The NFL be crazy. Just when it felt like we were entering the calm before the storm after the Combine, the league had other plans. Kansas City Chiefs star cornerback Trent McDuffie was traded to the Los Angeles Rams on Wednesday, and the New York Giants weren't far behind in the fallout.
Once ESPN’s Adam Schefter broke the blockbuster trade, it didn’t take long for word to get out that the G-Men were the other team involved in talks before McDuffie ended up in LA. Regardless of how you feel about the trade itself -- I thought it would’ve been a costly mistake -- the bigger story might be the dark cloud that’s followed new head coach John Harbaugh from Baltimore to New York.
The 63-year-old has become the poster child for “almost made the move.” During his time with the Ravens, there were plenty of moments where he almost signed the guy or almost got the trade done. You can now add almost trading for McDuffie to the growing list of what-could-have-beens.
It’s an ugly trend that Giants fans are going to lose their minds over, especially when there’s a player they really want, and he can’t close the deal.
Giants fans may need to get used to John Harbaugh coming up just short
Harby’s list of “missed it by that much” moments is starting to get concerning. Missing out on McDuffie and his market-resetting contract isn’t the worst thing in the world. The Giants probably would’ve had to throw together a monster offer -- Kayvon Thibodeaux likely included -- but it starts to look like a red flag the more you look into his past:
- The Jaguars held trade talks with Baltimore in 2019, and who else but Los Angeles, for cornerback Jalen Ramsey’s services. The Flock couldn’t match Duval’s asking price, so they ultimately settled for Marcus Peters instead.
- DeAndre Hopkins was almost a Raven in 2020… before trade talks with the Texans stalled and they failed to reach an agreement.
- Heck, even a T.Y. Hilton on the back nine of his career was ‘Five seconds away’ from signing with the Ravens in 2021, but the Colts swept in at the last moment to shut that down.
- The Za’Darius Smith debacle of 2022 is still confusing to this day. After leaving Baltimore in 2018, Smith was all but ready to come back before dropping out at the last minute, heading to Minnesota.
- In 2022, the Ravens were close to bringing in star linebacker Bobby Wagner before he signed with, funny enough, the Rams.
And now McDuffie becomes the first near-miss of the Harbaugh era in New York. Not a great start. With free agency about to start, Giants fans should probably hope this “almost got the guy” reputation stays in Baltimore. Because the last thing this team needs is any more false hope.