NEW YORK -- Ryan Nassib's draft free fall was halted by the New York Giants.
The Syracuse quarterback was speculated as a potential top-10 pick in the NFL draft. He ended up coming off the board in the fourth round Saturday, joining a Giants team that has a franchise quarterback entrenched in Eli Manning.
"We've been thinking about developing a quarterback behind Eli for a while now," Giants general manager Jerry Reese said, via the New York Daily News. "We think this is a perfect opportunity for us to get a young quarterback with a lot of talent. The value was too high for us."
The Giants got their hands on Nassib by sending their 116th and 187th picks to Arizona in exchange for the Cardinals' fourth-rounder (110th overall). Regarded by NFL Films analyst Greg Cosell as the top QB in his class, Nassib becomes the first quarterback drafted by the Giants since Rhett Bomar was selected in the fifth round of the 2009 draft.
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Nassib was connected to the Buffalo Bills during the pre-draft process. New Bills coach Doug Marrone coached Nassib at Syracuse, leading to speculation the quarterback would land in Orchard Park. The Bills threw a curveball, however, trading out of the pick before selecting Florida State EJ Manuel with the 21st overall choice.
Nassib had a 60.3 percent completion percentage at Syracuse, throwing 70 touchdown passes and 28 interceptions. He will compete with David Carr for the Giants' second-string job.
Follow Dan Hanzus on Twitter @DanHanzus.
