If the New York Giants plan to pursue pending unrestricted free agent quarterback Sam Darnold to solve their quarterback issue, it will likely cost them a lot of money.
So believes ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, who has Darnold ranked sixth in his top 50 pending free agents list. Darnold, according to league executives Fowler has spoken to, could be in line for a contract on par with what Baker Mayfield received from the Bucs: a three-year, $100 million pact with $50 million in total guarantees and $40 million guaranteed at signing.
Mayfield’s deal was signed in March 2024 and included a $28.875 million signing bonus. It has two voidable years in 2027 and 2028, which held the Bucs thin out the prorated signing bonus hit on their cap.
And the deal, after a $1.125 million base salary that was paid to Mayfield in 2024, the first year of the contract, balloons to $30 million in 2025 ($10 million of which is guaranteed) and $40 million in 2026 (none of which is guaranteed).
This type of structure is precisely what we think the Giants will give a veteran, regardless of when the team drafts a quarterback. If the Giants draft a quarterback this year, chances are the rookie will sit for most of the season (if not all of it) while he acclimates to life in the NFL while the veteran carries the team for the 2025 campaign.
If the Giants don’t select a quarterback in the premium rounds (Day 1 and 2 of the draft) this year and decide to wait until 2026, they will still have a veteran bridge on the roster for 2026 and 2027.
“We're gonna look through that group of (veteran) guys, and then we've got a pretty thorough process in terms of the college draft picks and the quarterbacks that goes back to when (head coach Brian) Daboll was in Miami and the Andy Dalton draft,” Giants general manager Joe Schoen told Bill Polian last week during an interview with SiriusXM NFL Radio.
“So we've got a good process in place. Once we get to the combine, that process will start.”
