NEW YORK — Giants GM Joe Schoen stayed put at Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline for the right reasons.
Prices were too high on the players he was aiming to acquire. And his team’s 6-2 start has not moved Schoen off his realistic evaluation of the Giants as a long-term rebuild.
“You have to step back and honestly evaluate the roster,” Schoen said Tuesday afternoon at the team facility in East Rutherford. “You can’t get caught up in the, ‘Hey, we won the game.’ Yeah, but we were also down 17-3 in the game at some point. You gotta step back and look at it for what it is.”
Schoen still was “active” pursuing players leading up to the trade deadline to help this year’s team at wide receiver and other positions. The Giants tried to get Denver Broncos receiver Jerry Jeudy in recent weeks, for example, according to league sources.
But Schoen said “the price point didn’t match up” on any of their targets and he just “couldn’t land the plane,” even though some of his trade talks dated back to “August.” In Jeudy’s case, Denver simply decided not to trade the player.
Schoen did leave the possibility open to an Odell Beckham Jr.-Giants reunion, though. And signing him remains a possibility, because Beckham is a free agent.
“I had no idea he was in the building,” Schoen said of Beckham’s October visit to the Giants’ facility. “Obviously he’s been a good player. He’s a guy we would consider and talk to when he’s healthy. I think he did the ACL in February, so not sure where he is. But yeah, any player that would upgrade the roster, we’re gonna consider and have conversations with their representatives.”
When told Beckham would welcome a Giants reunion, Schoen smiled and said: “That’s a hypothetical. He’s a good player, from when I’ve evaluated him. If he’s healthy. If a player’s healthy and they help us win football games, we will pursue them if they fit what we’re looking for.”
It’s believed Beckham will be healthy in December, looking to join on with a contender. The Giants only had $3.1 million in salary cap space Tuesday, so they might not have the money to make it happen. Still, if they keep winning, keep an eye out for OBJ.
For now, though, Schoen wasn’t going to trade a second-round pick for a wideout like the Chicago Bears did for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Chase Claypool. Schoen even referenced that “it only takes one team to outbid you” on some of the guys he pursued.
The Giants hold nine picks in the 2023 NFL draft, including two third-rounders after the Kadarius Toney trade. And they may get two compensatory picks to bump them to 11.
Schoen said he understood when he traded Toney to Kansas City that being in sell mode, rather than buy mode, could be viewed as not investing in winning this year. That’s why he and coach Brian Daboll spoke to the team right after it happened last Thursday.
“When we made the Toney move, we talked to the captains and let them know we’re always gonna try to win,” Schoen said of getting a third and sixth from the Chiefs. “Daboll and I are super competitive, and we’re always gonna try to do what’s best for the organization. But you can’t be reckless with the draft picks, the future capital, with where we are as we build this team.”
The truth there, too, is that Schoen had been trying to offload Toney since the spring. And it wasn’t even a trade about a team’s buying or selling philosophy.
This was a player who wasn’t a fit in Schoen’s and Daboll’s culture from a work ethic and commitment standpoint, regardless of his talent. Getting a meaningful asset for him was a win.
Schoen accurately described the trade as “best for both parties.”
All importantly, even though co-owner John Mara presumably is emboldened by his team’s 6-2 start and possible playoff chances, Schoen said ownership was fully on board with how the deadline shook out.
“They were supportive in everything we were doing,” he said.
