3 Giants Trades That Make Sense as John Harbaugh, Giants Looks to Add Assets

Being more proactive this summer about moving on from players who no longer fit their plans, the New York Giants are exploring every possible avenue to acquire more assets — whether that's players or draft picks.

While they won’t be successful in doing that for every player from whom they’re looking to move on, who knows what the day will bring?

Here are three potential moves that just might make a lot of sense, if they can make it work.

Bryan Hudson to Los Angeles Chargers

The Harbaugh-to-Harbaugh connection is very much alive and well, and it just so happens that Jim Harbaugh’s Chargers need a center after losing Tyler Biadasz for the season due to a knee injury.

The Giants just trimmed Brenden Jaimes as part of their initial eight-man roster cuts announced on Saturday.

Jaimes could be a guy that they look to bring back to the practice squad as insurance if they decide to roll with John Michael Schmitz as the starter and Lucas Patrick as the backup.

Both Schmitz and Patrick have had some injury issues of late, so keeping a backup center on the practice squad is a must. Jaimes, in limited action (41 snaps), fared well in both pass blocking (zero pressures allowed) and run blocking.

If the Giants can slide him through waivers and to the practice squad, then why not see if the Chargers, who, as of right now, look like they’ll be rolling with second-round pick Jake Slaughter as their starter, might have interest in Hudson for depth?

Darius Slayton to Cleveland or Tennessee

New York Giants wide receiver Darius Slayton | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Ever since signing his last contract, wide receiver Darius Slayton’s role has gradually shrunk in the offense, due in part to his own performance and to the arrival of Malik Nabers.

As the New York Post reported on Saturday, Slayton could be on the verge of seeing his long-running tenure with Big Blue come to an end. If so, there are a few teams in need of receiver help, including the Saints, Dolphins, Raiders, Titans, and Browns.

The Browns have the Harbaugh-Todd Monken connection, which could be enough to swing a deal, and they also have a healthy amount of cap space ($26.447 million) to absorb Slayton’s full $12.25 million base salary and $500,000 roster bonus.

The Titans, whose offensive coordinator is former Giants head coach Brian Daboll, have an even better cap situation, with $45.407 million in space.

Daboll has already shown an affinity for bringing back some of his old players, so would it really be surprising if he convinced head coach Robert Saleh that Slayton could help their struggling young quarterback Cam Ward’s game?

In all likelihood, the Giants, if they can trade Slayton, will have to eat some of his salary owed this year, but what they could also look to do in return is ask for a draft pick higher than a seventh-rounder in exchange for taking on that money.

Ben Sauls to Jets or Ravens

New York Giants place kicker Ben Sauls | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Harbaugh said after the Giants’ preseason finale that while Dominic Zvada won the team’s kicking job, Ben Sauls also won a job somewhere in the NFL.

Two teams come to mind who could be looking to upgrade their kicker situation: the Jets and Ravens.

The Jets learned firsthand why Harbaugh cut Jason Sanders earlier this year after Sanders’s 54-yard field goal attempt in Friday’s preseason finale fell way short of the mark.

Sauls has not only kicked successfully in the Meadowlands late in the season when the winds become even trickier, but has also gained experience kicking in tricky weather from his college days at Pittsburgh. That alone would make him a better fit for the Jets than Sanders.

The Jets hold the third spot in the waiver order, but given their needs at quarterback and offensive line depth, the odds of them prioritizing a kicker don’t seem very likely.

That leads to the other candidate: the Baltimore Ravens. Like the Harbaugh connection with the Chargers thanks to his brother, John Harbaugh still has a good enough connection with the Ravens despite their dismissal of him as head coach after 18 seasons.

The Ravens’ current kicker, Tyler Loop, finished 5-of-8 on field goals this preseason but 3-of-6 on attempts of 40+ yards.

Sauls hit all three of his attempts, including one from 46 yards in the preseason opener.

He’s yet to attempt a field goal from 50+ yards. But with a strong enough start to his pro career and Loop’s struggles on attempts of 40+ yards—he was 9-13 last year on attempts of 40+ yards—would it be surprising if the Ravens, 14th in the waiver claiming order, had interest in Sauls?

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