Well, would you look at that! It’s the week of the NFL Draft! After what I would call a productive offseason, hiring John Harbaugh (that still feels weird to say) as the next Head Coach, and signing/re-signing a slew of players, the New York Giants aim their sights on Pittsburgh.

            I had this whole nice paragraph written about the trade rumors swirling around Dexter Lawrence, and lo and behold, they were true. After lengthy negotiations, Joe Schoen and the front office determined that the Giants and Lawrence were too far apart on a deal and agreed to honor his request for a trade. As a Giants fan, I was bummed to hear that, but it sounds like Schoen, Coach Harbaugh, and Ms. Aponte did everything they could to keep him. (and that’s all I can really ask for)

            What I didn’t expect was for Joe Schoen to put a ski mask on and rob the Bengals. What do you mean he got a first-round pick for Dex? In the Top Ten no less! I was dumbfounded when I heard the news. The cherry on top of the trade? Somehow, someway, Cincinnati agreed to pay Dex’s contract. We cleared up about 13 million dollars in cap space, and we now need a Nose Tackle. As rumors suggest, I would sign D.J. Reader or Shelby Harris (both?) and call it a day!

            Now, if I woke up on Thursday as the General Manager of the New York Giants, here’s what I would do:

            Draft Sonny Styles at 5, and Mansoor Delane at 10. (Depending on how the board falls). That’s it.

            I think there’s a better than fair chance we trade down from 10—but after sleeping on it, I think I’d rather have the players. Because even if we don’t go with Delane, we could just as easily draft Vega Ioane and make sure Jaxson Dart is more than comfortable as he’s waiting for Nabers to get open. I would even argue that if we’re comfortable with the cornerbacks we can get in later rounds, we should pull the trigger and draft Ioane at 10.

            Granted, we pick below four other teams this year—and anything can happen—but realistically, I think this is the most plausible scenario. (And like I said, I also don’t really want to trade back) The Raiders are drafting Mendoza. I think that’s a given in a proof problem. The Jets, I think, may be drafting either Arvell Reese or Caleb Downs (Let me rephrase, they should draft one or the other, but it’s Woody Johnson, so who knows). And I agree with Daniel Jeremiah that the Cardinals have plans to select Ty Simpson. That leaves the Tians and us to round out the top-5.

            I think Jeremiyah Love will be a fantastic running back in the league, but I don’t understand why the Giants need him. We have Tracy and Skattebo running behind Patrick Ricard, and we need a LOT of help on defense…I mean, our ENTIRE secondary is on 1-year deals.

            Would I be upset if we ended up with Love? Absolutely not! But I just think we have some holes we need to fill, and the opportunity to fill them. And barring any unforeseen trades, that would be my plan as Goodell is once again booed.

Photo by Vidar Nordli-Mathisen on Unsplash