Giants GM Jokingly Called Titans on Video to Check on Trade for No. 1 During NFL Draft

NFL front offices are under no shortage of pressure at the start of the NFL draft, but New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen took a moment to break the tension with a joking phone call to Tennessee Titans GM Mike Borgonzi while the AFC South team was on the clock.

Schoen said "I had to do it" while laughing in a phone call to see if the No. 1 pick was available at the last second:

Tennessee ended up using the pick on Miami quarterback Cam Ward, while the Giants selected Penn State pass-rusher Abdul Carter at No. 3 overall. New York also ended up trading into the back end of the first round to select Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart at No. 25 overall.

Ultimately, both teams landed their potential quarterbacks of the future in the draft, although the tone of Schoen's joke made it clear he and Borgonzi had talked about that No. 1 pick before draft day arrived.

That followed the reporting, as ESPN's Jeff Darlington reported New York was the "most aggressive" team in trade talks for that top pick. However, a Giants source told Darlington the Titans "were never moving off the pick. We tried."

ESPN's Adam Schefter provided some details into the negotiations when he reported the NFC East team offered Tennessee its No. 3 pick this year, next year's first-round pick and multiple other picks.

"Yeah, we've had conversations going up and back, and again, just it takes two to tango in those situations," Schoen told reporters after the first round. "And yeah, there wasn't any. ... Tennessee stayed and took Cam Ward."

This year's quarterback class was not loaded with depth, as Ward and Dart were the only two picked in the first round. Louisville's Tyler Shough was the only quarterback taken in the second round.

The Titans, who needed a franchise building block, clearly loved what they saw from Ward and didn't see many other viable options at the position that would have justified moving off of the No. 1 selection.

That may have been an unfortunate development for the Giants, but Schoen still had fun with it.