The New York Giants are working the phones ahead of Tuesday's 4 p.m. ET trade deadline, looking for roster upgrades as they take the NFC East by storm. Sitting at 5-2-1 and in first place, head coach John Harbaugh and general manager Joe Schoen have plenty of reasons to be buyers, whether that's along the defensive line, in the running back room, or on the offensive line.
Well, on Monday afternoon, the G-Men were sorta involved in a trade between the Jacksonville Jaguars and New Orleans Saints for veteran defensive lineman Davon Godchaux. Only they weren't actually involved at all. Confused? Good. Welcome to my world.
ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that the Saints are receiving a conditional 2028 sixth-round pick that could become a 2027 sixth-rounder. Jacksonville doesn't currently have a 2027 sixth, but if the Jaguars acquire one, it'll go to New Orleans. And why don't the Jags have that pick in the first place? Because they sent it to New York right before the season to acquire offensive lineman Daniel Faalele. What a crazy time to be alive.
Giants' Daniel Faalele trade adds a fun wrinkle to Jaguars' latest trade
So let me get this straight. Jaguars GM James Gladstone successfully made a deal with the Saints that basically says, "Yeah, we don't have this pick right now, but if we get one, then you can have it." What the...?
Gladstone has to be the best used-car salesman I've ever seen.
Playing the "Keeping tabs on former Giants" game, Faalele has played all of 10 snaps for Jacksonville this season. The Jaguars traded away a pick for a guy who's barely seen the field, and that same pick is now the reason their Godchaux trade comes with a conditional draft-pick scavenger hunt.
To be fair, the Jags needed to add some beef to the defensive front after losing starting nose tackle DaVon Hamilton to a season-ending quad injury in Week 8. The 6-foot-3, 330-pounder isn't much of a pass rusher, but he has historically plugged running lanes, and his familiarity with defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile during their Miami days makes the move a little more zesty.
As for Big Blue, Godchaux coming off the market means one fewer potential option for a team looking to reinforce its space eaters. The Jaguars also reportedly pursued Philadelphia's Moro Ojomo before pivoting elsewhere, so New York isn't the only team shopping in the USDA Choice beef section.
With the deadline just about 24 hours away, names like Grover Stewart, A'Shawn Robinson, and Vita Vea remain worth monitoring. Ojomo belongs in that conversation, too, although reports say the Eagles plan to keep and extend him, making that particular dream pretty unlikely.
Obviously, there's no guarantee any of those guys get moved, but Godchaux could be the first of many defensive tackle dominoes to fall in a market full of buyers.
For now, New York gets to enjoy a strange little trade-deadline cameo without actually doing anything. The Giants have Jacksonville's sixth-rounder, the Jaguars have a defensive tackle, and the Saints might eventually get a pick Jacksonville doesn't currently possess. How's that for a Monday brain-buster?
Add us as a preferred source on Google