New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen used a similar approach in his first NFL trade deadline with the G-Men that wise people use when going to the grocery store: not shopping hungry. At 6-2 and in the thick of the NFC playoff race, Schoen didn't rush to make any splashy moves during his team's Week 9 bye ahead of Tuesday's 4 p.m. E.T. deadline, citing the team's record as proof that their method is "working."
"I think from the day I took the job the approach was compete for today and build for tomorrow," Schoen said Tuesday. "It [a player acquisition] has to make sense. ... you have to assign a value, and I had several meetings with my staff on where we saw some players that were available and what value we saw some at and what made sense in the short term and the long term. If that doesn't marry up, you don't want to shop hungry. I thought we took a good approach to this time of year, and it just made sense. I'm ecstatic we're 6-2. I don't know if any one player at any position is going to change things exponentially. I thought we had a solid process."
The Giants have $2.9 million in cap space this season, the eighth least in the NFL, according to OverTheCap. However, thanks to Schoen re-setting New York's books with various cap space-maneuvering restructures and releases, the team is projected to have $61.7 million in cap room in the 2023 offseason, third most in the NFL behind only the Chicago Bears ($119.5 million) and the Atlanta Falcons ($74.8 million).
One move the Giants could make that would only cost money, not draft compensation, would be signing free-agent wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., their 12th overall pick from the 2014 NFL Draft. Beckham won 2014 Offensive Rookie of the Year and earned all three of his career Pro Bowl appearances in his first three seasons with the team. Beckham was traded by former general Dave Gettleman prior to the 2019 season along with defensive lineman Olivier Vernon to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for offensive lineman Kevin Zeitler, safety Jabrill Peppers and two draft picks (2019 first-round pick and 2019 third-round pick). The move came under a year after the Giants signed Beckham to a five-year, $90 million contract extension.
The explosive wideout signed with the Los Angeles Rams in Week 10 last season after a release from the Browns, and he hauled in seven receiving touchdowns from that point through the Rams' Super Bowl win over the Cincinnati Bengals, tied for the fifth most in the NFL from Week 10 through the conclusion of the playoffs. Beckham, who turns 30 on Nov. 5, is coming off a torn ACL he suffered running a route in the second quarter of the Super Bowl.
Beckham actually "visited" the Giants team facility last month, according to CBS NFL insider Josina Anderson, although it was an appearance unsanctioned by the team as he was simply stopping by to check in with fellow wide receiver and former teammate Sterling Shepard, who tore his ACL in the Giants' Week 3 loss against the Cowboys on "Monday Night Football." Pending a couple key factors, Schoen said the Giants could be open to a Beckham homecoming.
"I had no idea he was in the building. I thought he was out of the building" Schoen said Tuesday with a grin. "Obviously he's been a good player, and he's a guy we would consider and talk to when he's healthy. I'm not sure where he is physically, but yeah, any player who could upgrade the roster we're going to consider and have conversations with their representatives. ... If a player is healthy and they would help us win football games, we will pursue them if they fit what we're looking for."
The Giants have punished teams en route to their 6-2 start, averaging the fourth-most rushing yards per game in the NFL (161.5) while playing hard-nosed defense, averaging 19.6 points per game allowed, tied for the seventh-fewest points allowed per game in the league with the Indianapolis Colts. Beckham's presence could only help quarterback Daniel Jones and New York's 30th-ranked passing attack that averages 159.1 yards per game through the air.
