Jaxson Dart has not forgotten about the New Orleans Saints passing over him at the 2025 NFL Draft. Now he has an opportunity to show them what they missed out on Sunday when his New York Giants travel down to the Big East for a Week 5 clash.
“I think that there’s always a chip on your shoulder any time that something like that happens,” Dart said ahead of Sunday’s matchup. “But, I’m just going to go out there and play as hard as I can.”
The 22-year-old Ole Miss product had multiple meetings with the Saints during the pre-draft process, adding that he “had a good relationship” with their head coach, Kellen Moore and offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier throughout. But on draft night, they went with Texas offensive lineman Kelvin Banks with the No. 9 overall pick, instead.
The Giants traded back up into the first round to snag Dart at No. 25, while the Saints went on to draft Louisville quarterback Tyler Shough in the second round at No. 40. He is No. 2 on the Saints’ depth chart behind Spencer Rattler.
“I felt like my visit with them went good,” Dart said. “So, you kind of have thoughts in your head during the draft of what options are really realistic, and I definitely felt like that was a place that could have panned out. But things didn’t work out that way.”
It seems that things are working out for Dart early on, at least. He made his first career start in Week 4 and steered the Giants to their first win of the season and an upset over the previously undefeated Los Angeles Chargers, 21-18. He completed 13 of 20 passes for 111 yards, threw for a touchdown, and rushed for another one.
“I love it here,” he said. “There’s not a place that I’d rather be. I love just how passionate people are here outside of the facility, within the facility. I kind of like the attitude that the East Coasters have and it’s a lot of fun. I’ve loved it.”
