The Giants’ draft room has been more like a family therapy session than a strategy meeting for the past few months. Owners were dreaming of a quarterback with primetime credentials on one end of the spectrum. Brian Daboll, on the other hand, appears to have been hired to watch over a reality TV star. The obvious choice at No. 3 was supposed to be Shedeur Sanders. Coach Prime’s golden child, the top quarterback at the box office, and the guy with more sunglasses than NFL starts. With the Hall of Fame father, viral swagger, cannon for an arm, and the opportunity to bring the Giants back to life following a 3-14 season, the script was essentially written itself.

But the Giants did what they always do. When the globe zipped, so did they. In a single, shrewd statement, Adam Schefter shut down months of rumors and ESPN NFL posted it on their Instagram: “Shedeur Sanders is not going No. 3. He’s not going No. 3. Breaking news, Shedeur is not going three. We can dismiss that from the equation.”

Let’s take a moment to let that settle. It’s not a ‘maybe.’ There is no ‘smokescreen’ here. Shedeur is not going to the Giants at No. 3. “They are happy to sit where they are and take the best players available. I’m just telling you that’s where they’re at,” added Schefter. And in a flash, one of the most expected quarterback-draft combinations became a ‘what could’ve been’ discussion on X. The Giants were once the clear favourite to sign Sanders. A week ago, the team had a private workout with him, attended almost every game, and released just enough positive information to keep the excitement high.

So, what happened all of a sudden? In all honesty, there is a civil war going on within the Giants’ facility. The department of scouting? Adores Shedeur Sanders. The coaching staff? Well, not so much. Todd McShay said it best: “What I’ve been told is there’s a little bit more love in the [New York] Giants building on the personnel side—the scouting department. The coaching staff? Not so much.”

And, it’s not encouraging when both your general manager, Joe Schoen, and your head coach, Brian Daboll, are said to leave Combine meetings with the mumble, ‘Pass.’  The discussions “didn’t go well,” according to McShay. “After the combine, some of the meetings didn’t go well. I told you, I talked to two executives, didn’t go well. So now the pool shrink, and now I’m here to tell you that it didn’t go well with Brian Daboll and it didn’t go well with the Giants’ organization.” That’s not evaluation talk. That’s breakup language.

And yet, the confusion runs deep. Because on paper, Shedeur is elite: 4,134 passing yards, 37 touchdowns, 74% completion rate, zero O-line protection, and all eyes on him all season. Still, teams aren’t biting. His draft stock has free-fallen from top 3 lock to maybe Pittsburgh at 21. Even the Saints, who desperately need a QB and were once flirting with Shedeur, are apparently whispering sweet nothings to Jaxson Dart. This is how weird things have gotten.

Shedeur Sanders? Not anymore, Russell Wilson’s arrival changes everything for New York

Russell Freaking Wilson, the 5’11” elephant in the quarterback room. While everyone was discussing Shedeur’s fit, the Giants were low-key, building the most ‘NFL memes’ quarterback room possible. Jameis Winston. Tommy DeVito. Now, Mr. Unlimited himself, the former face of the Seahawks and the $245 million Denver catastrophe.

Russell agreed to a $10.5 million guaranteed one-year contract worth up to $21 million. The timing also shouts insurance against panic picks, even though the deal screams ‘bridge QB.’ Consider this: Russ still wants to play for five to seven more years after you sign him. You sign the YOLO quarterback king, Jameis. And add another, DeVito. These men are not long-term fixes. But all of them are enough to keep you from reaching for a QB you don’t 100% believe in.

And Daboll is not a believer. This wouldn’t be debatable if he did. He wouldn’t need to be nudged by ownership or swayed by scouts. He personally would be advancing the Shedeur Sander agenda. Rather, they completely cancelled the Sanders plan and piled up veterans like sandbags before a storm.

And Russ? He already has a point to make. The man is on his third redemption arc after being benched in Pittsburgh and scapegoated out of Denver. This isn’t just about Shedeur falling. It’s about the Giants finally doing something smart, not forcing it. Russell Wilson is on a prove-it contract with them. They don’t have to plunge into quarterback instability with their No. 3 picks. And what insiders have been implying for weeks—that Shedeur Sanders will not be a member of the New York Giants—has now been confirmed.

So now what? New York may select the best player available now that Sanders has been scratched off the draft board. If Travis Hunter doesn’t fall through the cracks, Abdul Carter, Penn State’s dynamic edge rusher, is the top target. Trading back is still a possibility, but remaining pat looks like the best course of action when a top defensive prospect is there in front of them. Finally, some clarity regarding the Giants’ draft-night strategy.