The New York Giants may be an active team before the trade deadline. The question is whether they’ll land on the buying or the selling side of the fence.
Despite coming off a win, the team isn’t in the best position overall. Some of their expected top performers haven’t been up to the standard, and other players have fallen out the lineup through injury. Both factors affect the team’s needs this season, and there’s strong arguments that could be made in favor of the Giants acquiring more talent for this reason.
On the other hand, it looks like this roster rebuild has failed. This trade deadline is one of the first chances the Giants have to move on from it. Most of the arguments that the Giants should sell this deadline revolve around that fact.
Head coach Joe Judge hasn’t said one way or the other what the Giants have in mind headed into it. He gave a “we’ll see” when asked about their deadline plans, in a statement typical of an organization that rarely reveals its hand.
What could the Giants do at the deadline?
If the Giants are selling, there’s a number of players that could move.
Evan Engram, for one, has seemingly hit a low point with the fans this season. The Giants have been steadfast in holding onto Engram rather than moving him, but if they were going to let go, this would be the time to do it.
Jabrill Peppers, despite playing a good game in week 7, has overall had a down season in comparison to previous years. He’s also in the last year of his contract. If the Giants aren’t going to offer a new deal, they could move on from Peppers now to get something from him.
Many of these decisions will depend on whether the staff and front office see something left in this season or not.
Despite a win last Sunday, the Giants are still a 2-5 team facing a tough schedule. Their roster isn’t at its full potential due to injuries, and even in the eyes of optimistic fans, they aren’t where they need to be in their rebuild at this point.
Sure, the Giants can salvage some more wins from this season. But like last year, it’s hard to argue those wins would seriously advance the team. If the Giants buy at the trade deadline, such wins will likely come at the expense of future assets.
If the Giants are a seller at the deadline, it will hurt this season. However, it would accelerate their future progress and help gather assets for when the process starts again in the offseason.
We don’t know just what they’re planning to do, yet. We do know at this point, though, that nothing has been ruled out.