New York Giants Have Considered Potential Second Bite Of Big Apple For Aaron Rodgers And Sam Darnold

It takes some serious ego, and definitely some desperation, to do what the New York Giants are considering with Aaron Rodgers or Sam Darnold.

And that is perhaps targeting one or the other former New York Jets discards and making him their shiny new quarterback for 2025. 

Call it a potential second bite at the Big Apple at quarterback for the Giants and Rodgers or Darnold.

New York Giants co-owner John Mara (left) and New York Giants General Manager, Joe Schoen, speak with New York Giants Head Coach, Brian Daboll, at MetLife Stadium before their team hosts the New England Patriots, Sunday, November 26, 2023.

Giants Studying All QB Options

The Giants, you see, are exploring every single option there is at quarterback. All of them.

Draft.

Trade.

Free agency.

Import from Uzbekistan, if there's one to be had.

"We're going to have to address the position somewhere," Giants general manager Joe Schoen said last week at the NFL scouting combine. "Even if you get a young quarterback, you'd like to have a vet in the room with him to show him the ropes and how to be a pro.  We're looking at all different avenues.

"It's, ‘Hey, is this guy going to be really good for a young quarterback, or is this guy a starter?’ Can we get a guy in the draft, or if we do, should we have a guy that's more of a guy that can develop and show a guy how to be a pro?

"We're going to look at vets. We're going to look at the draft. We're going to look at trade candidates. We're going to look under every rock to find the best prospect for us going into the '25 season."

Breaking: The trade route is probably closed because the Giants tried that with Matthew Stafford of the Rams, and he decided to stay with the Los Angeles Rams.

Dec 22, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) looks on before the game against the Los Angeles Rams at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Rodgers Or Darnold For Giants?

So the Giants are most likely going to tap free agency or the draft, or both, to address their quarterback room.

And this is what leads them to seriously considering the former Jets quarterbacks – which one club source said they have studied.

They're looking at Rodgers because the Giants have decided he's probably the best bridge quarterback candidate who would start for them in 2025 and, frankly, give them hope of being pretty solid on offense.

Rodgers will be released by the Jets around March 12 when the new league year begins. And he will be able to shop for a new team if – big IF – he decides he wants to play another year at age 41 going on 42 years old.

Rodgers, we all know, didn't work out for the Jets. He missed all but four plays in 2023 after a torn Achilles injury. And his team actually regressed from a 7-10 record to 5-12 and eventually fired its coach and general manager in 2024 when Rodgers played all 17 games.

So it could be a fanciful thinking to believe Rodgers can save the Giants next season.

FLORHAM PARK, NEW JERSEY - JULY 26: Quarterback Aaron Rodgers #8 of the New York Jets talks to reporters after training camp at Atlantic Health Jets Training Center on July 26, 2023 in Florham Park, New Jersey. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)

Rodgers Enjoys New York City

But it still makes some sense. Rodgers, you see, bought a $9.5 million mansion in 2023 when he joined the Jets so he's already in the region. A move to the Giants would merely make his daily commute different.

He played all 17 games last year and the Giants believe their troubles have mostly come because their quarterbacks haven't been durable. And Rodgers wasn't terrible. He threw 28 TD passes and got close to 4,000 yards after not playing the previous season.

So there's a chance that, even at 41, Rodgers could be better two years removed from his injury.

And why would Rodgers seriously consider the Giants? Well, he's not getting the Rams job because that now belongs to Stafford. He's not getting the San Francisco 49ers job because that belongs to Brock Purdy, whom the 49ers are in contract negotiations with to get an extension.

So Rodgers has to look elsewhere other than his native California. And while maybe Las Vegas might be tempting, he's already got that palace in New Jersey and has said multiple times he really enjoys living near New York City.

Sep 13, 2020; Orchard Park, New York, USA; New York Jets quarterback Sam Darnold (14) looks on prior to the game against the Buffalo Bills at Bills Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

Darnold Open To All Options

Darnold, meanwhile, is set to become the top free agent quarterback on the market. That, of course, assumes the Minnesota Vikings don't use the franchise tag on Darnold, with the intention of either keeping him as their starter or trading him.

Darnold is apparently a good fit for the Giants because, like them, he's open to practically everything.

One person familiar with Darnold's thinking told OutKick the quarterback would love to stay in Minnesota, where he threw 35 touchdown passes last season. But he's also excited about seeing what is possible in free agency. And he's even open to returning to New York, obviously with the Giants.

That last part is kind of wild because Darnold was booed out of New York during the 2020 season, his last with the Jets.

Darnold's thinking there is that he's a different player than the one who left after the ‘20 season. And he’s confident he could deal with whatever fan reaction his return might cause.

Giants Aware New York Reunion Awkward

So, barring moves that completely run away from both Rodgers and Darnold – two prominent names among potentially available quarterbacks this offseason – the Giants are seriously unmoved by the prospect of tapping into a Big Apple reunion with a player.

Awkward? Absolutely. 

The media, which is kind of a big deal in New York, would make the immediate connection to failures with the Jets. Every setback with the NFC team would be compared to the setbacks either Rodgers or Darnold had with New York's AFC team.

The Giants know this.

But they believe in their evaluations and that if they pick either Rodgers or Darnold, they could do what many other teams have done which is get players who failed with the Jets to succeed with them. 

So a potential second bite at the Big Apple remains on the table.