Giants trade rumors: Potential targets, and players who could be moved

The No. 1 2022 NFL Trade Deadline is a little more than a week away. Will the New York Giants be buyers? Sellers? Both? Neither? Let’s look at some of the rumors and possibilities as we close in on Joe Schoen’s first trade deadline as Giants’ general manager.

Who might go

Darius Slayton — Slayton’s name continues to swirl around in the trade market, but I’m not sure that speculation is coming from anyone who has actually been paying attention to what has been going on with the Giants. I think this from Jordan Schultz is a pretty good summary of how I also see the situation.

I wonder if teams who have interest in Slayton might have already missed their chance. The Giants might have been willing to trade him during the summer, or even early in the season when he was the last guy on the Giants’ seven-wide receiver depth chart.

Now? Injuries have given him an opportunity, and he has played more than half the Giants’ offensive snaps in each of the last three game. He had a six-catch game against the Green Bay Packers. The Giants need to add, not subtract, pass catchers. I would be surprised if the Giants could get more than a sixth- or seventh-round draft pick for Slayton. That doesn’t seem like enough for a player who is showing he can help them.

Kadarius Toney — The Giants have continued to express belief in Toney while they wait ... and wait .. and wait some more for him to get on the field. Toney’s name keeps coming up in trade speculation, though. Would the Giants move on this quickly? Should they? Does anyone even have interest in Toney at this point?

Former NFL GM Michael Lombardi told me recently that he thinks it is too soon for the Giants to give up on the 2021 first-round pick.

“ ... no matter how talented you are, if you can’t get on the field, you become a liability,” Lombardi said. “Now, I’m not saying they should [trade him]. He has great potential. But I think ultimately, at the end of the day, he’s gonna have to figure it out. It’s a little too early to give up yet, because it’s only his second season. And certainly you wish that he would do more.”

Kenny Golladay — I’m sure the Giants would love to be rid of their Golladay problem. I am also sure it is going to be virtually impossible to dump Golladay — especially since he isn’t healthy.

Saquon Barkley — We have talked a lot about Barkley recently, both in a look at the impact of the Christian McCaffrey trade and in Saturday’s ‘Big Blue View Mailbag.’

The McCaffrey trade likely sets the parameters of the discussion if any team approaches the Giants expressing an interest in Barkley. As of now, 60 percent of voters in our poll say they would not trade Barkley for the package the Carolina Panthers received from the San Francisco 49ers — a 2023 second-round pick, 2023 third-round pick, 2023 fourth-round pick, and a 2024 fifth-round pick.

WFAN’s Boomer Esiason raised the possibility about a month ago that the Buffalo Bills would make a push for Barkley. Currently, there are no reports of anything substantive going on with Barkley.

Trading Barkley would be a tough sell — to ownership, the fan base, and the locker room — for Schoen. The Giants are playing well, and Barkley is a huge part of the reason for that as he is playing as well as he ever has.

Still, Barkley’s is a name to monitor as the deadline approaches.

Potential trade targets

This is mostly about the wide receiver market and whether or not there is anyone available the Giants could acquire in an effort to beef up that position. Let’s talk about some of the names you have probably heard, or will hear, in the coming days.

D.J. Moore, Carolina Panthers — I wrote two weeks ago that I would be in favor of the Giants making a move for the 25-year-old Moore. A move for Moore would help the Giants in 2022, but more importantly he is signed through 2025 and would give the Giants a legitimate No. 1 wide receiver for the next few seasons. Wide receiver Terrace Marshall of the Panthers, an under-utilized 2021 second-round pick, could also be a less-costly target

Denzel Mims and Elijah Moore, New York Jets — One of these seems realistic, one does not.

Mims is a 2020 second-round pick, and the Robert Saleh coaching staff doesn’t seem to have a use for him. Mims, 6-foot-3, 207 pounds, has been inactive all season. Mims has only 31 catches in two seasons. Maybe he is the kind of player on a rookie deal who might be worth a seventh-round flier.

Moore, a second-round pick last season, is apparently unhappy. He has seen his role decrease and was not targeted in 32 offensive snaps during Week 6 against the Packers. Still, reports have indicated that the Jets have no interest in moving on from Moore.