Most NFL experts and media members expect the New York Giants to go one of two ways in round one of the 2024 draft: Top-flight wide receiver or quarterback of the future.

If general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll choose the latter, they might have to trade up to secure one of the top-tier prospects at the position considering the Arizona Cardinals are openly shopping their pick. On March 21, Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport detailed what it might cost for the Giants to move up and land a QB at No. 4 overall.

Giants get: 2024 Round 1 Pick (No. 4) & 2024 Round 5 Pick (No. 162).
Cardinals get: 2024 Round 1 Pick (No. 6), 2024 Round 2 Pick (No. 47) & 2024 Round 4 Pick (No. 107).
According to the 2024 NFL trade value chart, this would be considered a slight overpay by Big Blue — who would be sending a combined point value of 2,110 for a value of 1,826.6 — but that’s not as wide a discrepancy as it seems when acquiring a potential franchise quarterback.

Davenport’s theme behind this trade proposal was to sever long-term ties to Daniel Jones, quoting NFL Network’s Rich Eisen who relayed a rumor that the Giants were feeling “buyer’s remorse” at the 2024 combine after extending the former first-round pick.

“The Giants are in a spot (picking sixth overall) where it’s possible that they could land Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy without making a move up the board,” Davenport reasoned. “But now that the Cardinals have put the fourth pick on the market, Giants general manager Joe Schoen has to consider the possibility that another quarterback-needy team will leapfrog them.”

The NFL analyst noted that “similar deals in the past have generally included a Day 2 selection.” With NYG already sending one 2024 second rounder to acquire Brian Burns, this deal would wipe out their draft capital in rounds two and four.

NFL Writer Believes Cardinals Trade Rumors Are Pretty Legit
Bleacher Report colleague Alex Ballentine discussed 2024 NFL draft narratives and rumors on March 21, grading the validity of each one on a scale of 1-10 (“with 1 being closest to the truth and 10 being utter B.S.”).

After completing the exercise, Ballentine rated the Cardinals’ willingness to trade out of the No. 4 overall pick a “2” out of 10 — meaning he believes this rumor is pretty legit.

“The Arizona Cardinals will hold a lot of power if/when they get on the clock with the fourth overall selection,” Ballentine explained. “At this point, it feels inevitable that Caleb Williams, Drake Maye and Jayden Daniels will be gone after the first three picks.”

“That means the Cardinals could snag Marvin Harrison Jr. or sell the pick to the highest bidder with every non-quarterback on the board,” he continued. “J.J. McCarthy, who seems to be garnering momentum, could be on the board too.”

Needless to say, McCarthy would be the likely target if the Giants were to make this jump. Their major competition could include QB-needy franchises like the Minnesota Vikings, Denver Broncos and Las Vegas Raiders.

“If the Cards can get a good package of draft picks for someone trading up to get McCarthy or Harrison Jr., they should pull the trigger,” the NFL writer concluded.

Ballentine Believes J.J. McCarthy to Giants Is a Smokescreen
Although Ballentine believes the Cardinals trade hype is mostly true, he’s less confident that the Giants actually want McCarthy — grading that rumor an “8” on his scale.

“The McCarthy-Giants fit is a questionable one to say the least,” Ballentine voiced. “First, the Jones contract is a problem. They can get out of the contract next season with a dead cap charge of $22.2 million but doing so now would cost $69.3 million.”

He added that “if McCarthy were more of a sure thing, it would make some sense to draft him at six and deal with the awkward situation of keeping Jones around.”

Considering the Michigan signal-caller has notable question marks as a top-10 prospect, however, Ballentine determined that the Giants are better off avoiding another high-end “project” at quarterback.

“Reaching on a quarterback at No. 6 is how the Giants got to this spot in the first place,” he reminded, referencing the Jones selection in 2019.