Shortly before the New York Giants traded back
into the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft
to select Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart at No. 25, a report claimed that Colorado signal-caller Shedeur Sanders essentially bombed a predraft visit with Giants head coach Brian Daboll.
For an article published Tuesday, Giants beat reporter Paul Schwartz of the New York Post (h/t NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) addressed the Daboll-Sanders whispers that have hovered over the franchise since late April.
“What seems true is that there was no one incident or moment where the Giants soured on Sanders,” Schwartz wrote. “That much-reported terrible Sanders meeting with head coach Brian Daboll? The one where Sanders was unprepared for an install test Daboll gave him and then balked at Daboll’s criticism? That is likely either untrue or overhyped. There was no ‘bomb’ meeting.”
On April 24, NFL Draft analyst and league insider Todd McShay of The Ringer shared that Sanders allegedly wasn’t prepared for his meeting with Daboll, “got called out on it,” and “didn’t like that.” McShay added that Daboll “didn’t appreciate [Sanders] not liking it.”
After the Giants grabbed Dart, Daboll insisted the club “had good meetings with all the guys that came in here.” Meanwhile, how Sanders reportedly handled the predraft process caused him to fall to the fifth round before the Cleveland Browns traded up to take him at pick No. 144.
Giants general manager Joe Schoen recently spoke with Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated and praised Dart’s leadership traits. That said, it appears an April report that revealed Big Blue “loved” Miami’s Cam Ward ahead of the draft was at least somewhat accurate.
“The only quarterback the Giants viewed as being NFL-ready right away was Cam Ward, and the signing of Russell Wilson to fill the starting role meant any other rookie would at first sit and watch and learn,” Schwartz explained.
Of course, the Tennessee Titans rejected trade offers for the draft’s first pick and ultimately used that asset to acquire Ward.
History suggests outsiders will never know the whole story regarding why Schoen “shifted his preference” from Sanders to Dart over the first several months of the offseason. For whatever reason, it seems individuals within the Giants want it known they’re not responsible for the widespread criticisms of Sanders that have popped up this spring.
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