National Football League

Giants 'leader in the clubhouse' for Jimmy Garoppolo trade?

Updated Jul. 20, 2022 5:47 p.m. ET

With each passing day, Jimmy Garoppolo's exit out of San Francisco inches closer, as evidenced by Wednesday's news.

Could he soon have a new home with the New York Giants?

Garoppolo is recovering from offseason shoulder surgery. Given the 30-year-old quarterback's health, his impending free agency after the 2022 NFL season and the presence of Trey Lance on the 49ers' roster, Garoppolo has been a recurring trade candidate.

One team with an indefinite future at quarterback is the Giants, who declined the fifth-year option of Daniel Jones this offseason. New York's quarterback room also includes free-agent signees Tyrod Taylor and Davis Webb. At the same time, none of its current quarterbacks are under contract beyond the 2023 season, potentially leaving the door open for another move.

All of this led Colin Cowherd to argue that New York is the likely "leader in the clubhouse" to acquire Garoppolo.

"My gut feeling on Jimmy Garoppolo, the leader in the clubhouse this morning would probably be the New York Giants, and there's a lot of reasons for that," Cowherd said. "I think the Giants have more than a 50% chance to land Jimmy Garoppolo. I think you could throw in a little bit of Seattle, a little bit of Houston, a little bit of Atlanta, I guess a little bit of Cleveland."

Jimmy Garoppolo to the New York Giants?

Colin Cowherd uses the Jimmy Garoppolo pie to break down why the New York Giants are the best landing spot for the quarterback.

Cowherd laid out two key reasons he thinks Garoppolo fits in New York.

"No. 1, Jimmy Garoppolo feels bigger than maybe he is," Cowherd added. "The look, the cache, he's handsome, he's a gamer, he was a Patriot, he was a Niner, he was in a Super Bowl. He feels big. The Giants are big. He feels big, and a lot of it's just his look, his game and his confidence.

"No. 2 is they have a new offensive head coach; he's going to get worn out from Daniel Jones by like the fourth practice," Cowherd continued. "The other thing is, Daniel Jones, we all kind of acknowledge, all of us do, he was overdrafted. He was picked sixth. We didn't like it then. We don't like it now. And fourth is, and I know a lot of you struggle with this: Jimmy Garoppolo wins a lot over good teams like the Packers and the Rams. Jimmy Garoppolo wins, and the Giants have had one winning season in nine years."

The Giants haven't made the playoffs since 2016. They're tied with the New York Jets for the worst record in the NFL since 2017 (22-59). New York fired head coach Joe Judge after two seasons (10-23), hiring former Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll to be its new head coach. Daboll spent four years in Buffalo, where he coached quarterback Josh Allen.

The Giants are 12-25 with Jones under center since 2019. He is second in the NFL in yards per carry (5.8) and sixth in rushing yards (1,000), but just 21st in passing yards (8,398), 25th in passing touchdowns (45) and 38th in passer rating (84.3) since 2019.

On the other hand, San Francisco is 25-12 with Garoppolo under center since 2019, including an NFC Championship in 2019 and an appearance in the NFC Championship Game in 2021.

Garoppolo is fourth in the NFL in completion percentage (68.5 percent), 12th in passer rating (99.4), 17th in passing yards (8,884) and 20th in passing touchdowns (54) since 2019.

He has also logged 138 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns on 94 carries over that span.