NY Giants: Gettleman being open to trading back is a huge deal

We examine why Dave Gettleman declaring the NY Giants “open for business” in regard to trading the fourth-overall pick is a positive sign for the franchise.

NY Giants general manager was interviewed at the NFL Combine yesterday and stated that the team was “open for business” in regard to their willingness to trade back from the fourth-overall selection in the draft.

This is a stark contrast to Gettleman’s stance in prior years. Many NY Giants fans remain salty over Gettleman’s unwillingness to seriously entertain trade offers in 2018 when New York held the second overall pick in the draft.

Instead, Gettleman opted to draft a ‘generational’ talent at running back in Saquon Barkley, despite the fact that they were in the midst of a rebuild and could have capitalized on the massive amount of draft capital that they likely would have received for trading out of the second pick.

It isn’t exactly breaking news that Gettleman has a reputation of being unwilling to trade back in drafts. In fact, Gettleman has never traded back in any round of the NFL Draft during his tenure as the general manager of the Carolina Panthers or the New York Giants — in any round.

The Giants have the luxury of already possessing a young franchise quarterback in Daniel Jones, which puts them in a prime position to trade back in a draft that has elite quarterback talent at the top and a plethora of quarterback-needy teams selecting directly behind them.

After the Detroit Lions, who currently own the third-overall selection in the draft, stated that they were interested in trading back, it became wise for the Giants to follow suit.

The Cincinnati Bengals are expected to draft Joe Burrow with the number one overall pick, leaving Justin Herbert, Tua Tagovailoa, Jacob Eason, Jordan Love and others available for quarterback-needy teams such as the Carolina Panthers, Los Angeles Chargers, Miami Dolphins and Oakland Raiders who are trying to position themselves to draft their quarterback of the future.

With a massive number of holes to fill on a team that went 4-12 last season and who has combined for the fewest wins in the NFL over the past three seasons, the most prudent option for the Giants is to accumulate as much draft capital as possible.

Swinging a deal with a team who is scheduled to draft relatively close to the Giants’ current fourth spot is the most ideal situation. Doing so would likely allow Big Blue to still select an elite talent on defense or at left tackle, two of their most glaring needs while providing them with valuable picks later in the draft to fill additional holes on the roster.

While Gettleman’s apparent willingness to entertain the idea of trading back will likely be viewed as a positive by most Giants fans, he also hedged his bet by stating that he didn’t think it was a good idea to “trade yourself back (and) out of good players”.

This could be a negotiating tactic on the part of Gettleman though. By making that statement, he puts the spotlight on the teams drafting directly behind the New York to make a deal, while putting those teams picking much later in the draft and who will require a substantial offer for the Giants to push themselves out of position to draft the elite players in the draft.

Regardless of how things play out regarding New York’s first-round draft spot, it is at least encouraging that Dave Gettleman seems to be at least open to trading back. The rigidity and unwillingness of the Giants to change their stance on critical positions have caused the team to be stuck in the neutral in the past.

This news, coupled with the refreshing hiring of new head coach Joe Judge, lends credence to the idea that the New York Giants management is finally becoming more flexible in their decision-making policies, something that could pay dividends in the future.

If this is indeed the case, those dividends could begin paying off as soon as April of this year, when the NY Giants are expected to be in prime position to capitalize in an NFL Draft that is flush with elite talent.

What Dave Gettleman and the NY Giants decide to do with the fourth overall pick will likely go a long way in determining how quickly they are able to rebuild and compete.