The New York Giants sit at 4-2-1 after seven games, surprisingly leading a seemingly weakened NFC East as they move into their bye week.
With the Nov. 10 trade deadline just two weeks away, the Giants face the question of how to balance helping this team try to make a run to the playoffs for the first time since 2022 vs. saving or adding assets that can help them beyond this season.
It is a delicate balance. Making the playoffs would be an outstanding first season for John Harbaugh as Giants’ head
coach. Doing so by mortgaging premium assets for short-term fixes that won’t help the Giants beyond this season is counter-productive.
The Giants then have to wade carefully into the trade market.
Where could they use help? Defensive line, wide receiver, maybe running back, maybe even edge or linebacker depth due to injuries could be areas of consideration.
Between now and the deadline we will be looking at a variety of trade rumors and scenarios involving the Giants. Let’s start with a player who could help the Giants’ thin defensive tackle rotation.
Potential trade target: DT Dalvin Tomlinson
The Giants have been getting quality run defense from veteran nose tackle D.J. Reader, but the rest of the defensive line rotation has been a question mark.
Thirty-five-year-old veteran Shelby Harris has had a couple of really good games, and a couple of ineffective games. Darius Alexander has been better against the run the past couple of weeks, but he is a work in progress. Rookie sixth-round Bobby Jamison-Travis was good Sunday against the Houston Texans, not so good in his debut the week before against the New Orleans Saints. C.J. Okoye has been unimpressive.
The Giants could use a trustworthy veteran to fortify their rotation over the season’s final 10 games.
What about Tomlinson?
Why it would work
A 2017 second-round pick by the Giants, Tomlinson is working for the Los Angeles Chargers on a one-year, $6.2 contract. At 0-6 and going nowhere fast, John Harbaugh’s brother, Jim, and the Chargers might be amenable to saving a little money and moving on from a 32-year-old player who really isn’t going to help them at this point.
ESPN recently proposed the following deal for Tomlinson, a move that would amount to little more than a 2028 late-round pick swap:
Giants get: DT Dalvin Tomlinson, 2028 seventh-round pick
Chargers get: 2028 sixth-round pick
If that is really a makeable deal, it’s a low-cost move that could provide the Giants with some incremental help without really dipping into future assets.
Financially, the Spotrac trade machine shows that an acquiring team would be on the hook for only $1.97 million of Tomlinson’s $2.69 million base salary.
Why it wouldn’t work
Tomlinson is not the top-notch run defender that he was during four seasons with the Giants at the beginning of his career. Last season, he posted an awful 37.3 Pro Football Focus run defense grade, though he has bounced back this year with a slightly-above-average 64.9.
This chart from Pro Football and Sports Network using its ‘Impact Score’ shows Tomlinson’s decline over the years:
The PFSN baseline for an average score is 75.0, and you see that Tomlinson has not been meeting that mark in recent seasons.
Could he give more in limited snaps as a run defender than someone like Okoye? Maybe. And, maybe a chance to play for a team in a playoff race would motivate him.
Is this the type of deal you would make, Giants fans?
