Ultimately, ownership is to blame. Because it is allowing Joe Schoen to remain the Giants general manager, searching for a quick fix when no such elixir exists for a team that won three of 17 games this past season.

“It’d better not take too long because I’ve just about run out of patience,” co-owner John Mara said last month. “I’m going to have to be in a better mood this time next year than I am right now.”

Of course Schoen is going to search for a shortcut, to try and acquire the best quarterback available. Of course he would prioritize the present over the future, to squeeze out as many wins as possible in 2025 — even if the playoffs remain a pipe dream — and strengthen his case for 2026, postponing the possibility that he never sits in such a chair again. Of course he is going to attempt a Hail Mary on his final play.

But only under the influence of desperation would acquiring Matthew Stafford make sense for the Giants. Only then could Schoen — who met with the quarterback’s representatives this week — imagine the 37-year-old helping solve the team’s many problems, excelling behind a broken offensive line and without an indoor home field for the first time in his career, while erasing the mistakes of a bottom-10 defense. Only then could you envision the Giants rising in a division featuring the Super Bowl champions (Philadelphia), its NFC Championship Game opponent (Washington) and Dallas, which won 12 games in three straight seasons before Dak Prescott’s 2024 campaign was limited to eight appearances.