Jul 29, 2022; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants wide receiver Kadarius Toney (89) runs a drill during training camp at Quest Diagnostics Training Facility. — Jessica Alcheh-USA TODAY Sports

Could Giants Look to Move a Receiver Before Trade Deadline?

ESPN names the Giants as a team to keep an eye on regarding a trade before the deadline.

Author:
Patricia Traina
Publish date:
Oct 18, 2022 3:18 PM EDT

In this story:

New York Giants

The New York Giants have an abundance of wide receivers on paper, many of whom are relatively obscure names around the league, like Richie James, David Sills V, and Marcus Johnson, that have been getting the job done during the team’s 5-1 start. In contrast, more prominent names like Kenny Golladay and Kadarius Toney have struggled to stay healthy and be productive.

With the NFL trade deadline approaching, might there be some interest in the Giants’ receivers? That could be the case, claims ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, who notes that “rival executives wouldn't be surprised if general manager Joe Schoen tries to make a move” to free up some financial resources.

Fowler writes that Darius Slayton would be “the obvious option” to move, noting that the Saints had some interest in acquiring Slayton last year when dealing with uncertainties regarding Michael Thomas, only to be unable to reach a deal to acquire Slayton from the Giants.

But the Giants moving Slayton at this point might not be as obvious as Fowler thinks. This year, Slayton agreed to a pay cut and is currently the only Giants healthy receiver capable of legitimately stretching the field.

He has 108 yards on eight receptions, having had a big showing against the Green Bay Packers two weeks ago in the Giants’ win in London. With a lower cap hit and given that he’s healthy, any thought of the Giants moving on from Slayton would seem to be a longshot.

What about Toney, the thus-far disappointing first-round pick who has two receptions for zero yards and has been nursing hamstring injuries since the summer? Toney’s injuries reportedly haven’t stopped some general managers from wondering, “what's up” with the receiver. Would the Giants consider moving him in a trade if a decent offer came along?

Toney is a wildly talented individual with “big play” written all over him. But his inability to stay on the practice field has made it hard for the Giants’ new brass of Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll to fully get a feel for how well Toney fits into the team’s long-term plans.

That would be a hard car to sell. Toney has appeared in 12 games with five starts and has caught 41 of 60 pass targets for 420 yards and no touchdowns.

While Toney, whose talent and skillset seem to be a perfect fit for the Giants’ offense, has been a frustrating player, the talent is there. For proof of that, look no further than last year’s game against the Cowboys, in which he had 189 receiving yards on ten receptions, or his 2021 six-catch, 78-yard performance against the Saints the week prior.

From a financial perspective, Toney, the 20th overall pick in the 2021 draft, only counts for $3,118,070 against this year’s cap and $3.741 million against the 2023 cap. If this year is about rebuilding while still being competitive, wouldn’t it make sense for Schoen and Daboll to stick with Toney for better or worse for at least another year rather than give up prematurely on his talent?

At least early on, Schoen has proven to be a shrewd negotiator. When he was shopping James Bradberry’s contract around, there were reports that he wasn’t receiving what he considered fair value in return for the player.

Schoen, however, ended up having to release Bradberry to find salary cap space to pay the rookie draft class, a factor that likely robbed him of any leverage in trying to acquire fair market value in return for Bradberry in a trade.

In April, Schoen shot down rumors that he was looking to move Toney via trade. Then in training camp, head coach Brian Daboll, who denied being irked that Toney skipped the first couple weeks of the team’s off-season program earlier this year, spoke about the importance of building trust.

"I think he’s a very loyal, a loyal guy. You got to build trust with KT, and he had to build trust with me," Daboll said. "Really, no different than a lot of guys. Trust is probably one of the most important things in any relationship you can build.”

Daboll also spoke of the receiver’s “tremendous skillset” and intelligence. “We move him around quite a bit. He’s a good young player that we’re going to help develop anyway we can both on and off the field.”

For that to happen, Toney not only has to get on the field and stay there, but he also has to show that he’s willing to work to be a pro.

Therein lies the X-factor as far as the outside world is concerned. Unless Toney has become a problem behind closed doors—and there doesn’t seem to be any indication of that—it makes little sense for the Giants to give up on the young receiver at this point, injuries notwithstanding.

But make no mistake: if Toney continues to have trouble getting and staying on the field, Schoen might have no choice but to cut the team’s losses with last year’s 20th overall draft pick before his contract is over.