Reports address Giants' thought process during 2024 NFL Draft

ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter raised eyebrows when he suggested Monday that some of the New York Giants' pre-draft activities may have been related to hoping that Notre Dame Fighting Irish offensive tackle Joe Alt would fall to the sixth pick of the NFL Draft. 

In articles posted on Tuesday, both Mike Reiss and Jordan Raanan of ESPN insisted the Giants wanted to acquire the draft's third pick from the New England Patriots in order to grab North Carolina Tar Heels quarterback Drake Maye. New England stayed at No. 3 and selected Maye this past Thursday night. 

Specifically, Reiss revealed that a source said the Giants "had offered the No. 6 overall pick and their 2025 first-round pick" to New England for the third choice. Raanan, meanwhile, mentioned that "multiple sources" told him the Giants "made offers that involved their first and second-round picks this year and first-rounder in 2025" for No. 3. 

Roughly one week before the draft got underway, whispers emerged hinting that the Giants' alleged interest in Michigan Wolverines quarterback J.J. McCarthy was little more than a smokescreen. It's widely assumed the Giants had no realistic chance of keeping the Chicago Bears from making USC Trojans star quarterback Caleb Williams the draft's first pick and of preventing the Washington Commanders from taking LSU Tigers signal-caller Jayden Daniels at No. 2.

This past Friday, Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated wrote that the Giants "did wind up putting their 2025 first-round pick in their offer to move from No. 6 to No. 3." Breer added in that piece that the Minnesota Vikings offered the Patriots picks No. 11 and No. 23 this year, a 2025 first-round selection and "pick swaps favoring the Vikings" for the third choice. 

Such information, coupled with what Reiss and Raanan shared, indicates the Giants were never all that close to earning the right to draft Maye at No. 3. 

The Los Angeles Chargers ultimately took Alt with the draft's fifth pick, while the Giants selected LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers instead of McCarthy at No. 6. 

Giants general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll may be counting down until they can part ways with 2023 Week 1 starting quarterback Daniel Jones next offseason. Schoen nevertheless seemingly never called New England regarding a so-called "Godfather offer" for what became the Maye pick.