Expectations for the team entering the 2025 season seemed modest at best, Ballard diversifying his QB options between Anthony Richardson − the tantalizingly gifted but raw, inexperienced, inconsistent and occasionally immature talent he chose fourth overall in the 2023 draft − and reclamation project Daniel Jones, once viewed as the future of the New York Giants. That was enough to spur Ballard – typically a conservative roster architect who prefers a draft-develop-reward/re-sign approach – to effectively push his chips into the middle of the table at the league's Nov. 4 trade deadline by dealing two first-round picks, tantamount to parting with the crown jewels given his historical reticence for pricey acquisitions, to obtain New York Jets All-Pro cornerback Sauce Gardner. And that means having a top-tier cornerback in a ground-and-pound division; one quarterback (Richardson) who seems ready for a fresh start; and another (Jones) rehabbing a serious injury but on the cusp of a free agency period that could bring a bidding war for his services – whether or not he’s ready to start the 2026 season.
Author: Nate Davis, USA TODAY
Published at: 2025-12-09 23:41:11
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