The New York Giants find themselves in unfamiliar territory in the 2023 NFL draft. They are currently slated to select 25th overall which is not what fans have become accustomed in recent years — top 10 picks have been much more common.
In fact, during general manager Joe Schoen’s pre-draft press conference on Thursday, he joked about the difficulty in picking 25th overall as opposed to 5th and 7th overall.
“I wish I knew. I’m trying to figure it out. 25 it’s a little bit harder than 5 and 7 to come up with names,” Schoen said when asked who he was going to select.
While the Giants surprised many by making the playoffs last season, the roster still has plenty of needs. Schoen is apparently open to all avenues when it comes to the draft, including trading future draft picks.
“I’d be open to any of that. I’m never going to rule it out. If it’s the right player and the value aligns, I’d move up. If it was a future pick, I would do that, too. Last year, just where we were financially, we needed as many depth pieces as we can. So, moving back a couple of times last year just made sense. It got us some more bodies that — so that was a little bit of the thought process that went into that,” he said.
Certainly, it’s a wise move for Schoen to avoid ruling out possibilities going into the draft. However, he also made it clear that they are confident that there would be a player at No. 25 that they like.
Whether it’s a veteran player with a proven track record or a prospect that they believe would be worth trading up for, if the Giants feel like there is value in parting ways with future draft picks to get a more immediate impact, Schoen is certainly open to it.