Getty Saquon Barkley #26 of the New York Giants.
Deshaun Watson’s desire to jettison the Houston Texans has brought on its fair share of wild trade scenarios in recent days. Essentially, if you’re a team with even the slightest glimmer of doubt under center, you’ve been tossed around in a hypothetical deal or two. Considering the jury is still out on quarterback Daniel Jones, the New York Giants firmly fall under said category.
Typically, any proposed trade including the Giants and Texans has included the swapping of both quarterbacks, matched with an enormous amount of high-end draft capital at the expense of New York.
However, NJ.com’s Dan Schneier has made things a tad more interesting, tossing Pro Bowl running back Saquon Barkley into the mix. The host of the Big Blue Banter Podcast claims that an acquisition such as Watson could quickly catapult a six-win Giants team to legitimate title contenders.
“If you’re the Giants you should trade No. 2 and next years 1 and Saquon Barkley for Deshaun,” Schneier tweeted. “If the Giants made that move and the defense took even the slightest step forward from how they finished 2020, a real case can be made they’re contenders. Deshaun is that good.”
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Key Giants Players Floated as Potential Trade Bait
Schneier’s colleague Zack Rosenblatt not only echoed Barkley’s name as a potential trade piece, he took things a step further, tossing out a slew of other prominent roster centerpieces as trade bait.
“They can offer the 11th overall pick and future firsts or seconds,” Rosenblatt wrote. “Perhaps they’d be willing to part with star running back Saquon Barkley, though his value is diminished coming off of ACL surgery. Other young players that might be appealing to Houston include defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence, safety Jabrill Peppers, safety Xavier McKinney and tight end Evan Engram.”
With that said, Rosenblatt came to the conclusion that we and many other outlets have voiced of late. That a deal that sends Watson to East Rutherford “probably isn’t realistic.” However, that’s not to say it shouldn’t be entertained.
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The Deshaun Watson-Daniel Jones Dilemma
It’s a widely perceived presumption that Daniel Jones will be the Giants’ locked-in starter at quarterback come 2021. Yet, is that because he truly deserves to be the guy? Or rather is it that notion has been readily pounded into our skull repeatedly that we’ve just come to accept this fate?
The idea of gutting a young and improving roster for the potential to acquire a $100-plus million quarterback certainly has its drawbacks. Namely, you run the chance of being the next Los Angeles Rams, who failed to capitalize on their short window of Super Bowl contention. Now they find themselves stripped of spending money and have begun to sell John Wolford as the potential answer under center.
However, this is not John Wolford, this is not Jared Goff for that matter. This is Deshaun Watson, the third-best graded quarterback in football this past season, per Pro Football Focus.
There’s plenty of factors why a deal wouldn’t work in the first place. First, Watson’s no-trade clause helps him dictate his future landing spot. Plus, GM Dave Gettleman’s reluctance to move around draft boards in recent years gives New York very little extra trade capital to work with. Not to mention, a move including Barkley would mark the third consecutive season Houston has traded for a running back (Duke Johnson – 2019 and David Johnson – 2020).
While the monetary commitment to Watson may deter the Giants as potential buyers, it shouldn’t. In reality, the end goal is that Daniel Jones’ play warrants a deal north of $100 million in the near future. With that said, while I do believe Jones can be a serviceable starter in the league, does anyone envision his ceiling reaching where Watson’s game is at this very moment? Nevermind the fact that Jones is just one year younger than Watson, who won’t turn 26-years-old until mid-September.
Barkley is an all-world talent, but there is no position in football more crucial than the quarterback. Tom Brady’s arrival in Tampa Bay this season is a prime example of this. While it appears that the Buccaneers clearly have a more well-rounded roster than that of the Giants, that wasn’t always so obvious without a proven commodity to guide the ship.
The NFC East is up for grabs, and acquiring Watson at all costs would shift the balance of power in the G-Men’s favor.
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