Will the New York Giants make a move before the trade deadline?
That’s been one of the biggest questions around the Giants over the last couple weeks. The current reporting seems to indicate a desire to acquire a wide receiver to fill out a unit that lost its best player in Malik Nabers and has been disappointing outside of Wan’Dale Robinson.
The Giants are 2-6 heading into their Week 9 game against the San Francisco 49ers, and teams with bad records generally aren’t considered “buyers”. However Jaxson Dart has the look of a Franchise Quarterback, and the Giants likely want to continue to foster his growth. Not only do they need another player besides Robinson who can reliably get open and catch the ball, but creating a positive feedback loop for Dart and the rest of the offense will help keep them engaged.
The season ending injury to Cam Skattebo likely impacts the perception that the Giants will be aggressive as well. Their offense can put up points, but they need players to do so.
This week, we asked the Big Blue View community whether the Giants should trade for a receiver. At the same time, we provided three options representing a general archetype of talent the Giants could acquire: The “home run”, the “reclamation project”, and the “high upside gem”.
Overall, fans marginally support trading for a receiver… But only just.
The single most common response was that the Giants shouldn’t trade for a receiver at all. However, if we add up the various “yes” votes, a slight majority (52 percent) want the Giants to trade for someone, though they might not agree on who would be worth it.
Most fans who vote “yes” want the home run swing represented by Garrett Wilson. It would be expensive, but the return could transform the Giants’ offense. The reclamation project (the “Jeudy” option) is a player who has yet to live up to expectations. There’s a lower cost, and a much higher bust potential, but the potential reward is there as well.
Raptor’s thoughts
Perusing the comments section, those who don’t want a receiver at all tend to point to the Giants’ record with something akin to a “why bother?” attitude. Others don’t want to give up any draft picks for a receiver that could be used to acquire a receiver.
Myself, personally, I believe the Giants should acquire a receiver if at all possible. Not just any receiver, mind you. They already did that with Ray-Ray McCloud, a player who could be useful as a returner or slot option, but is unlikely to be a difference maker.
No, I believe that the Giants should acquire a receiver who can be an impact player now, as well as someone who could be in their plans for years to come. That means a high-ceiling player who is just now entering his prime and could be a 1b option with Malik Nabers for the remainder of Jaxson Dart’s rookie contract. Salary cap space, draft picks, veteran depth… Those are all assets to be used to build the team. Some are most valuable as they are and in the Giants’ back pocket, while others are more valuable when used to acquire veterans.
I’ve been pretty consistent that I’m divorcing the idea of “progress” from the Giants’ record. I’ve also never believed that 2025 was “year four” or ever really mattered in and of itself. To me, this became “Year 0”, a transition year, as soon as Jaxson Dart became a Giant — and this year was suddenly all about his development.
If you go back and ready my Quarterback Deep Dive on Dart, you can see that I believed he had the potential to be a good quarterback in the NFL. But I also freely admit that I didn’t he would be this good, this quickly. I thought Dart was more advanced than he was given credit around draft time, but he’s shown himself to be far more advanced than expected. He’s already to the point where his play allows his teammates to play up to their potential. Dart doesn’t need great players around him to raise his game, but rather the players to capitalize on his.
Dart has been making plays and among the NFL’s most efficient passers, ranking 10th in EPA per play despite also having the fourth-most air yards per attempt.
Even against perfect* coverage, Dart has remained efficient.
(*We should take “perfect” coverage with a grain of salt. Nobody is in all 32 defensive meeting rooms and understands how all 32 defenses teach and call their coverages. But we still understand basic rules know what the vast majority of coverages should look like.)
This aligns with the data showing that while Dart isn’t afraid to attempt Big Time Throws, he tends to make the correct decision when doing so.
Dart is among the NFL’s leaders in rate of Big Time Throws, but also doesn’t put the ball in danger that often despite attempting inherently riskier throws.
A big part of that is due to just how well Dart has played out of structure.
Dart has been excellent against the blitz to start his young career, and we’ve already seen the Philadelphia Eagles change how they defend him. Vic Fangio was highly aggressive in the first game, underestimating Dart’s agility and pocket presence, his poise, and his processing. In the second game, he played to contain Dart and the Giants’ passing attack, leading to a sputtering offense and coverage sacks.
Adding a talented receiver would help that now, and give defensive coordinators fits once Malik Nabers and Cam Skattebo return from injury.
It also doesn’t help that the Giants have been plagued by drops, many of which have come in big moments.
That too helps to explain how Dart can be so efficient yet also be 19th out of 22 qualifying quarterbacks in completion rate above expected (3.5 points below expected). Trading for the right (not just any) receiver now would give the Giants the weapon Dart deserves now, as well as build the team for the future. It’s also a way to add a player the Giants know is a good pro, as opposed to one they’re merely hoping could be.
In short, Dart has already become a player the Giants should be building around, and the Giants should be exploring all avenues to do so.
That’s also why fan confidence in the Giants’ future has remained stable despite a bad loss to the Philadelphia Eagles — and the gruesome injury to Cam Skattebo.
This is only down one point from last week’s confidence poll, which showed that 69% of fans think the team is headed in the right direction.
That’s close enough that I think we can safely say that confidence hasn’t dipped despite the loss. Fans are relatively confident that the Giants are on the right path and, personally, I think it’s time for them to take a step down that path.
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