NY Giants Tabbed as Early Sellers Ahead of NFL Trade Deadline

Should the Giants throw in the towel on their 2025 season ifthey're still mathematically alive by the trade deadline?

New York Giants General Manager Joe Schoen | Julian Leshay Guadalupe/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The 2025 NFL season is barely into its third week, but already one national outlet has made up its mind regarding whether the New York Giants will be buyers or sellers at the November 4 trade deadline.

ESPN’s Dan Graziano has the Giants among five potential teams that could be looking to move high-priced talent by the trade deadline. The two biggest targets on Graziano’s list include quarterback Russell Wilson and outside linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux.

In the case of Wilson, Graziano argues that even if Wilson is playing well by midseason, “there's a possibility the Giants will decide to switch to first-round pick Jaxson Dart -- either because they think he's ready to take over or because they're losing too much and feel they need to change something to produce a spark.”

That would, of course, all depend on when Dart is ready. The Giants, remember, originally intended to give the rookie a redshirt year, but that plan has slowly deviated to where New York now has a package of red-zone plays for Dart, some of which were shown in last week’s overtime loss to the Cowboys.

As for Thibodeaux, Graziano noted that given the depth of the Giants’ front seven, and in particular the presence of Abdul Carter, the outside linebacker might make for an ideal option to move if the team’s season is over by the trade deadline. 

Does it make sense to move one or both? 

That all depends on two things: what the Giants could get in return for each and how great the Giants’ chances are by the trade deadline of salvaging the season. 

Regarding the first point, general manager Joe Schoen, whose seat will go from lukewarm to burning if this team is indeed out of the postseason race by Halloween, has, based on recent history, never been one to give players away for nothing, as was the case last year when he reportedly sought a fourth-round pick for outside linebacker Azeez Ojulari.

But here’s the dilemma for Schoen and for Daboll. 

If they were to agree to move Wilson and/or Thibodeaux before they were officially eliminated from playoff consideration, that would signal that they’re throwing in the towel on the lifeline given to them by co-owner John Mara, who made it very clear at the end of last year that they needed to show vast improvement from the historically bad 2024 record.

Is Dart the saving grace?

Sep 14, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart (6) warms up before the game against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium. | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Dart could be the saving grace for both men. Daboll handpicked Dart as his quarterback of the future with the intention of fully developing the young man. 

Would Mara’s patience be so thin that he might repeat the team's mistake when they moved on from Pat Shurmur, who had handpicked Daniel Jones as his quarterback, sending Jones on a wild odyssey that only now appears to have calmed down in Indianapolis?

While never say never regarding trades, a more likely scenario to happen if the Giants' season continues to circle the drain would be the dismissal of defensive coordinator Shane Bowen.

Bowen, despite being given a lot of talent to help bolster the defense, doesn’t currently have the unit anywhere close to being a top-15 defense, which is perhaps the biggest problem on this team.

What happens next with the NY Giants? Find out! Follow and like us on Facebook. Visit our YouTube channel for the latest videos. Want to send a question in for our mailbag? You can do so here.