The Beckham Trade
Despite becoming a distraction both on and off the field, no NY Giants fan could have thought the team would trade away their only perennial superstar. But that’s exactly what Gettleman did in March of 2019 when he traded Odell Beckham Jr. to the Cleveland Browns.
It certainly did not look like a good trade that year. Beckham had led the Giants in receiving with over 1000+ yards in four of the five years he was with the team. He hit that mark again for the Browns in 2019, with 1,035 on 74 receptions. His presence, while debated since, put the Browns into playoff conversations for the first time in a long time.
In that trade, the Giants received safety Jabrill Pepper and the Brown’s 2019 first-round pick as well as a 2019 third-round pick. The Giants drafted defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence in the first round and linebacker Oshane Ximines in the third.
Peppers finished with 76 tackles in 2019, fourth on the team, but was otherwise seen as a work in progress. Tomlinson finished with just 3.5 sacks, while Ximines finished with 4.5.
But this year things changed. Peppers is third on the Giants in tackles with 50, and has six pass deflections, an interception, 1.5 sacks, and a fumble recovery. He plays with a confidence and an attitude that was not there last year, and it’s showing on the field as well as the stat sheet.
While Ximines has been hurt, he still has potential to come back after the bye. He could be a sneaky pass rusher for the Giants. And in doing so, he’ll put three more defensive players in Gettleman’s corner for why he should stay.
The trade has also created one less distraction the Giants offense and the team in general has had to deal with. Though his play is certainly missed, his absence helps a young quarterback focus solely on his own developments, as opposed to feeding looks to the superstar.