The New York Giants made the predictable but controversial decision to trade up for a second first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, selecting Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart 25th overall after adding Penn State pass rusher Abdul Carter with the No. 3 pick.
Dart was among the best quarterbacks in the SEC last season, and there is tremendous upside tied to his arm talent and mobility. The Giants need a quarterback, so even if you're a Dart skeptic, the logic behind the trade was sound. Now, with Derek Carr set to retire, the Giants look almost prophetic.
Carr is hanging 'em up after 11 NFL seasons. He leaves the New Orleans Saints without a clear QB1, although second-round pick Tyler Shough presumably vaults to the top of the depth chart. New Orleans may explore the scant veteran options available, such as Aaron Rodgers, Kirk Cousins or Carson Wentz, but Shough — the 40th overall pick a couple weeks ago — is the future, like it or not.
While Carr was never going to end up in a Giants uniform, his retirement does drive home the reasoning behind New York's biggest draft gamble. New Orleans was into Dart throughout the pre-draft process, but not enough to burn its top-10 pick on him. By vaulting back into the first round and leapfrogging other potential suitors, the Giants may very well have kept Dart out of a Saints uniform. If New Orleans had known Carr was about to retire on draft night, who knows how the front office's strategy would have changed.
Giants look like geniuses for Jaxson Dart trade after Derek Carr's Saints retirement
It's unclear how the Saints proceed from here — whether it's Shough through and through, or if the front office will explore more desperate measures in order to field a contender. Carr's retirement gives the Saints' front office roughly $30 million in cap relief, something New Orleans has long been in need of.
For the Giants, though, the QB hierarchy is set in stone. Russell Wilson is the Week 1 starter, but he will mentor Dart the whole way. Jameis Winston was also brought in as a source of wisdom, no doubt with a young quarterback in mind. Few players can lay out the pitfalls of first-round quarterbacks with more clarity and hindsight than he can.
New Orleans did not take the aggressive approach in the draft with an expensive, established vet atop the QB room, but Carr's retirement highlights the fragility of QB rooms everywhere. Unless you have an elite star in his prime, it's generally wise to have a succession plan laid out. The Saints obviously liked Shough, but Dart was a first-round prospect and a much stronger bet to start for 10-plus years in the NFL. If the Saints knew Carr was out the door, one has to wonder if Dart would be training in the Bayou right now.
In selecting Dart and adding multiple veterans to the QB room, New York covered all the bases. The Giants will attempt to contend with a former Super Bowl champ at the commands, but if the Russ era falters — or if injuries and other exterior forces get in the way — Dart is ready to pick up the slack and lead New York into the future.
If Shough can emerge as a week-in, week-out starter for the Saints, this will all blow over. But there's a reason Shough was a hotly debated figure in a notoriously weak QB draft: He's 25 years old with a ton of injuries on his ledger and a spotty résumé compared to many of his rookie peers.
The Giants, against all odds, look like the smart, proactive team right now.