Burning questions left to answer after Giants shook up 2025 NFL Draft

One win, so many questions.

The Giants didn’t just snap a franchise record 10-game losing streak Sunday by beating the Colts.

They clarified the playoff picture (eliminating the Colts), shook up the NFL draft order (handing the No. 1 pick to the Patriots for the time being) and gave ownership something to think about next week when deciding the fates of general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll.

Let’s tackle five new questions on the minds of a fan base no longer singularly focused on drafting Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders or Miami’s Cam Ward with the No. 1 pick to be the franchise quarterback.

Where will the Giants draft?

The Giants hold the No. 4 pick and have a smaller than 1-percent chance of regaining No. 1, per ESPN analytics.

So, you’re saying there’s a chance?

Yes, the Giants can get back to No. 1 if they lose to the Eagles (likely playing backups) and three upsets break their way: The Patriots beat the Bills (likely playing backups), Titans beat the Texans (likely playing backups) and Browns beat the Ravens.

If the Giants lose, they will move up as many spots as there are winners among those other 3-13 teams.

With a win, the Giants could drop as low as No. 9 if the Jaguars, Panthers, Jets, Raiders and Bears — all of whom are Week 18 underdogs — all lose to finish 4-13.

Strength of schedule (.551) works against them in all tiebreakers except maybe versus the Bears (.554).

The Giants have an 88.2 percent chance of a top-five pick.

What did the win do for the job security of Schoen and Daboll?

In theory, one late-season aberration shouldn’t change much of ownership’s big-picture analysis.

It didn’t when Pat Shurmur was fired after a 2-1 finish on the heels of a nine-game losing streak in 2019.

But if the Giants already preferred to keep the status quo, there is now an example to point to of players not quitting on Daboll and what might be possible with him calling plays and getting better quarterback play than happened for most of the season.

Schoen has been operating as if (and spreading the word in league circles that) he expects to be retained.

Co-owner John Mara wore a look of relief to be done with the losing streak as he declined comment to The Post following Sunday’s win.

The counterargument would be that the main justification for keeping Schoen and Daboll before Sunday was that they had not had their chance to draft and develop a quarterback.

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But the win might have knocked the Giants out of position to draft their preferred first-round quarterback again, so does that reasoning still hold?

Would decision-makers not on the hot seat make a more honest evaluation of the 2025 quarterback class?

The No. 1 pick — and choice of quarterback — would have been a major selling point to candidates in the event of any job opening(s).

The job is less attractive without it.

What happens to the quarterback search?

The narrowed focus on Sanders and Ward needs to be expanded because those two and receiver/cornerback two-way threat Travis Hunter likely will be drafted top-three in some order.

Start thinking about free agents, led by Sam Darnold and Russell Wilson.

Of course, those two high-end starters could be franchise-tagged or re-signed to extensions by the Vikings and Steelers, respectively.

A few recycled bridge options (Andy Dalton, Jameis Winston, Jacoby Brissett) are due to be back on the market.

So is Justin Fields, who drew an unexpectedly weak trade market last season but is still young and had some revitalizing success in six starts for the Steelers.

The Falcons will look to trade the benched Kirk Cousins, whose no-trade clause lets him pick his next destination.

He comes with a $27.5 million guaranteed salary that is reasonable if you believe he can regain his pre-Achilles tear form in his second year of recovery.

Would the Vikings make 2024 first-round pick J.J. McCarthy — scouted heavily but passed over by the Giants, who drafted Malik Nabers — available in a trade if they re-sign Darnold?

The Giants also reportedly had their top scouting executives get multiple live exposures to four quarterbacks forecasted to be mid-round picks: Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, Mississippi’s Jaxson Dart, Texas’ Quinn Ewers and Georgia’s Carson Beck.

What would it cost to trade up to No. 1?

The last time that No. 1 was traded was in 2023, when the Panthers sent the Bears No. 9, a future first-rounder, two second-rounders and receiver D.J. Moore to move to the top of the draft.

But Sanders and Ward are not considered in scouting circles to be the same caliber of prospects as Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud were in 2023.

And moving up from around No. 4 instead of No. 9 is a big difference in cost.

The two best examples are from two decades ago, though trade returns have skyrocketed since then.

The Chargers traded No. 1 to the Falcons for No. 5, a third-rounder, a future second-rounder and receiver Tim Dwight, while the Giants traded No. 4 (Philip Rivers), a future first-rounder, a third-rounder and a future fifth-rounder to the Chargers for No. 1 (Eli Manning) after the quarterbacks were selected.

Who are the other first-round pick options?

The non-quarterbacks projected to be top-10 picks align well with the Giants’ needs — partly because there are so many spots to upgrade despite 18 of 22 starters being under contract for 2025.

A case could be made for the Giants to look elsewhere for a quarterback now and use their first-round pick on Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham, Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter, Michigan cornerback Will Johnson, Texas offensive tackle Kelvin Banks or Arizona receiver Tetairoa McMillan.