Why NY Giants Should Absolutely Try to Trade RB Devin Singletary

The Giants can save some meaningful cap dollars if they are willing to shelve any sentimental feelings and move on from one player in particular on the roster.

New York Giants running back Devin Singletary | Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen has some interesting decisions to make ahead of the November 4 NFL trade deadline, in which he’ll need to balance whether to move certain contracts or retain them.

One such move he figures could help balance the team is running back Devin Singletary. Singletary, who is in Year 2 of a three-year, $16.5 million contract that included $9.5 million in guarantees. 

Singletary was initially signed with the idea that he would be the RB1. However, as time has gone by, Singletary’s role has diminished in the offense behind Tyrone Tracy, Jr, and rookie Cam Skattebo.

This season, Singletary is averaging just four carries per game as part of that running back rotation and is averaging 13.6 yards per game. 

Those numbers hardly justify retaining him on the roster, especially considering that he has a $6.25 million cap hit that is just a couple spots less than Saquon Barkley’s $6.61 million.

The Giants, who are currently languishing at the bottom of the league in cap space–as of Monday, they have a league low $473,899 in cap space–need to start making better business decisions when they arise and put any sentimental feelings for players that might exist either consciously or subconsciously on the back burner. 

By moving Singletary, the Giants can likely get themselves a Day 3 draft pick at minimum. From a financial perspective, they would recoup $294,117.64 per week that Singletary is not on the roster.

That means that if they were to move Singletary by Week 9, which is the latest they could move him before the trade deadline, they would recoup approximately $2.352 million on the cap. 

The New York Giants could potentially get the same number of carries/yardage from running back Dante Miller for far less than what they're paying Devin Singletary. | Kevin R. Wexler-NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

And with the open roster spot, they could promote Dante “Turbo” Miller from the practice squad. Miller, who qualifies for one year of accrued service, would be entitled to $56,470.58 per week based on the minimum salary of $960,000 for a player with his accrued service.

That’s a huge difference–$237,647 per week–from what it would cost to continue to carry Singletary as a third running back.

As for a potential trade partner, the Los Angeles Chargers, whom the Giants defeated in Week 4, are in dire need of help at running back after placing both Omarion Hampton and Najee Harris on IR. 

The Chargers, who, interestingly, have yet to poach a running back from another team’s practice squad, currently have $2.795 million in cap space, 29th in the league.

They would probably have to do some cap gymnastics as well to ensure they have enough space to make it through the rest of the season, regardless of who they acquire via trade, if they indeed intend to trade for a running back. 

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