Head coach John Harbaugh is right that the New York Giants are not at a place in their development where they should “go for a short term fix at an exorbitant cost.”
But, yes, the Giants should make another run at getting star running back Jonathan Taylor from the Indianapolis Colts.
Harbaugh on Sunday night did not deny reports that the Giants had pulled an offer of a 2027 second-round and 2028 fifth-round pick for Taylor off the table.
“Things do change,” Harbaugh said. “Things change from day-to-day.”
Things did change on Sunday when the Giants broke a 13-game losing streak in Philadelphia, further proving that these aren’t the same old Giants, and when the Colts lost yet another game.
Perhaps after losing to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday to fall to 2-7 Colts owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon and interim general manager Ed Dodds will come to their senses and realize the best thing they can for a franchise clearly in need of starting over is to capitalize on the best trade asset they have.
The Colts have already parted with Quenton Nelson and DeForest Buckner. They might part with quarterback Daniel Jones, wide receiver Josh Downs, and defensive tackle Grover Stewart before Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline.
What good is hanging on to Taylor going to do them? Pro Football Talk is reporting that the Colts are expected to take the best offer they can get for Taylor between now and Tuesday’s 4 p.m. ET deadline. Taylor sounded Sunday like he knew he would be moving on:
Taylor can’t rescue the Colts at this point. He can, though, do a lot for the Giants. Both this season and for a couple of years beyond 2026. He is signed to a reasonable for a top-tier running back contract through 2028. He would cost roughly $34 million in 2027 and 2028, plus the pro-rated portion of his $6.98 million base salary this season.
With apologies to Cam Skattebo, the 27-year-old Taylor is a different class of running back.
The Giants ran 31 times for 80 yards (2.6 yards per carry) against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. Devin Singletary, carrying the load without Skattebo and Tyrone Tracy, gained 31 yards on 21 carries (1.5 yards per carry).
To be real, the Giants’ run blocking was horrid on Sunday. That has to get better or the Giants won’t be able to take full advantage of the talents of whoever they are handing the ball to. That shouldn’t stop the Giants from swinging a big deal for Taylor — if they are comfortable with the price tag.
What is the price they should be comfortable surrendering? For me, the second- and fifth-round pick offer they previously made, perhaps sweetened by adding a player like Tracy, would be about as far as I would go.
In my view, a first-round pick is a bridge too far. Still, the Giants have to remember they are sitting on the gold mine of two 23-year-old quarterbacks who look like starting-caliber NFL players in Jaxson Dart and J.J. McCarthy. One of them — probably McCarthy — could bring back a bounty of draft picks next offseason.
Harbaugh’s Giants have an opportunity to win their first NFC East title since 2011. That isn’t a Super Bowl, but it would be quite an accomplishment. They should try to seize the moment. Could they win it without Taylor? Maybe, but their chances would be better with him.
They have a chance to legitimize the five-year, $100 million contract they gave Harbaugh. They have a chance to give a 71-year-old owner fighting cancer a playoff team to be proud of. They have a chance to show their locker room that they recognize the players’ hard work and are willing to help them try to finish the job. They have a chance to show a clearly fired-up fan base that things are indeed different now.
“The fans, they were great. We had a bunch of fans here, right? Wow. We had a bunch of fans here. They were loud. They were great. And I love our fans. This is a special place,” Harbaugh said.
“You could just feel the passion and the excitement and the desire to win from the entire fan base,” said McCarthy. “It gives us so much motivation out there. I was telling the guys in the huddle, ‘Look around, see that blues are starting to fill up more than green.’ It just gives us that much more juice to go out there and execute that next play.”
Harbaugh was also right on Sunday when he said “I never think that you’re one step away, one player away.”
The Giants are not yet a Super Bowl team. There is no single move they can make that would put them in the class of the San Francisco 49ers or Chicago Bears in the NFC. A move for Taylor would get them closer, though, and would be another step toward putting the misery of the post-2011 Super Bowl stretch in the rearview mirror.
Maybe the Giants won’t be able to get it done. They should, though, try. The players who have gotten them this far, the ownership group that went above and beyond to bring Harbaugh to New York, and the fans who have waited for a team to feel good about deserve it.
