Could These Giants Be Trade Chips?

The New York Giants have, over the last couple of years, built a roster that is deep and competitive at most positions. In fact, for the first time in years, they could have several viable contributors on the outside looking in when the cut from 90 players to 53 comes after the final preseason game.

General manager Jerry Reese is hardly the wheeling-dealing trader that, say, Bill Belichick is. However, he has made some cut-down trades that have turned out to be difference makers.

In 2010, Reese traded a late-round pick in the 2011 draft and a conditional pick in the 2012 draft for Minnesota Vikings backup quarterback Sage Rosenfels and wide receiver (and kick returner) Darius Reynaud, when the Giants lost back-up quarterback Jim Sorgi.

Three years ago, in 2014, the team traded kicker Brandon McManus to the Denver Broncos for a seventh-round pick. That pick ultimately helped secure the Giants’ trade up for Landon Collins. The next year he traded a seventh-round pick to the Pittsburgh Steelers for punter Brad Wing.

NFL.com writer Marc Sessler floated the idea of the Giants trading a late-round pick for Cincinnati Bengals’ running back Jeremy Hill. While the Giants have generally had good luck with players from LSU, our own Ed Valentine shot the idea down as unnecessary for the Giants.

So, for this one we’ll take a look and see if the Giants have any players who might be tradeable assets rather than lost to the waiver wire before the start of the season.

These will all be trades for picks. Fans might fantasize about trading for a left tackle, but no team with a viable left tackle will trade one for another team’s scraps.

Potential Trade Number 1 - Will Tye To The Baltimore Ravens

A former undrafted free agent, Tye started out on the Giants’ practice squad in 2015 but after a spate of injuries he became the starting tight end out of necessity. As it so happened he emerged as the best rookie tight end that year. In a bit of irony, the Ravens selected the top rated tight end of that draft class, Maxx Williams, in the second round. However, partly due to injuries, he has yet to live up to expectations.

Thanks to an infusion of talent in the form of free agent Rhett Ellison, rookie Evan Engram, and a leap in play from Jerell Adams, Tye is at best fourth on the Giants’ depth chart. However, after being besieged by injuries, the Ravens’ depth chart is depleted. 2015 fifth rounder Nick Boyle is the starter, with Williams and former Giant Larry Donnell backing him up.

Tye has starting experience with the Giants, and has at times out-played all of the Ravens’ tight ends. If there isn’t room on the Giants’ roster for Tye, Baltimore has the look of a viable trade partner.

The price: Probably not what Giants’ fans would be hoping, but a seventh-round pick in the 2018 draft is about all they can hope to get. It’s still better than releasing him and getting nothing in return, however.

Potential Trade Number 2 - Kerry Wynn To The Denver Broncos

Very quietly, there is a battle roiling behind the Giants’ starting defensive ends. Long-time depth player Kerry Wynn might be on the roster bubble. The Giants need more pass rush from their defensive line, and while Wynn is a dependable run defender with a motor that never slows down, he just doesn’t offer much as a pass rusher from a 4-3 defensive end position.

The Broncos’ front seven has been beset by injuries lately, with DE Billy Winn being lost for the season to a devastating knee injury, Derek Wolfe suffering a sprained ankle, and rookie DL Demarcus Walker going for his second MRI on his injured hip — after being forced to outside linebacker by injuries there.

Kerry Wynn wouldn’t just replace Billy Winn’s run defense, he might thrive in Denver’s 34 Under defensive front. There he would play a role more similar to when he is moved inside to defensive tackle on passing downs as a Giant.

The Price: Again, like Tye, Wynn is dependable, durable, and experienced. But he also won’t blow anyone away with game-changing plays. So he likely would only net a seventh-round pick as well.

Potential Trade Number 3 - A Kicker To Tampa Bay

At this point the feeling is that Aldrick Rosas will probably be the Giants’ kicker in 2017. He has responded to direct competition well, has been accurate, and has a big leg. But while he has gotten kudos for his response to pressure, you never really know how a kicker is going to respond when the lights are the brightest. That uncertainty might push the Giants to feel more comfortable with veteran kicker Mike Nugent.

Either way, the Giants have a pair of kickers they have reason to have confidence in. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers don’t have any.

They released former second round pick Roberto Aquayo this week, but veteran Nick Folk hasn’t been much better, with a blocked kick and missed 47-yard attempt against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Kickers have sneaky value in the NFL. They’re barely considered important enough to be “football players,” but they sure are important if a team doesn’t have one. The Giants might just find themselves with an actual commodity in that case.

The Price: Much like the 2014 trade of McManus, the Giants would likely flip one of their kickers (we’ll say Nugent) to the Buccaneers for a seventh round pick.

Potential Trade Number 4 - Owamagbe Odighizuwa To The Detroit Lions

This is an out-of-the-box idea. The Lions lost projected starting defensive end Kerry Hyder for the season with a torn Achilles tendon. As well, defensive end Armonty Bryant is suspended for the first four games of the season and Ziggy Ansah is on the PUP list with an ankle injury (notable because he missed significant time with a high ankle sprain in 2016).

Odighizuwa has missed time with injuries of his own and has yet to produce anything like a third round pick, but unlike our other potential trade targets, is a bona fide athletic freak. Odighizuwa is also young and still has two years left on his rookie contract.

He isn’t as dependable as Tye or Wynn, but he has higher upside than either, and would have a minimal cap hit.

In light of the injury to rookie Derek Rivers, and their plan for the 2017 off-season, the New England Patriots might be another potential trade partner. The Patriots have been bold about trading for players this year, and Belichick has a long history of getting production out of players who have floundered on other teams. Likewise, Odighizuwa’s athletic ability and experience in both 3-4 and 4-3 defenses might appeal to Belichick.

The Price: Likely the base price for Owa would just be a seventh-round pick. He has significant athletic upside, but he hasn’t come close to living up to his potential — or even making it through a season healthy — yet. But with his youth and upside in mind, it might be possible that the pick could be a conditional one and might grow to something like a fifth rounder if Owa not only makes the team but plays a certain percentage of defensive snaps.

What do you think of these trades? What trades do you think could happen?