The New York Giants are expected to make moves this offseason. It remains to be seen what those moves will be, but the team is on the brink of winning and some new additions could push them into a playoff campaign next year. And one of the biggest players that might be available on the market this offseason is Texans QB Deshaun Watson.
Obviously, the Giants already have a quarterback in Daniel Jones. The Giants have come out and said a number of times that Jones is their QB and that they plan on keeping him around for years to come. But words can be fleeting, and the staff also reaffirmed that Eli Manning would be the starting quarterback for weeks, before benching him in favor of Jones. Could they do a similar thing and make a surprise change at the position despite supporting Jones publicly?
Lawrence Tynes proposes a trade
Super Bowl winning kicker Lawrence Tynes has an interesting take on the idea. He proposed a trade where the Giants would give up a lot, but could get their quarterback of the future.
The Giants would have to give up Jones, plus starters Kevin Zeitler and Evan Engram. It’s a steep price to pay, but Engram has often left fans wanting for more performance wise and Zeitler was involved in trade rumors already earlier last season. In fact, Engram might be the largest one reason why the Giants aren’t in the playoffs right now after his crucial drop against the Eagles cost the team an extra win. Some would argue the Giants should move on from him now while he isn’t injured and his stock is still somewhat high.
Perhaps more concerning, the Giants would have to give up a first round pick for next year as well as two third round picks. Giving up a first round pick in addition to two players is a high price, but may be worth it in the long run if the Giants can advance to the point where they no longer need a high draft pick each year to further a rebuild.
What would the Giants get in return?
It’s looking increasingly like Deshaun Watson is going to move from the Texans, but what would the Giants get with him if they did make a deal?
From the looks of things, they would have an immediate step up at quarterback. Watson last season threw for 33 touchdowns and 7 interceptions, a huge increase over the poor ratio of touchdowns to turnovers that Daniel Jones had. He was also selected to the Pro Bowl, and while the Texans were far from a winning team last season, there’s other major reasons for that than just their quarterback play and offense.
After the Texans went 4-12, star defensive end J.J. Watt went as far as to apologize to Watson for how the defense wasted one of his seasons.
From 2014 to 2020, the Texans were under the leadership of Bill O’Brien – he became infamous to Texans fans for bad leadership and the move to trade Watson’s top receiver DeAndre Hopkins to the Cardinals for David Johnson and a pair of draft picks. That’s been called one of the worst trades ever, and it contributed further to Watson not being able to win in Houston.
Even under those circumstances, and other poor management decisions from the Texans, Watson had a successful season individually and would be a step up from what the Giants have now. It’s easy to imagine him leading the Giants to success when not surrounded with a dysfunctional organization and placed on an improving roster that nearly made the playoffs this year.
Should the Giants do the deal?
The Giants will likely have to give up a lot if they want to acquire Watson, but at some point, the team has to turn the corner and start winning. There’s multiple ways to turn the corner. Some teams draft big time players and other teams acquire them in free agency or in trades. But there’s only so many chances to do so, and the Giants might not have another chance for a while to acquire a quarterback of this caliber.
It’s not that the Giants need to immediately move on from Daniel Jones – but Jones sitting around the middle of the league statistically for years isn’t going to help the team reach new heights in the long run. A player like Watson, however, could.
They would have to give up a lot, yes. But any team looking to turn the corner with a big trade does. The Giants are going to start losing players to contracts and free agency anyway as Dave Gettleman’s rebuild drags on for more years. They may as well give up some talent preemptively and pick up the kind of player that there’s rarely a chance to get on the open market.
More must-reads: