A trade down is in the realm of serious possibilities for the New York Giants and general manager Dave Gettleman in the first round of the NFL draft on Thursday night.
The Giants currently own the fourth overall selection, but have just two picks among the top 95 selections. Adding capital by trading back — while remaining in the top half of the draft — appears to be a desire.
“It’s something I will very seriously entertain,” Gettleman said Friday on a conference call with reporters.
If the Giants do strike a deal it will be out of character for Gettleman. He has never traded back in any draft as the general manager. A deal is also unlikely to occur at the last second on Thursday night.
“We’re sitting there with the fourth pick of the draft. It’s going to happen pretty soon,” Gettleman said. “I’m going to make calls and anybody that wants to move up, I’m going to say, ‘Listen, we don’t have much time. We can’t fool around. I’d like to get the parameters of a deal in place before we get on the clock.’ That would be the best thing.”
The Giants have looked hard at the top offensive tackles during the pre-draft process. Sources told ESPN they were scheduled to have top 30 FaceTime meetings with Iowa’s Tristan Wirfs, Louisville’s Mekhi Becton, Georgia’s Andrew Thomas and Alabama’s Jedrick Wills.
A trade back from No. 4 into the bottom of the Top 10 would still likely keep the Giants in position to grab a top tackle.
“There are tackles throughout the draft,” Gettleman said. “There is a lot of talent there.”
Making a deal still may not be so easy. The Detroit Lions have also put the No. 3 pick up for sale.
The Giants aren’t clear yet on what the No. 4 selection could bring back in a trade. It could be contingent on what happens with the Lions.
“We’re still a week out. Really and truly, we’re still a week out,” Gettleman said. “So we’ll see what happens.”
The Giants general manager doesn’t expect the limitations of this year’s draft to be a huge factor. All the league’s decision-makers will be working from their homes throughout this draft as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.
The plan for the Giants is to have several different Zoom rooms set up to have continuous conversations throughout. The voices that traditionally have input into trades and picks will remain the same as the past, with the exception of a new coaching staff led by Joe Judge being in place.
“Everything is going to be done and treated the same way we’ve done our last two drafts together,” director of college scouting Chris Pettit said. “Really nothing is different. We’re just not in the same room.”
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