One win, many questions.
The Giants not only broke a 10-game losing streak on Sunday with a win over the Colts.
They cleared up the playoff picture (eliminating the Colts), shook up the NFL draft order (handing the No. 1 pick to the Patriots for now) and gave ownership something to think about next week when deciding the fates of general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll.
Let's address five new questions on the minds of a fan base that is no longer singularly focused on drafting Colorado's Shedeur Sanders or Miami's Cam Ward with the No. 1 pick as the franchise's starting quarterback.
Where will the Giants be drafted?
The Giants hold fourth place and have less than a 1 percent chance of reclaiming first place, according to ESPN Analytics.
So, you're saying there's a chance?
Yes, the Giants can get back into first place if they lose to the Eagles (likely to play backups) and three upsets come their way: Patriots beat the Bills (likely to play backups), and the Giants beat the Texans (likely to play backups ) The Browns beat the Ravens.
If the Giants lose, they will rise to the highest number of spots where there are winners among those other 3-13 teams.
With a win, the Giants could drop to ninth if the Jaguars, Panthers, Jets, Raiders and Bears — all of whom are underdogs in Week 18 — all lose to finish 4-13.
Strength of schedule (.551) works against them in all the intervening periods except perhaps against the Bears (.554).
The Giants have an 88.2 percent chance of a top-five pick.
What did winning job security do for Schwinn and Daboll?
In theory, any single late-season aberration shouldn't change much of the ownership's big-picture analysis.
That didn't happen when Pat Shurmur was sent off after a 2-1 win on the heels of a nine-game losing streak in 2019.
But if the Giants actually prefer to maintain the status quo, there is now an example to point to of why players are not opting out of Daboll and what might be possible by calling plays and having better quarterback play than they have for most of the season.
Schoen was acting as if he (and spreading the word in league circles) expected to be retained.
Co-owner John Mara wore a look of relief after the losing streak as he declined to comment to The Post after Sunday's win.
The counterargument would be that the main justification for keeping Schoen and Daboll before Sunday is that they haven't had the opportunity to draft and develop a quarterback.
But the win may have moved the Giants out of position to draft their preferred quarterback in the first round again, so does that logic still stand?
Will decision makers not on the hot seat make a more honest assessment of the 2025 quarterback class?
The No. 1 pick — and the quarterback pick — was a major selling point for candidates if there was any job opportunity.
The job is less attractive without it.
What happens to the quarterback search?
The narrow focus on Sanders and Ward should be broadened because those two and two-way threat receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter will likely be ranked in the top three in some pecking order.
Start thinking about the free agents, led by Sam Darnold and Russell Wilson.
Of course, these two standout starters could be franchise-tagged or re-signed to extensions by the Vikings and Steelers, respectively.
Some of the recycled bridge options (Andy Dalton, Jameis Winston, Jacoby Brissett) are scheduled to return to the market again.
So does Justin Fields, who attracted an unexpectedly weak trade market last season but is still young and has had some refreshing success in six starts for the Steelers.
The Falcons will look to trade benched Kirk Cousins, whose no-trade clause allows him to choose his next destination.
He comes with a guaranteed salary of $27.5 million, which is reasonable if you think he can regain his pre-Achilles form in his second year of recovery.
Would the Vikings make 2024 first-round pick JJ McCarthy — who was heavily scouted but passed over by the Giants, who drafted Malik Nabers — available in a trade if they re-sign Darnold?
The Giants also reportedly had their top scouting executives get several live offers for four players expected to be mid-round picks: Alabama's Jalen Milroe, Mississippi's Jackson Dart, Texas' Quinn Ewers and Georgia's Carson Beck.
How much does it cost to trade to first place?
The last time they traded No. 1 was in 2023, when the Panthers sent the Bears No. 9, a future first-round pick, two second-round picks and receiver DJ Moore to move to the top of the draft.
But Sanders and Ward are not viewed in scouting circles with the same level of expectations as Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud in 2023.
And going from approximately 4 instead of 9 represents a huge difference in cost.
The two best examples of this go back two decades ago, although trading returns have risen dramatically since then.
The Chargers traded No. 1 to the Falcons for No. 5, a future third-rounder, future second-rounder and receiver Tim Dwight, while the Giants traded No. 4 (Philip Rivers), a future first-rounder, third-rounder and future fifth-rounder for the Chargers' No. 1 (Eli Manning) after selecting the quarterbacks.
Who are the other first-round picks?
Non-quarterbacks being expected to be among the top 10 picks aligns well with the Giants' needs — in part because there are several spots that could be upgraded even though 18 of the 22 starters are under contract for 2025.
A case could be made for the Giants to look elsewhere for a quarterback now and use their first-round pick on Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham, Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter, Michigan cornerback Will Johnson, Texas offensive tackle Kelvin Banks or Arizona receiver Titairoa. Macmillan.
