‘Nobody knows’ what we’re going to do

The 2024 NFL draft kicks off on Thursday night in Detroit and there hasn’t been a whole lot of movement trade-wise between the teams as many have expected.

New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen, who holds the sixth overall selection in the first round, says it’s just too early to tell what to expect come Thursday in the way of a trade.

“You’re going through all the possible scenarios, whether it’s moving up, staying where we are, or moving back,” Schoen told Giants.com. “There’s a lot of strategy that’s going into it right now.

“(The discussions) will pick up as we get closer to Thursday, I think. I told all those people, ‘Nothing’s really going to happen before Thursday, so call back.’ We’ll have conversations early in the day on, ‘Hey, if we did do something, what would it look like?’ And typically, you have a few deals in place before the draft starts. That way, when you’re on the clock, everything’s been negotiated.”

The Giants have a few options, or scenarios, as Schoen would put it. They can stay put and take the best player that falls to them, or they can make a trade.

“There’s going to be a lot of smoke this week: ‘This is the Giants’ guy and this is who they’re taking,’” Schoen said. “And nobody knows because there’s one person that does and I’m keeping things pretty close to the vest in terms of what we’re going to do. The more people that know what’s going on, you maybe put them in a predicament you don’t want to put them in where they know the information, it gets out and then you’re looking at them sideways. So, try to keep as much information in house and that’ll continue through Thursday in terms of when I get a feel for what’s going to happen around us.”

It doesn’t appear that the Chicago Bears are going to part with the first overall selection. They are locked into USC quarterback Caleb Williams.

“We all know Caleb Williams is going number one, that’s pretty much a done deal,” Schoen said this week. “Feel good about that.”

The Washington Commanders own the second selection. They will also take a quarterback, either LSU’s Jayden Daniels or Drake Maye of North Carolina. There’s also an outside shot they can select Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy.

The New England Patriots have the third pick and are in the market for a quarterback as well, but would be willing to trade back if the right offer comes their way. The Giants could be a trade partner if that occurs.

Depending on what happens with Washington and New England, the Giants could seek to move up to the fourth spot, held by the Arizona Cardinals, or the fifth spot, where the Los Angeles Chargers could be willing to deal. There’s also the possibility of a team jumping in front of them, such as Denver, Minnesota, or Las Vegas.

Schoen’s best bet could be to stand pat. He likes this draft class and said he has 15 players with first-round grades.

“Last year, we had 11. Every year it’s different based on what you’re given. You don’t put them there just for posterity or just a visual for window dressing,” he said. “These are guys that we think deserve first-round grades. If they’re not up there, you put them in the second. You put them where their grade is. We don’t put 32 guys up there to have 32 guys in the first round.”

The suspense will build after the Bears come off the clock on Thursday night.  Schoen said he’ll be prepared.

“I’m going to make a lot of phone calls on Thursday,” he said. “Hopefully, some information will start to trickle out in terms of what’s going to happen in front of us so we can continue to headcount who may be there at six, or what we may be doing, if we’re going to move up, back, or stay where we are.

“So just try to gather as much information as I can, again, talk to the other general managers around the league. If anybody wants to come up to six, get those agreements in place. Things will happen fast once you’re on the clock, so you’ve got to be ready.”