NFL trade deadline: Proposals have Giants selling off big names

Some proposed trades for the Giants

The 2023 NFL trade deadline of October 31 is rapidly approaching. So it makes a certain mount of sense that the 1-5 New York Giants would be in the conversation as potential sellers. After all, they have a very narrow path to the playoffs with games against the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles still on the calendar, and the Giants could use all the assets they can get if they want to launch a true rebuild.

Cory Woodroof of USA Today suggested a trade for every team, and collectively they amount to a fire sale for the Giants. First we’ll take a quick look at Woodroof’s proposed trades, then see if they make sense.

1) Darren Waller to the Bengals

Waller is stuck on a Giants team is going nowhere in a hurry, and he’s just too talented to get stuck in New York. If the Giants would be willing to move Waller for a pick, Cincinnati should pick up the phone and make this happen.

Tight end Irv Smith Jr. only has five catches for 27 yards this season, and he’s the team’s starter. The Bengals could add Waller to Smith and give the team a nice one-two punch at the position this season.

New York could probably net mid-round draft compensation for Waller, who is still one of the more talented tight ends in the game. Cincinnati would benefit from making this happen.

2) Adoree’ Jackson to the Lions

The Lions are on fire right now, but losing cornerback Emmanuel Moseley for the year is not going to help this ascending defense.

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Enter Jackson, who would fit right in with the Lions and probably wouldn’t mind getting out of New York during a terrible season for the Giants.

Jackson is the kind of ball-hawking cornerback this Detroit secondary could thrive with, and he could probably be had for mid-round compensation.

If Detroit is serious about a Super Bowl this year, they need to add to this cornerback group. Jackson would be an excellent rental option.

3) Leonard Williams to the Dolphins

The Dolphins want to contend for a Super Bowl this season, and boosting that defensive front for a long playoff run would help that immensely.

Williams has the kind of drive-changing talent that could really push this defense over the top, and we’d love to see what Vic Fangio would do to move Williams all over the defensive line.

He’s the kind of dangerous chess piece that helps playoff teams a ton.

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The Giants feel like the worst team in the NFL sometimes, a once-promising squad decimated by injuries and lackluster play. The team needs to sell off some veterans at the deadline if they can. Williams is a great candidate.

He’s still a ferocious presence on any defensive line, and can you imagine him going to a Super Bowl contender? It’d be delightful to see Williams chasing down opposing quarterbacks and swallowing up running backs in January once more. The Giants need to send him out for a mid-round pick.

It doesn’t really look all that promising for New York this season until they get healthy. Williams is on an expiring deal, anyway, so you might as well get some compensation for him before the deadline.

Raptor’s thoughts

Taken as a whole, these trade suggestions feels like a lot of fan fiction.

The Giants aren’t going to move Darren Waller after just spending a third round pick to acquire him. There is an out in Waller’s contract that could make him tradeable, but his contract isn’t particularly onerous overall. But more importantly, moving on from him after less than a year would signify giving up on a season in a way that John Mara is unlikely to tolerate. Likewise, Woodroof doesn’t even give much of a rationale for the Giants to move Waller, beyond letting him go to a team where he might win. That’s a nice sentiment, but NFL teams aren’t in the habit of helping each other — or players — like that.

Williams, meanwhile, is likely untradeable due to his contract. The NFL’s contract accounting is an opaque, convoluted, and confusing thing. But even so, Williams carries a $32 million cap hit, while the Dolphins have roughly $2 million in cap space. I’m not sure how to make that math work without the Giants simply eating the contract and likely taking a lower pick than many are expecting.

Adoree’ Jackson is an interesting candidate who didn’t occur to me when considering who the Giants might trade. He isn’t a great corner but he’s certainly a solid one. If the Giants were packing it in on the season and committing fully to a true rebuild, they could look at moving Jackson as a way to get Tre Hawkins reps. He’s lost his position as a pseudo-starter, but the Giants could still look at him as a potential long term answer across from Deonte Banks. This would give him the opportunity to develop and prove himself a potential starter, or that the Giants need to draft another starting corner. And with Jackson in the final year of his contract, that’s something the Giants might need to do anyway.

Personally, I’m more surprised that Woodroof didn’t bring up Saquon Barkley. Just two weeks ago, Giants fans voted that the team should pursue a trade partner for the 2018 second overall pick. Barkley might be the team’s most attractive trade asset, and teams like the Dolphins, Bills, or Ravens could all be interested.

We’ll be talking about the Giants and potential moves at the trade deadline more in the coming days, but for now: What do you think about Woodroof’s proposed trades?