With the NFL trade deadline coming up on November 3, teams across the league have begun dealing players for draft capital and opportunities to bolster their team at the midway point in the 2020 season. The New York Giants are not in a place to begin acquiring players in hopes of competing for a playoff spot, and at 1-6, they should, in fact, be sellers.
As general manager Dave Gettleman did one year ago, they cannot replicate that same mistake. He dealt a third and fifth-round pick for interior defensive lineman Leonard Williams and wasting that draft capital has not resulted in victories for Big Blue.
Spending those picks disallowed the Giants from utilizing them to trade up and acquire a better player in the 2020 NFL draft, which would’ve been the ideal scenario, but here we are with Williams and a $16 million cap hit on the franchise tag.
Context is extremely important when it comes to evaluating a trade. When the Giants acquired Williams, they were 2-6 on the year and proceeded to lose their next five games. Now, they are paying him on a one-year deal and have won just three games since his acquisition. Two of them have occurred against the Washington Football Team.
Who do the New York Giants trade away at the deadline?
There is really only one player I visualize the Giants trading on Tuesday, and that is veteran wide receiver, Golden Tate. Tate has a tumultuous contract, which is why the Giants should be looking to unload him to a team in need of another pass catcher. They will likely release him after this season anyway, counting $4.7 million in dead cap.
Tate currently counts $10.35 million against the cap for 2020, so getting him off the books would help the Giants move forward with a healthy salary they can allocate elsewhere. The primary issue, what team is going to want an aging receiver with a high cap hit?
Alternatively, they have Kevin Zeitler, who might be their most valuable piece on offense right now. The only issue, starting left guard Will Hernandez contracted COVID-19, which makes trading Zeiler a bit problematic.
If rookie guard Shane Lemieux looks good in place of Hernandez against Tampa, the Giants might be keener to trade Zeitler. However, I don’t think it would be a good move to give away their best offensive lineman, considering their unit currently ranks toward the bottom of the NFL in pass protection and barely makes a dent in the running game.
Keeping the continuity in the trenches is essential in a new scheme, and blowing it up after seven weeks might be a bit premature.