If finding a franchise quarterback is the Giants’ No. 1 offseason priority, upgrading at cornerback should be considered No. 1A.
What makes the medical evaluation component of next week’s NFL Combine so crucial for the Giants is that the prospects atop the 2025 cornerback draft class could be mistaken for the patients in an orthopedist’s waiting room.
After general manager Joe Schoen emphasized clean injury histories and a track record of availability in roster building last offseason, he isn’t going to like what he sees if he plans to draft a long-term running mate for Deonte Banks and slot corner Dru Phillips with his second-round pick (or on a trade up from No. 34 into the back of the first round).
Though Colorado cornerback/receiver Travis Hunter is a clean prospect with unanimous top-four projections, Michigan’s Will Johnson missed the final seven games of last season with turf toe.
Johnson — who widely is expected to be a top-12 pick, anyway — previously had knee surgery that sidelined him for the first three games in 2023.
Among the targets that might fall within striking range for the Giants …
Notre Dame’s Benjamin Morrison missed the final 10 games after undergoing hip surgery, East Carolina’s Shavon Revel Jr. missed the final 10 games after tearing his ACL during practice, and Kentucky’s Maxwell Hairston missed five consecutive games with a shoulder injury that reportedly required hospitalization.
“A lot of the cornerbacks who had a lot of the preseason hype were hurt, so you just don’t know,” ESPN draft analyst Jordan Reid told The Post. “The one who has really risen up the board is Azareye’h Thomas from Florida State. Thomas has the potential [to develop into a No. 1 cornerback] because he is an athletic freak and, I think, the best press-man corner. He’s only 20 years old, so he has youth working on his side.”
In today’s pass-first NFL, needing a franchise quarterback and a No. 1 cornerback is a precarious place to reside.
The Giants ranked second-to-last in the NFL in cornerback spending last season ($9.3 million), and the bill only jumps slightly to $11.6 million in 2025, according to OverTheCap.com.
Only the three-time defending AFC champion Chiefs — who had transformative 2022-23 draft classes in the secondary — spent less.
Add the concerns about the health of the draft class to the internal desire to take some pressure off Banks after he took a major step back in his development, plus Schoen’s belief in allocating resources to premium positions, and the three-part equation suggests that the Giants could be on the verge of a significant investment at cornerback.
That’s where supply equals demand.
Cornerback is the position deepest with starters in free agency, so the Giants could fill their need during the time between seeing the soon-to-be rookies’ medicals and getting on the draft clock.
Only the Browns generated fewer interceptions than the Giants (five).
The Jets’ D.J. Reed, 49ers’ Charvarius Ward, Lions’ Carlton Davis, Chargers’ Asante Samuel Jr. and Vikings’ Byron Murphy Jr. all would provide the Giants with a top corner who is 28 years old or younger.
Pro Football Focus projects all five free agents to ink three-year contracts that pay between $14 million-$17.3 million per season.
Reed already knows he is a fit for the pressure of New York, and the Giants just hired former Jets safeties coach Marquand Manuel (2021-24) as their defensive backs coach.
One factor that could turn everything on its head would be if the Giants land a veteran quarterback like Sam Darnold or Matthew Stafford while retaining the No. 3 pick.
Then the idea of pairing Hunter with both of the Giants’ past two first-round picks — Banks (2023) on defense and Malik Nabers (2024) on offense — is tantalizing.
The Giants just hired former Patriots great Troy Brown — a Pro Bowl receiver who played part-time cornerback late in his career — as an offensive assistant coach. Hmm.
“When you limit Hunter to one side of the ball, you are taking away from who he is,” Reid said. “In my opinion, he’s a better cornerback, but a player so rare like this, just get him in your building, let him develop and let it play itself out to see which side of the ball he is most comfortable with.
“If his body is able to withstand playing on both sides of the ball, you let him do that. Your job as a coach or a GM is to put the best 11 players on the field, and you can make a strong argument that he’s included in the best 11 on both sides of the ball.”
