Its Sam Darnold-or-bust in slim QB market for needy Giants

Second in a three-part series on the Giants quarterback issue.Coming tomorrow: Examining the rest of intriguing but unproven QBs, retreads, etc. There is one way to make the enormous expectations that Sam Darnold faced as a rookie feel small. If Darnold signs a big-money, multi-year, free agent contract with the Giants to be the solution to their quarterback predicament, the pressure in his return to New York likely would trump any savior burden that accompanied his arrival as a first-round draft pick of the Jets in 2018. While the expectation is that the Giants will draft a quarterback in 2025, a dangerous possibility exists that picking No.

3 means that they will be iced out of the only two certain first-rounders: Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders and Miami’s Cam Ward — neither of whom is considered a can’t-miss prospect, anyway. So, what if general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll turn to free agency for a franchise quarterback who can quickly cool their hot seats? In that case, there’s Darnold … and everyone else. “None of the free agents move the needle at all, for me, except Sam Darnold,” NBC Sports NFL analyst Chris Simms told The Post.“This is such a big year for the Giants that you can’t deal with some guy who, ‘We see talent and potential, and we think we can make his throwing a little better.’ You need a guy who can run the offense, make the throws and all that.” Why would the Vikings let go of a 27-year-old Pro Bowler coming off career highs with 4,319 yards and 35 touchdowns? Well, they might not, even after Darnold’s back-to-back, season-ending stinkers dropped a 13-win team from the cusp of earning the No.

1 seed in the NFC playoffs to a first-round exit.The Vikings are flush with salary cap space (about $58 million) and could apply the franchise tag (one-year, $41.3 million). If they do part ways, the irony is that the Vikings depth chart could be J.J.

McCarthy — whom the Giants bypassed in the 2024 fir...