New York Giants’ GM Dave Gettleman admits team is “open for business” at No. 4

“Absolutely. We’re open for business.”

With those words, New York Giants general manager Dave Gettleman on Tuesday let the football world know that he is open to doing something with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft that he has never done in seven previous drafts as a GM. That, of course, is trade down in the draft to acquire additional assets.

That, of course, does not mean Gettleman will trade out of that fourth slot.

“Whatever we do is going to be in our best interests,” Gettleman said. “Trading back has danger. We’re at 4, what happens if we trade back to 8, there’s only four players that we like. What if they’re all gone? Now what are you going to do, trade back again? You can trade yourself back out of good players.

“You gotta be careful of trading too far back.”

That said, Gettleman admitted that this draft is rich in talent — rich enough that it might make him think about the trade back move that has never been in his arsenal.

“There’s a lot. There’s some really good players,” Gettleman said. “There are a lot of high-graded players. I’m excited to see where the board ends up. It’s a pretty strong draft. It really is.”

Gettleman has now run seven drafts, five as GM of the Carolina Panthers and two with the Giants. He has never traded back. He pointed out that throughout his career that was never a favorite tactic of any of the coaches or GMs he has worked with.

“We’re all creatures of what we’ve done. All of our experiences,” Gettleman said. “We have tried to trade, I’ve tried to trade back but the value wasn’t there and there was a player there that we really liked. I’ve seen teams trade themselves away from really good players and maybe while it hasn’t scarred me, I’ve seen what it’s done to those teams and it’s something I just have in my head.”

Gettleman simply said “yes” when asked if the quality at the top of this draft class might make him more inclined to listen to offers.

“I’ve said this before with you guys, the ideal situation is when value meets need,” Gettleman said. “That’s your ideal situation.”

Will that all add up to Gettleman moving down in Round 1 this April?

No guarantee, but they say there is a first time for everything. So, maybe.