Colts Reportedly “Checked In” on Giants Defender Prior to Trade Deadline

Banks would have been reunited with defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson had the trade gone through.

New York Giants cornerback Deonte Banks (2) against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

For those who are wondering if the phones in East Rutherford were completely silent in New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen’s office before the NFL trade deadline’s close, that apparently was not the case.

ESPN’s Rich Cimini reported that the Indianapolis Colts, before engineering the huge blockbuster trade with the New York Jets for cornerback Sauce Gardner, “checked in” with the Giants regarding Deonte Banks.

Such news comes as a mild surprise, given the struggles Banks has had since the Giants traded up one spot in the first round of the 2023 draft to acquire him. 

Banks has gone from being a promising looking prospect as a rookie in which he posted career-bests in tackles (56), stops (17), reception percentage allowed (57.6%), touchdowns allowed (4), and coverage rating (84.7) to having lost his starting job, his play-time this year consisting of early-season rotation with Cor’Dale Flott and as an injury fill-in for Paulson Adebo.

The Colts' reported interest in Banks likely stems from their defensive backs coach, Jerome Henderson, who, when with the Giants, admitted to banging the table for the former Maryland defender.  

Henderson, who was not retained by Giants head coach Brian Daboll following the 2024 season, created headlines regarding Banks when he called the cornerback out publicly for what he viewed as poor effort in a 2024 home loss against the Dallas Cowboys.

That season, Banks, who has struggled to thrive in current defensive coordinator Shane Bowen’s zone-heavy coverage scheme, continued to play before finally getting benched for the second half of the Giants’ road loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

This year, the questionable effort by Banks has continued. In the Giants’ loss to the 49ers last Sunday, Banks had a chance to slow down 49ers running back Brian Robinson on a fourth-quarter 18-yard touchdown run.

However, he served up a bad attempt at making a tackle and was too easily tossed to the ground like a rag doll.

“I think it started with just the angle to where he had to fit, right? And then he got caught kind of moving backwards to make it right,” defensive coordinator Shane Bowen said when asked about that attempted tackle. 

“Again, we've just got to make sure that we're wrapping up, bringing our feet, and try to eliminate these solo tackles. I know they come, but we've got to make sure we're getting hats to the ball and try to eliminate some of those as well.”

The Giants, who were thought by some to be looking to add another receiver to help the continued growth of quarterback Jaxson Dart, ended up standing pat at the trade deadline.

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