Report says team “would have to be blown away” to deal either player
The New York Giants face a choice with the NFL trade deadline a week away. Do they hold on to players who might have value to other teams, perhaps risking losing a couple of free-agents-to-be in the offseason while getting nothing in return? Do they trade away players for future draft assets, perhaps risking the ire of players remaining in the locker room?
Head coach Brian Daboll referred those questions to GM Joe Schoen, which wasn’t helpful since Schoen won’t speak to media until the bye week, which is after the trade deadline.
“I’d say that’s a better question for him [Schoen],” Daboll said. “I know you’re not talking to him for a few weeks. We’re kind of locked in on week-to-week opponents, and that’s where my focus is.”
Daboll did add that any trade discussions he and Schoen have “will be private.”
The two most often discussed trade candidates on the Giants’ roster are wide receiver Darius Slayton and edge defender Azeez Ojulari, both of whom can be free agents at the end of the season.
NFL insider Mike Garafolo reported Tuesday morning that both are “valued inside the building” and the Giants “would have to be blown away” to trade either player.
A year ago, the Giants chose note to trade either running back Saquon Barkley or safety Xavier McKinney at the deadline, hoping they could re-sign them. Both players, of course, moved on in free agency, leaving the Giants with nothing in return.
While Slayton and Ojulari are both good players, and the Giants can’t continue to hemorrhage good players, they run a similar risk with both should they choose to hang onto them.
Other players sometimes mentioned as potential trade candidates are running back Devin Singletary and offensive lineman Evan Neal. Singletary has been surpassed as RB1 by rookie Tyrone Tracy, and the disappointing Neal is buried so far down the depth chart that he has watched Josh Ezeudu and Chris Hubbard try to fill in for the injured Andrew Thomas the past two weeks.
