Peter King Believes Giants Could Trade One of First-Round Picks in Upcoming Draft

New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen is in the midst of a significant rebuild of the Giants roster in which he hopes to gravitate away from the heavy reliance on free agency the team has developed over the past several years and more toward building through the draft.

Thus it’s no surprise that NBC’s Peter King, in his weekly Football Morning in America column, speculates that Schoen might be looking to move one of either the fifth or seventh overall draft picks in exchange for more draft capital down the line.

Schoen spoke about possibly adding more opportunities in an interview with the Giants’ website last month, noting, “ I would say where we are right now, as many at-bats as you can get, as many swings as you can get.”

I previously explored some ways the Giants could get more "at-bats" for Schoen last month, which extended beyond trading down. In addition to acquiring additional draft picks—not just for 2022 but more so for 2023, which give the Giants additional assets should they need to get a new quarterback—divesting one of the top-10 draft picks also helps a Giants team that is pinched tightly against the salary cap.

According to Over the Cap, the fifth overall pick will count for $6.582 million against the cap, and the seventh overall pick will count for $5.13 million in their first seasons. That’s a hefty amount of money for a team that just recently had to kick the can down the road—something Schoen said he didn’t want to have to do—by restructuring kicker Graham Gano’s contract to free up $1.753 million in space.

If King’s thinking is correct, Schoen would apparently rather have multiple first-round picks in 2023, which could be used to trade up to get a quarterback if Daniel Jones doesn’t work out this year. While the Giants could get some blue-chip playmakers at No. 5 and No. 7, the cap situation, regardless of what happens with cornerback James Bradberry, puts a damper on the joy of having such a draft bounty.

If Schoen were to trade one of those two picks, he could always re-enter the first round at the bottom, something he also didn’t rule out in his interview with the team’s website.

“I don't think you're ever one player away. But if it's the second round and there's a player you gave a first-round grade to, and you think that highly of him, then I think you go get him,” he said.

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