Giants’ Joe Judge not anticipating NFL trade deadline fire sale

The New York Giants don’t play again until Nov. 2, a Monday Night Football game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The NFL trade deadline is Nov. 3. At 1-6 and pointed toward the future, it would be logical to assume that the Giants will look to sell off desirable players in exchange for draft assets.

Head coach Joe Judge didn’t want to consider any type of “fire sale” during his Friday videoconference.

“I don’t know that there needs to be an assumption that there is going to be a string of moves anyway. Right now, I think if I comment on a lot of this, all of the sudden you have players kind of anticipating what are we looking to do,” Judge said. “I’m very clear with the players from day one that any decision we make is in the best interests of the team. That’s something I told them from day one and I always reiterate that to them. However, just because there is a trade deadline coming up doesn’t mean there is going to be a string of moves or something we’re going to have to look to go ahead and do and flip a lot of things.”

Judge said the Giants “haven’t really had too many conversations” about trades, but that there is “great synergy” with the front office in terms of personnel decisions.

Here are more takeaways from Judge’s Friday media availability.

Andrew Thomas “a good guy to build with”

Despite the continuing struggles of rookie offensive tackle Andrew Thomas, Judge remains supportive.

He was asked what the No. 4 overall pick has done remain in the lineup at left tackle.

“He’s done a lot. Andrew’s a good guy to build with. We have a lot of plans long-term with Andrew. He’s the kind of guy we want to work with, both physically and his personality off the field,” Judge said. “We have a lot of confidence in Andrew. We’re going to keep working with him and developing him going forward. I fully expect Andrew to have a very productive, long career in this league. We enjoy him being a Giant.”

Judge was also asked if Thomas’s confidence has been impacted by his struggles.

“I see him coming to work every day with a good attitude, effort and energy. When you see guys with confidence issues, normally the urgency goes down. I see this guy work tirelessly every day, so no. He’s a pleasure to be around right there,” Judge said. “Look, he’s a young player who’s still learning to develop in this league. Nothing is going to be perfect all the time. We need to keep doing a good job of coaching him and bringing him along.”

Balancing the future and the present

This is a question GM Dave Gettleman often addresses. Monday, Judge was asked about addressing the present vs. the future.

“We’re into developing all of our players. Whether that’s rotating linemen at different positions, getting a couple new DB’s in, make sure they are getting exposure. Make sure guys are getting reps in the kicking game,” Judge said. “We saw TJ Brunson got into the game yesterday for the first time. He made a real nice play on kickoff. Went down there and showed what we have been seeing at practice for the time right now.”

Judge said the Giants are not focused on draft position.

“We’re looking to develop our players all the time. To me, we’re going out there to be competitive and win every game every week. We’re not racing for some kind of a draft pick, that’s not our priority right now. We’re trying to go out there, we’re trying to win, that’s our goal as an organization,” Judge said. “In terms of bringing players along, we’re using every player we have to develop to the future. We’re always thinking about the future in what we do. The future includes the Sunday game coming up that week as well as the long-term picture. The balance is always how it works off each other all the time anyway.”