The New York Giants didn’t make as many trades as people thought they could ahead of the deadline. Many analysts thought they could be very active as they currently have a record of 2-6 and numerous veterans in the final year of their contracts.
While there wasn’t a large quantity of deals made by the Giants, they did make a quality one. Defensive tackle Leonard Williams was traded to the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for a second-round pick in 2024 and a fifth-round pick in 2025.
New York is paying a large portion of the money still owed to Williams, who had an exorbitant cap hit that was dropped to $647,222 for the Seahawks. That is a big reason why the Giants were able to secure a premium draft pick in return as Seattle is paying Williams virtually nothing for the remainder of the season.
It was a deal that many people thought the Giants did well in. One of those people is Brad Spielberger of PFF. He praised the move for New York, believing they did a great job with the deal.
“This is the latest trend at the NFL deadline, and it’s smart for rebuilding teams to pay extra cash to effectively “buy” better draft capital, with the value of cash savings very important to acquiring teams on tighter budgets as they push to contend. We think Leonard Williams was probably netting the Giants a 2025 fourth-round compensatory pick this upcoming offseason, so New York effectively matches that with the fifth-rounder here and then bought their way (by retaining salary) from a 2024 third to a 2024 second. Williams was likely not in New York’s long-term plans, and fellow interior defender Dexter Lawrence is coming off a remarkable 15-pressure outing with a 95.0 overall grade, so the unit already has a superstar signed to a long-term deal.”
Climbing out of the mess the previous regime left Schoen and head coach Brain Daboll in has not been easy. The Giants shocked everyone in their first season together going 9-7-1 and winning a playoff game, but Year 2 has been a tough one.
Getting the franchise back on track was going to take some time, but making deals such as this one with the Seahawks will speed things up. The Giants will now have three picks within the first 50 or so of the 2024 NFL Draft, giving them a shot to add multiple immediate impact players to the roster.
What makes this deal even more impressive is that the Giants got more in return for Williams than the Washington Commanders did for Chase Young. Young was sent to the San Francisco 49ers for a third-round compensatory pick, meaning the selection coming from the Seahawks will probably be 40 picks ahead of what the Commanders received.
It is hard to find anything wrong with this trade for the Giants. They have other players who will now be given more playing time to showcase their talents with Williams in Seattle. A’Shawn Robinson, D.J. Davidson and Jordan Riley will all see an increase in playing time.
More must-reads: