path to follow remains in place: Select a quarterback with the No. 3 pick in the draft. That is what the Giants hope will happen. When it comes to identifying and securing a franchise-saving player, though, hope is not a good thing, maybe the worst of things — with apologies to Andy Dufresne.

The Giants can hope all they want, but simple arithmetic leads to the sobering reality that Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders could both be off the board by the time the Giants are on the clock. And there might not be anything they can do about that. This means a different path must be explored. There should be no discounting the Giants and Matthew Stafford as a potential arranged marriage.

There are all sorts of caveats here. No one even knows if Stafford is gettable. If he is, the Giants will look into trading for him because they need a starting quarterback, and it just so happens Stafford can be viewed as the best one out there, if, indeed, he is available.

In the Eagles’ dominant playoff march and resounding victory over the Chiefs in Super Bowl 2025, it was Stafford and the Rams, in the snow in Philadelphia, who nearly ousted the Eagles in the NFC divisional round. Stafford — in his 16th NFL season, at age 37 — started 16 games in 2024 and showed signs of decline. He threw 20 touchdown pᴀsses and eight interceptions for a pᴀsser rating of 93.7. He does not run — 41 rushing yards all season — but he remains savvy and still has a howitzer right arm. The Rams offensive line was weak, and yet Stafford was sacked just 28 times, a credit to his ability to get rid of the ball.