Why NY Giants’ Dave Gettleman’s trade back was breath of fresh air

NY Giants GM Dave Gettleman showed some forward-minded thinking by making a trade and keeping in mind the 2022 NFL Draft Class.

The NY Giants have traded back for the first time in the Dave Gettleman era.

After watching an interesting top-10 unfold, the Giants moved back to #20 overall and racked up an extra 1st round pick with a 2021, fifth round pick for this Saturday, along with a 2022 fourth round pick.

The Bears moved all the way up to the first pick outside the top-10, where they traded up for Justin Fields. Chicago felt comfortable giving up next year’s first for a QB they hope is more than plenty worth the nine-pick jump they made in the 1st round this year.

For Gettleman and the NY Giants, the motivation was an eye towards the future.

"“It was very important to get the first-round pick next year,” Gettleman told reporters. “As I told you guys at my pre-draft presser, there’s a lot of unknowns here with this group, and plus a lot of kids went back and took advantage of the NCAA giving them an additional year of eligibility. That obviously played into our thinking.”"

NFL Draft: Every pick NY Giants have after trade with Chicago Bears

Updating the NY Giants' total NFL Draft picks, after pulling off a blockbuster trade back with the Chicago Bears Thursday night during the 2021 NFL Draft.

It was a nice change-of-pace to see the NY Giants weigh the long-term outlook with their short-term immediate needs and value.

The Giants carefully navigated and played the board as it was they also lacked the true draft assets to compete with other teams to trade up. New York ended up getting hopped over with an intra-divisional trade and lost a top prospect at a position of need that they still ended up drafting in the 1st round.

Gettleman admitted there are “a lot of unknowns” in this draft due to opt-outs, COVID-19, lack of face-to-face meetings/interactions, and a lack of normal overall scouting for this draft class. He also spoke about the fact that many college players returned to their schools to use their newly-gained extra year of eligibility and how it affects this year’s and next year’s draft plans. It’s refreshing to see the Giants evaluate the draft with a big-picture outlook and they are planning for both now and the future simultaneously.