Dalvin Tomlinson Isn't Worried About the Future

The NFL trade deadline. His contract. Those bitter losses and what might have been.

It’s enough to keep a person up at night for sure, but these days, Giants defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson is only focused on one thing, and that is what lies ahead and in his control.

The 26-year-old defensive lineman, who is in the final year of his rookie contract and whose name has popped up as a possible trade candidate (he probably won’t be moved), isn’t worried about what might have been or what could be a year from now.

He and his teammates are locked in and focused on the Giants' next game, which comes Monday night against Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“I think we just come in each week and just worry about the game plan so we can execute the game plan each week,” Tomlinson said recently. “That’s what we just focus on, what we can control.”

Tomlinson is certainly doing his part. He’s recorded 11 pass pressures through seven games, just seven away from his career-high in 2018. He’s also two tackles away from matching his entire 2019 total (25) and has only one missed tackle so far this season.

One of the longest-tenured Giants players, the second-round pick in 2017, has not only played in every game for the Giants since being drafted, but he’s also been a starter.

And although he wasn’t voted as a team captain, Tomlinson is one of the young leaders in the team’s locker room, having become more comfortable speaking up and serving as a mentor for those who have followed him in the door.

All of those traits are virtually guaranteed to result in a handsome payday for the Georgia native, one that may not come from the Giants, who, thanks to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the league, won’t have an abundance of salary cap space to spend on their own players and address the other glaring needs on the roster.

That likely means the Giants will probably have to choose between Tomlinson and Leonard Williams, a choice that, for a team that is has been in search of a solid pass rush, would appear to favor the pass rusher (Williams) over the run stopper (Tomlinson).

But that’s in the future, and Tomlinson is more concerned about the present where he said that despite the Giants 1-7 record, there is still promise on this roster.

“I feel like the Giants are a competitor,” he said. “The franchise, the organization is built on that. It’s just the tradition. The tough-nose, toughness, the d-line is built on physicality. I just feel like that’s something I always want to be a part of.”

He’ll likely get that opportunity to be here for at least the rest of the season, and for another team to take him on for a short-term rental with no guarantee he won’t want to test, the market would be foolish.

Beyond that, though, is anyone’s guess.