The New York Giants draft picture is coming into closer focus with each day that draws nearer to round one of the significant offseason milestones. A growing number of people believe fate will align them with Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter at No. 3 overall.
While the Giants have certainly done their due diligence with all the high-value prospects that could fall in their laps, especially the quarterbacks who could fit for the team’s long-awaited franchise savior, Carter just seems to be the way things are most likely heading.
The Tennessee Titans practically have their hearts set on Cam Ward at the No. 1 overall pick, barring some insane trade offer that completely knocks their socks off, and the Cleveland Browns, who also need an arm and once looked geared for Shedeur Sanders, are turning their dial towards Travis Hunter in the final month before the draft.
That would leave Carter sitting at the third pick for New York, and it’s hard to say that the Penn State off-ball linebacker turned edge rusher wouldn’t be a solid consolation piece.
The Giants likely see him as adding another destructive pass rusher to their crew that already features Kayvon Thibodeaux and Brian Burns, who led the team with 13.5 combined sacks last season.
Thibodeaux is also not guaranteed to be around for longer than the 2025 season, as the Giants have yet to buy into his fifth-year option or discuss meeting in the middle on a long-term extension.
That possibility has surely made scouting Carter a must, and the only barrier to overcome is trusting that the prospect’s medicals come back clean before gambling the pick on him.
It is the season of crazy smokescreens, though, and a lot more can still change before draft night. So what if the Giants decide they don’t want to hedge the third pick on Carter, a player whom a few other teams could be eyeing for activity at the top of the board to make a big jump?
NFL draft analyst Chad Forbes, while he believes that Carter is the guy for the Giants if Hunter is gone by No. 3, just offered a very interesting trade scenario for New York with the Carolina Panthers, who sit five spots lower. It’s a package that could be one of the best we’ve seen in a minute.
In Forbes’s pitch, the Giants would trade the third overall pick to the Panthers in exchange for a pretty haul that includes dropping to the No. 8 pick and adding the 57th, 111th, and the franchise's 2026 first-round selection. New York would also keep their 34th pick in the second round.
The Panthers would likely use this pick to steal Carter as a premier edge rusher for their young defense that recently shipped Brian Burns to the Giants in a megatrade last offseason. On the other hand, the Giants would be granted one of the best pairings of Day 2 picks that they can use to fortify many different holes on the roster.
The biggest question mark is what they would do with the No. 8 pick, which I believe could either fall back on a quarterback with Sanders if he is still available or go for one of the elite offensive or defensive line prospects in the class like Will Campbell or Mason Graham.
With the latest hints the Giants have dropped, it doesn’t appear like picking a quarterback in the top 10 picks is out of the equation in this scenario, but the Giants would have to love the player or fear they won’t get something later on.
Still, that is where the 2026 first-rounder could make the difference as well, where the Giants could pause their search for a gunslinger until next year’s draft when there will be more abundant options on the table compared to now when only one quarterback prospect is considered elite.
Either way, the options become endless for Schoen and Brian Daboll if they want to use this year’s class to find roster-changing talent at key positions to help them win games next season and surround a future rookie quarterback.
That is why they’ve handled the helm by signing two veteran arms, Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston, so they can have that security system in place in the event that the 2025 quarterback group doesn’t wow them as the absolute future leader for years to come.
Many teams will come calling for the No. 3 pick, given that the Giants seem on the fence about how they’ll handle the first round of a highly important draft for their organization. Not all will have offers that are worth it, but this one from Forbes might just be a rare one that causes the next significant draft shift we are following this offseason.
