Getty Saquon Barkley #26 of the New York Giants.
Nearly every NFL team has had their name thrown in the ring, to varying degrees, as a potential landing spot for disgruntled quarterback Deshaun Watson over the past few weeks. Yet, a team that has gained steam in recent days is the New York Giants. While still an enormous longshot, Big Blue has found themselves creeping up the ranks of possible suitors across numerous outlets.
On Friday, ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky added fuel to the fire. The former eight-year NFL veteran urged Giants general manager Dave Gettleman to pick up the phone, call the Houston Texans, and don’t hang up until a deal is struck.
“If I was Dave Gettleman of the New York Giants, I would take Daniel Jones, I would take Saquon Barkley and I would take three first-round picks, and I would call Houston and not allow them to get off the phone with me,” Orlovsky said on Friday’s airing of ESPN’s Get Up.
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Orlovsky: A Watson Deal ‘Can Make Your Career as a GM’
“As a general manager in this moment, if you ever were going to take a swing, this is the swing to take,” he said. “As a general manager the last thing you want to do is look back with regret that we didn’t try hard enough. That we didn’t throw in one extra first-rounder. That’s the type of player and person that you’re going to get with Deshaun Watson.”
“What I’m watching is who as a general manager is going to get creative. How creative are they gunna get to go get one of the best players in the NFL.” Orlovsky closed things out stating “This is the time where you can make your career as a general manager.”
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Giants Lack of Assets
As a reminder, there has been no indication that the Giants are in the Watson market. All signs out of New York point towards the organization being emphatic about continuing on with Daniel Jones under center. However, even if the G-Men were to snoop around a potential deal, their trade chips would likely pale in comparison to what other suitors could offer Houston.
In a recent column, SNY’s Ralph Vacchiano broke down the drawbacks of going all-in on a Watson trade and the hurdles that make the move far unlikely:
The Giants just don’t have the chips to realistically get it done.
For starters, they have the 11th overall pick this year, which is valuable, but far less attractive than the first-round picks the Jets (2nd), Dolphins (3rd) or Jaguars (1st) have to offer. And those three teams each have two first-round picks in 2021, which is a considerable advantage. The Giants have only their one.
That means the Giants would have to give up their first-round pick in each of the next three drafts, for starters. And that would deprive them of a young, talented, relatively inexpensive player to add to their roster for more than half of the remaining years on Watson’s deal. And they’d probably still have to give up more – maybe a fourth first-rounder or perhaps a couple of seconds along the way.
Either way, they’d add Watson, but would considerably limit their ability to build a team around him through the draft.
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