INDIANAPOLIS – It’s nice that Giants GM Joe Schoen is “open for business” and willing to listen to trade offers for many of his players.
Now, if he only had something of value to sell.
That’s the problem Schoen faces as he tries to rebuild the 4-13 team he inherited – the talent on his roster generally isn’t highly-regarded around the league. That’s even true for two of his most tradeable assets – cornerback James Bradberry and running back Saquon Barkley.
Schoen could probably deal both of them if he wanted. But the return for both could be alarmingly low.
“He’s got a lot of damaged goods,” said one member of a rival front office. “There are probably only a few players (on the Giants) anyone likes, and all of those either come with injury baggage or huge price tags. You wouldn’t be getting a good value. You’d basically be taking a burden off their hands.”
And no team is going to pay a premium price for a “burden.”
It’s not clear if Schoen has actively engaged in any trade talks yet, but multiple league sources believe he will try to shop Bradberry at some point over the next two weeks as he continues to try to clear a total of $40 million off the Giants’ salary cap books. There is much more skepticism, however, about whether he’d really try to deal Barkley. Schoen opened the speculation on that earlier this week when he was asked about dealing Barkley specifically and he didn’t dismiss it, saying “We’re still working through that, but I’m open to everything.”
If he does try to trade either player, though, multiple league sources told SNY it might be tough for the Giants to get a Day 2 draft pick for either of them. Several sources believed the Giants might be able to squeeze a third-round pick out of somebody for Bradberry if they weren’t looking for something else in the deal. The sources had doubts about whether any deal would equal the third- and fifth-round picks the Detroit Lions got two years ago when they traded cornerback Darius Slay to the Philadelphia Eagles.
As for Barkley, several league sources speculated he wouldn’t get the Giants more than a conditional fourth- or fifth-round pick in return -- and probably not a fourth-round pick unless the Giants picked up some of his salary. And no one believed the Giants would deal him for a price that low, just to clear his $7.2 million off the books.
The problem with Barkley, according to the league sources, isn’t really the money – though there are some teams that don’t value the running back position enough to invest that much. The issue is that he’s missed 21 games over the past three years with multiple injuries, including the torn ACL that limited to just two games in 2020. He also didn’t look anything like himself last season when he rushed for 593 yards on just 3.7 yards per carry and caught 41 passes for just 263 yards in his 13 games.
“He looked like he lost all his explosiveness,” said an NFC scout. “I’m sure that’s because he was in his first year back from the (torn) ACL, and guys do make it back from that. But not everyone does. So it’s hard to give up a high pick and guarantee him all that money when you just can’t know what you’re going to get.”
Bradberry is a better bet, and as one team executive said, “We all need corners.” The issue with Bradberry’s value has more to do with leverage. Because of the Giants’ cap problems and Bradberry’s $21.9 million cap number, teams believe, as one executive said, “They have to move him.” Since Bradberry is in the last year of his contract there’s no option to restructure, and he’s not likely to sign an extension with them that would lower his cap hit.
That leaves the Giants with two realistic options: Cut him or trade him. And that doesn’t put them in a strong position to demand a lot in return.
Still, Bradberry could have value. His new team would only be responsible for his $13.4 million salary, which isn’t even in the Top 10 for his position. He’s also only 28 and one year removed from a Pro Bowl season, even though he struggled at times last year.
Ideally, the Giants would probably prefer to keep their best corner, but without shedding his money off the books it would become very difficult for them to reach Schoen’s goal of clearing $40 million in cap space. They already cut tight end Kyle Rudolph and running back Devontae Booker this week, but they still have $32.9 million to go so they might not have a choice.
Barkley, though, is another matter.
“Right now, Barkley’s highest value is to the Giants,” said another league executive. “He’s one of their most popular players. If he’s healthy, he might be one of their best weapons. And clearing $7.2 million off the books isn’t going to solve all their problems, so there’s no reason to trade him just to trade him.
“For what they’re going to get in return, they may as well just ride it out and see if he can find his old form.”
