Giants’ Mara Would ‘Support’ Drafting QB in 1st Round, Still Believes in Daniel Jones

zach bacharContributor IMarch 25, 2024

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New York Giants owner John Mara told reporters on Monday that he would “support” the front office selecting a quarterback in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft.

“If they fall in love with a quarterback and believe that it’s worth pick No. 6 or moving up, I certainly would support that,” Mara said, according to ESPN’s Jordan Raanan.

The Giants have been actively assessing several of the top quarterback prospects in the 2024 class. They’ve brought in North Carolina’s Drake Maye and Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy for separate visits, per Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer. General manager Joe Schoen also attended Caleb Williams’ pro day at USC.

While Mara appears to be open to the front office drafting a quarterback, he hasn’t given up on incumbent signal-caller Daniel Jones just yet. After signing a four-year extension worth $160 million in the 2023 offseason, Jones struggled with inconsistency before a torn ACL ended his season in Week 9.

On Monday, Mara told NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo that the team still expects him to remain the starter moving forward.

“I still have all the confidence in the world in him,” Mara said. “Hopefully he’ll be ready to go by training camp. Yes, I think we all expect him to be the starter in 2024.”

Mike Garafolo @MikeGarafoloJohn Mara told reporters he wouldn’t stop #Giants GM Joe Schoen from drafting a QB but says here, “I think the Daniel (Jones) we saw in 2022 is the real deal. … I still have all the confidence in the world in him. … Yes, I think we all expect him to be the starter in 2024.” https://t.co/JQEbTnCogq

This doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s not interested in selecting a quarterback, although a rookie signal-caller would need to beat out Jones in training camp.

“Why not let them both compete? Let them both compete and let the better man win,” Mara said in regards to a potential starting quarterback job up for grabs (per Raanan).

While the Giants’ front office has been given the green light to select a quarterback on the first night of the draft, Jones could still earn the top spot on the team’s depth chart for the 2024 season.