The New York Giants surprised us by trading guard Daniel Faalele to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Wednesday morning.
It was a surprising move for a few reasons. First and foremost, because Faalele has been considered one of “Harbaugh’s Guys”, a player the coach just likes, and whose familiarity with Greg Roman’s run schemes and Harbaugh’s culture was an edge over other players vying for a roster spot. Faalele spent most of the offseason and training camp as the second-string left guard.
Finally, it was
surprising that GM Joe Schoen was able to get a sixth-round pick in return for Faalele.
That got me to wondering: Could the Giants have other trade candidates on the roster? These types of trades rarely happen this time of year… But we just had one come out of the blue (pun slightly intended), so why not more?
After all, one aspect of Schoen’s tenure that hasn’t gotten nearly enough credit is how well he reads the rest of the NFL and secures value on the trade market.
WR Darius Slayton or WR Darnell Mooney
The Houston Texans just received a gut punch when wide receiver Jayden Higgins tore his ACL in a joint practice with the Las Vegas Raiders. Higgins is an ascending player and was primed to be a big part of the Texans offense. Now, the Texans may need help at receiver.
As it happens, while the Giants’ receiving corps isn’t scaring anyone, they do have something of a surplus of outside receivers.
Lance Zierlein of NFL.com floated Slayton as a possible trade target for the Texans, and Mooney could fill a similar role as an option across from Nico Collins. Slayton’s speed as a field stretcher is attractive. However, he also comes with a hefty contract, and the Giants might have to accept a lower pick to compensate.
Mooney, meanwhile, is easier to fit under the salary cap, but he’s also much closer to Tank Dell’s size than the 6-foot-4, 215-pound Higgins. Either way, the return of Malik Nabers, the ascension of Malachi Fields, and Odell Beckham Jr. getting open even if he isn’t getting the ball, could make one of these “locks” more expendable than we were expecting a few weeks ago.
K Ben Sauls
Good kickers are tough to find, and it seems as though the Giants have found themselves two. Dominic Zvada seems to be leading the competition between him and Sauls and has been both longer and more consistent in practices. If the job is Zvada’s to lose now, the Giants would likely love to sneak Sauls through to the practice squad.
However, if the alternative is Sauls being claimed off of waivers or signed off the Giants’ practice squad for nothing, they might be willing to take a late-round pick for him. Perhaps even working out a deal with the Jets, who scooped up Jason Sanders after the Giants cut him earlier this summer.
iOL Jake Kubas
The Texans weren’t the only team to take a gut punch due to injury this week. The Los Angeles Chargers suffered a big loss with OC Tyler Biadasz being out indefinitely with an ACL injury. The Chargers drafted center Jake Slaughter out of Florida this year, and he could be in line to take the starting job, but that might convince them to backfill behind him.
Kubas has Center/Guard versatility and appeared to play well at center against the Vikings. The Giants might not want to part with the versatile interior lineman; however, they do have veteran Lucas Patrick returning from injury as well as the recently-signed Brendan Jaimes.
Really, any of the three reserve centers may appeal to the Chargers, and John Harbaugh does know their head coach a bit.
CB Paulson Adebo
This one might be the biggest surprise if it comes to pass, and could potentially net the biggest gain for the Giants. However, with Deonte Banks, Greg Newsome II, and Colton Hood all seeming to rise up the depth chart while Adebo slides down, it’s possible that the Giants could look to get out from under the cornerback’s three-year, $54 million contract a year early.
The Detroit Lions are currently fielding Rock Ya-Sin and DJ Reed as their outside cornerbacks, and could view Adebo as a valuable addition. The Lions are a “base” defense that uses nickel at the lowest rate in the NFL (37.2% of snaps, nearly half the league-average 61.1%), making outside corners particularly important. Schematically, they have similar tendencies as the Giants did under Shane Bowen, running off-man at similar rates and with similar blitz rates.
The Giants obviously wouldn’t want to risk the depth of their secondary; however paying Adebo $24 million to be a depth player is less than ideal.
