The total rebuild of the New York Giants is on after the trading of cornerback Eli Apple and defensive tackle Damon Harrison earlier this week. It’s just the start as ESPN’s Jordan Raanan reported that anyone on the defense is up for sale for “the right price.”
The decision to break up the defense is a casualty of the offense and management’s ineptitude to field a competent product. This was the NFL’s 10th-ranked unit just two years ago but has nose-dived since.
Most of it is because they are constantly kept on the field due to the offense’s lack of execution, thus tiring the defense out. Even the best units will succumb to exhaustion and it has been a repeated theme since the start of the 2017 season.
With Apple and Harrison gone, veteran cornerback Janoris Jenkins is most likely next to go before the league’s Oct. 30 trade deadline. At 29 years old, Jenkins has $14.75 million on the books for each of the next two seasons, which is a figure the rebuilding Giants would likely love to get off the books.
CBS’ Jason La Canfora reports that the Pittsburgh Steelers, New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles are interested in adding Jenkins, who was a Pro Bowler in 2016 and has been aware of the possibility of him switching teams.
“It’s a business, I understand that,” Jenkins said. “But I’m here to play football and that’s what I’m going to do every day.”
On the offensive side, the possibility of trading veteran quarterback Eli Manning still looms. The 37-year-old has struggled behind an offensive line that gives him little time in the pocket to utilize his outside targets like Odell Beckham Jr. or Sterling Shepard consistently.
Dealing Manning, — who likely would still be a solid quarterback behind a line that would allow him to stay in the pocket — would allow the Giants to usher in the future immediately, whether that means starting rookie Kyle Lauletta or drafting a quarterback in 2019.
The problem is that Manning has a no-trade clause in his contract, so he controls his own destiny on whether he remains a Giant through the end of his contract in 2019. What he can’t control is whether the Giants bench him or not.
Other names like Olivier Vernon and even Landon Collins might crop up in trade talks over the next few days before the deadline. Outside of Beckham and Saquon Barkley, though, the general consensus is that anyone and everyone on the Giants roster is up for grabs.
