David and a Goliath Trade – How the Giants Will Rise Again

In what has become a yearly occurrence, a team that performed poorly the prior season has pulled the trigger on a trade that has left a lot of people scratching their heads. In what has also become a new yearly tradition, I will provide possible reasons for the trade based upon the team’s current composition, options, and likely future goals.

Some of you may remember I did this last year when the Cleveland Browns traded for Tyrod Taylor, leading many to believe that this signaled they were lining up to draft Saquon Barkley with the first overall pick of the NFL Draft. I didn’t get their plan 100 percent correct, but I did pretty well in retrospect.

This year’s subjects, as you have likely guessed, are the New York Giants. The Giants finished the season with a 5-11 record, earning them the sixth overall pick in the draft. That pick will come into play later in the piece, but it’s a trade that they conducted with last year’s subject, the Cleveland Browns, that intrigues me the most.

New York, seemingly resigned to the fact that the team won’t be competitive in its current state for the foreseeable future, decided to try something radical. Giants general manager David Gettleman, in the position since December 28, 2017, with only the 2018 season under his belt, made the highly-controversial decision to trade three-time Pro Bowler and 2014 Offensive Rookie of the Year, Odell Beckham Jr as opposed to their 38-year-old starting quarterback Eli Manning.

Now, let everyone remember that Manning, for all the grief he gets, has an impressive resume attached to his name as well, including, but not limited to, being a two-time Super Bowl MVP. However, many NFL, and especially Giants, fans felt New York was, or is, making a monumental blunder in keeping Manning, who many have blamed for back-to-back losing seasons, while trading away arguably one of the most electric players in the league with a perceived value unmatched by any other wide receiver who is only 26 years old.

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With a trade partner in Cleveland, New York shipped Beckham off to the Browns along with Olivier Vernon in exchange for the Browns’ 2019 first round pick, 2019 third round pick, Jabrill Peppers and Kevin Zeitler.

Ignoring the draft picks for one minute, the Giants were able to effectively replace safety Landon Collins whom they lost in free agency with Peppers, a rising star still only on the third-season of on a team-friendly rookie contract with a fifth-year option available. Additionally, they significantly bolstered their offensive line by acquiring Zeitler after finishing the 2018 season in the bottom third of nearly every offensive line ranking produced. These are significant moves, that shouldn’t be minimized in any way as they address areas of concern for the Giants.

That said, a lot of this deal comes down to what New York can possibly reshape itself into, not what it is, or was, in it’s current and past forms. Gettlemen has gone on record as saying that, “We do have a plan, and this is a part of it.” Call me crazy but, I believe him.

That plan, I believe, goes something like this:

First, the Giants are fully aware they have a huge, gaping hole where Beckham once stood. Corey Coleman, as much as some would like to believe, isn’t the answer. That said, they know as well, and likely better than, anyone that Manning isn’t their future. Manning himself is only under contract for the remainder of this season. The Giants can say what they will about their faith being fully behind him, but these statements ring hollow to anyone removing emotion from the situation.

Therefore, with the sixth overall pick, I expect New York to draft their quarterback of the future and I believe that will be Drew Lock. The Giants might even take a flier on Josh Rosen to really shore up the position, giving them Manning to start the season, and Lock, or a Lock/Rosen, tandem to gain experience and develop as the season, almost surely, deteriorates midway through. They will lean heavily on Barkley to shoulder the offensive load, but a newly-fortified offensive line could help all aspects of the offense.

Second, New York will pivot back to wide receiver in an effort to recapture as much production as possible with the loss of Beckham. The Giants should have a quite a wide variety of impressive options to choose from with the 17th pick they acquired from the Browns, but don’t put it out of the realm of possibility that they could try to package up some of the 12 draft picks they have this year in an effort to select the cream of the crop. I expect New York to, at least attempt to, draft DK Metcalf, giving them an incredibly dominant wide receiver to complement their new acquired rocket-armed quarterback, allowing them to both grow and connect together with for years to come.

Finally, look for the Giants to do one of two things beyond the first round. First, they will try to trade up into the early second round, again using that huge cache of picks, to draft one of the top pass rushers available in an effort to replace Vernon. The second option is they could look to trade their second-round pick, and possibly more, to a team in order to acquire an existing pass rusher. Once such option, while not worth a second pick at this stage in his career, could be Robert Quinn.

In the third round, and beyond, look for New York to be very active working the phones. I also expect them to add another top wide receiver, perhaps as early as day two while further solidifying their offensive line and selecting high-upside defensive prospects in an effort to rejuvenate their defense.

When Gettleman says he has a plan, this is the plan I envision. I’m certain not all of this will come to pass, but I’d be very shocked if I was way off base here. Beyond this draft, look for the Giants to be very active in free agency following the 2019 season. They will have a tremendous amount of cap space available to them with what is shaping up to be a bumper free agent year. Also, don’t be shocked if New York tries to convert some of its middle to late round picks in this draft into 2020 picks in an effort to further supplement it’s rebuilding process.

Quite the plan if you ask me!

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