When will the Jaxson Dart era officially begin?
When will Jaxson Dart start?
That, simply, is the New York Giants’ biggest question at quarterback entering the 2025 season.
Sure, there are other questions. Does 37-year-old Russell Wilson, coming off failed stints with the Denver Broncos and Pittsburgh Steelers, have enough in the tank to help the Giants win a decent number of games? Where does Jameis Winston fit? What will happen to Tommy DeVito?
The question that matters, though, is when will the Dart era begin?
The Giants have said again and again, though some still don’t want to believe them, that Wilson will be their Week 1 starter. Unless injury strikes, there doesn’t seem to be any reason to doubt that.
The idea of allowing Dart to begin his career by developing behind the scenes while watching Wilson and Winston is a solid one. Dart was not a top three pick in the draft. He was 25th. He is 22 years old, youngest quarterback in the 2025 draft class.
The Giants understand that the Dart of today is not a finished product. Here is an excerpt from a piece I did in the spring:
“The process of developing a quarterback is just that,” [Brian] Daboll said. “So we’re going to do everything we can to develop him and bring him along.
“I don’t expect him to know everything right off the bat. It’s a hard position to play, a hard position to coach. But he has the traits that we look for and covet in a guy to be able to learn and grow.
“We’re going to do everything we can to develop him.”
“So his expectations coming in is just to improve every day, soak it up like a sponge, learn from the coaches, learn from the veteran quarterbacks in the room, try to improve every day he can in terms of his understanding of the system. And then once we get on the field, the physical part of it, that’s what we’re looking for from him right now is to grow each and every day with a positive mindset, and I think he has the tools physically and mentally to do that.”
[Joe] Schoen concurred.
“We traded up for him. We’re ecstatic to have him. He’s got a lot of makings of a good quarterback, and there’s a long way to go,” Schoen said. “There’s a developmental process that he’s going to have to go through. Again, these offenses are not easy to learn, and the execution has to be at a high level.”
Offensive coordinator Mike Kafka has indicated the Giants have a benchmark-driven multi-year plan for Dart’s development.
“I think whenever you draft a quarterback early, you want to have a plan or some semblance of a plan or schedule put in place to understand that it’s not really a one-week [plan]; it’s a six-month, one-year, two-year type plan for really any player,” Kafka said. “For any player you get you want to see what that player is going to be at some point in the distance, six months, 12 months, 18 months in the future, where his progress is and where he should be. That way, along the way you can evaluate is he on schedule? Is he a little bit further behind? Do we need to add or subtract certain things?”
The Giants’ plan for Dart, and the quarterback room they have put around him, has been endorsed by highly-regarded quarterback coach Jordan Palmer and quarterback analyst Matt Waldman.
The plan passes the smell test. What, in my view, does not pass the smell test is the idea that the 2025-26 season could be a complete redshirt year for Dart.
The only way that happens is if the Giants are at least on the periphery of the playoff race all season and decide playing Wilson or Winston to chase that playoff spot is more important than getting their potential quarterback of the future some in-game experience.
That is not the decision Tom Coughlin made with Eli Manning and Kurt Warner back in 2004. Could Daboll face a similar choice?
I believe it is a matter of when, not if, Dart will start games this season.
Other questions
Third time the charm for Russ?
After being traded by the Seattle Seahawks, Wilson did not find soft landing spots in Denver or Pittsburgh. Neither of his tenures with the Broncos or Steelers ended well. Will New York be different?
With a celebrity wife and an eye on building his own post-playing career empire, Wilson and New York have always seemed like a match. As a personality, Wilson says and does all the right things but can come off as contrived or scripted.
From Schoen on down to every player who has been asked, the Giants have said all the right things about Wilson. All those good vibes won’t matter, though, if Wilson doesn’t win enough games.
What about Winston?
There are some who think Winston should be the starter instead of Wilson, or at least get a real opportunity to challenge for the QB1 role. There are others who think the Giants should trade Winston, probably to the New Orleans Saints, to help clear the path for Dart.
In all likelihood, neither of those things is going to happen.
Wilson, judging by reps allotted and by Daboll’s words, was clearly QB1 all spring. Winston also seems highly unlikely to be dealt. The Giants gave him a two-year contract at backup quarterback money, two years and $8 million.
If they turn the job over to Dart late this season or at the beginning of next season, they still need a veteran backup/mentor for the young quarterback. Winston fills that role perfectly.
Bye, bye, Tommy?
DeVito-maniacs don’t want to hear it, but the upcoming preseason games might be the last ones DeVito plays as a Giant.
DeVito was clearly QB4 in the spring, barely getting any reps during team periods. The Giants are not keeping four quarterbacks on their 53-man roster, and unless there a debilitating injury to Wilson, Winston, or Dart DeVito is the odd man out.
Put him on the practice squad, you say? Well, the problem is that 26-year-old quarterbacks who have started and won games in the NFL have value. Maybe not enough value that anyone would offer a draft pick to trade for him, but enough that it seems doubtful DeVito would clear waivers and get to the practice squad.