UPDATE: The Browns lost to the Dolphins in Sunday’s late afternoon window. So the Giants are now fourth in the 2025 NFL Draft order, behind the Patriots, Titans, and Browns. Those are the NFL’s only 3-13 teams entering Week 18.
The Giants lose the strength of schedule tiebreaker to all three of those other teams. The Patriots won’t draft a quarterback — so they might be open to trading the top pick. Meanwhile, the Titans, Browns, and Giants are all quarterback-needy teams.
The Giants entered last week’s game in Atlanta second in the draft order. They lost, and then the Raiders beat the Jaguars last week. That moved the Giants to No. 1 entering Week 17. But then they beat the Colts, as the Patriots, Titans, and Browns all lost this week. So the Giants are No. 4.
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Shedeur Sanders already owns Giants cleats.
Will he get a matching uniform next spring?
There’s now a good chance he won’t — because the Giants on Sunday beat the Colts, 45-33, at MetLife Stadium and lost the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
At this point, they have tumbled to third — and could still fall one more spot, if the Browns lose at home to the Dolphins, in a game that just began.
The Patriots are now first, followed by the Titans. New England won’t draft a quarterback, but the Titans could. Ditto for the Browns, who are currently fourth.
The Giants (3-13) entered Sunday having lost a franchise-record 10 straight games. The Raiders’ win last week over the Jaguars boosted the Giants to the top pick.
All the Giants had to do was lose out — against the Colts and then in Philadelphia in Week 18 — and the pick would be theirs.
So much for that.
And now, there’s a chance the Eagles rest their starters in Week 18 — which could mean another Giants win (though probably not).
Sanders — the polarizing Colorado quarterback — would’ve been a top option, along with Miami’s Cam Ward, for the quarterback-needy Giants at No. 1.
What now?
Well, the Giants entered Sunday ahead of these three-win teams in the draft order: Patriots, Jaguars, Titans, Browns, and Raiders.
The Patriots were already 3-13, since they lost Saturday. The Titans lost to the Jaguars. The Browns’ game just started. And the Raiders beat the Saints — which is good news for the Giants, since the Raiders now have four wins.
If the Giants lost Sunday, they would’ve finished their 100th season 0-9 at home — their worst home record ever. (Their only winless home season came in 1974 — 0-7 at the Yale Bowl.)
They also would’ve extended their franchise-record losing streak. Before this season, they had never lost more than nine straight games. And they would’ve remained on track for a 2-15 finish that would’ve been their second-worst season ever, behind only 1-12-1 in 1966.
The Giants have had the No. 1 pick twice — 1951 and 1965. Sixty years later, Giants fans — desperate for a new quarterback — were hoping for the top pick in 2025, since it would’ve let their general manager (maybe Joe Schoen, maybe someone else) get his preferred quarterback.
So much for that.
Despite Sunday’s win, the Giants have had a humiliating 100th season. So it’s possible co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch fully clean house and fire Schoen and coach Brian Daboll. If that happens, the new regime wouldn’t face the hot-seat pressure to draft a quarterback high.
In that case, the Giants — who have a ton of roster holes — might draft a non-quarterback in Round 1 and sign a free agent “bridge” quarterback to start in 2025.
Hopefully, Sanders kept the receipt for those Giants cleats.
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Darryl Slater may be reached at dslater@njadvancemedia.com.
