Giants pursued No. 1 pick more aggressively than any team, NFL insider reveals

The New York Giants made the strongest efforts to trade up for the Tennessee Titans' first pick in the 2025 NFL draft, according to ESPN's Jeff Darlington. Darlington's report comes just hours before teams make their selections in the first round of the 2025 NFL draft.

On Thursday, Darlington shared this information on X:

"The New York Giants did make an aggressive pursuit to move into that number one spot. I'm told by my Titans sources that the Giants were the most aggressive team to move to that one spot.

"And I'm told by my Giants sources that they were made very clear by the Titans that they were not going to trade out of that first pick. And that is because we do anticipate that they will select Cam Ward in that spot."

The Giants currently hold the third pick in tonight's draft, which begins at 8 p.m. ET. General manager Joe Schoen had said that drafting a quarterback wasn't "mandatory" after acquiring Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston.

Giants still weighing quarterback options at No. 3

NFL: Scouting Combine - Source: Imagn

Reports suggest internal disagreement exists within the Giants organization regarding their draft strategy at the third pick.

According to Sports Illustrated's Apr. 24 report, there is a "split" among key decision-makers about whether to select a quarterback at No. 3—and if so, which prospect to choose.

"In our opinion, the Giants should go with the 'best player available,' which, according to many boards, will be whoever Travis Hunter or Abdul Carter is on the board. Don't get cute, and don't reach for a quarterback like what happened in 2019 with Daniel Jones," Sports Illustrated advised in its analysis.

Beyond Ward, the Giants have also been linked to former Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders. However, the unsuccessful push for the top pick raises questions about how the organization views the available quarterback talent beyond Ward.

ESPN's Peter Schrager reported on Apr. 22 that the Giants have received trade calls for their third pick over the past 48 hours. Unlike the Titans, New York hasn't outright rejected these inquiries, leaving open the possibility of a trade-down scenario.

Interestingly, this draft season has seen a historic lack of pre-draft trades. According to ESPN Research, this is the closest to the draft without any trades involving first-round picks in the common draft era (since 1967).