While the Minnesota Vikings‘ move to bring back quarterback Kirk Cousins became the biggest story on the NFL’s trade deadline, the New York Giants attempted a trade that would have trumped even that.
The Giants, who reportedly tried to trade for Indianapolis Colts All-Pro running back Jonathan Taylor but pulled their offer, went after an even bigger prize at the same position, according to ESPN’s Jordan Raanan.
“The Giants tried hard to make a deal,” Raanan wrote on his official X account on Wednesday morning. “They even made a call to the Falcons on Bijan Robinson.”
Robinson is arguably the NFL’s No. 1 running back and one of the future faces of the league — he’s also set to become the NFL’s second $100 million running back after former NFL MVP Adrian Peterson when he plays out the 3-year, $66.75 million contract he signed in August.
“Now that the dust has settled on the trade deadline, the Giants absolutely were big-game hunting,” The Athletic’s Dan Duggan wrote on his official X account on Wednesday. “Obviously, they were unable to close any deals. When you see the packages it took to land impact players in the last 48 hours, I’m not sure how fans can be upset about that. As Harbaugh said yesterday, ‘Sometimes the best deal is a deal that you don’t make.’ My surprise was they didn’t add a vet DT for a Day 3 pick. My understanding there is they like their DT depth more than I thought and they didn’t want to give up picks for players who don’t move the needle.”
Bijan Robinson: Unstoppable RB on Terrible Team
Robinson, the No. 8 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, has been virtually unstoppable through his first four seasons while playing on one of the NFL’s truly awful teams.
The former Texas star has over 1,000 yards of total offense in each of his first four seasons — including 2026 after just nine games — and has rushed for over 1,400 yards each of the last two seasons.
He’s already a 2-time Pro Bowler and earned NFL All-Pro honors for the first time in 2025 despite his team being on track for a ninth straight losing season.
Giants Called Off Pursuit of Jonathan Taylor
Just two days before the NFL trade deadline on November 10, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Sunday that the Colts and Giants didn’t communicate much in the last week about Taylor.
“A lot of people are wondering about the Giants,” Schefter said on Sunday morning. “The Giants and Colts didn’t have much contact this week. It feels like the Colts are sitting on their offers and they’re going to have a decision to make this week. Do they want to trade one of the NFL’s best young players or do they want to trade him? After all of these trade talks, it’s hard to put the genie back in the bottle.”
Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer reported conflicting information about the status of the Giants’ offer for Taylor Sunday morning, saying New York had pulled its offer of a 2nd-round pick and a 5th-round pick.
Giants Attempted Trade for $100 Million NFC RB: Report