ESPN Proposes Interesting Trade Idea for Giants

The Giants need a receiver, but this trade idea by ESPN, while interesting, might not make the most sense.

Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Jakobi Meyers | Amber Searls-Imagn Images

The New York Giants have been rumored to be seeking a receiver in earnest to give rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart another viable weapon, not just for the remainder of this Malik Nabers-less season but beyond.

ESPN’s Bill Barnwell has proposed that the Giants try to work out a deal with the Las Vegas Raiders in which New York would get Meyers, a 2026 fourth-round pick, and cash considerations in exchange for cornerback Deonte Banks and a 2026 fifth-round pick.

It’s an interesting proposal and one of the first we’ve seen that suggests moving Banks, the Giants’ 2023 first-round draft pick, who appears to have lost the starting job to 2022 third-rounder Cor’Dale Flott. 

And the idea of the Raiders absorbing some of Meyers’ $10 million base salary, of which $3.529 million has already been paid out by Las Vegas, is also appealing.

But from a Giants perspective, they’d have to get a new deal done with Meyers, who, while likely to move into the No. 1 spot for the Giants this season, probably wouldn’t hold the same role once Nabers returns, and who might not be able to get the kind of money he is likely seeking. 

Giants general manager Joe Schoen has, at least so far, shown he’s more willing to draft a wideout rather than turn to the veteran market for one.  

While the season-ending injury to Nabers has been a big blow to the Giants' offense, does it really make sense to go for a veteran receiver who not only is in the final year of his contract, but who has just one 1,000-yard receiving season to his name thus far?

As for the idea of moving Banks in a trade, Schoen has already made the mistake of hanging onto Evan Neal, another first-round draft pick in dire need of a fresh start elsewhere, too long. 

It’s not as though Banks lacks talent; rather, the problem with him has been his fit in the current defensive scheme, combined with his inconsistencies in what he’s been asked to do. 

Banks is under contract for two more seasons, and perhaps in the right scheme, a new team might even opt to pick up the option year in his rookie contract. But it remains painfully obvious that if he stays with the Giants, he doesn’t have a long-term future with this team. 

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