Big Blue View
For the first time in a long while, the New York Giants might just have the problem of having a surplus of assets.
Could those assets might just be valuable to other teams?
ESPN’s Bill Barnwell proposed 10 potential trades on Monday morning, one of which involves the Giants sending former first round tackle Evan Neal to the Los Angeles Chargers.
We already looked at some potential scenarios in which QB Tommy DeVito could be traded. Flipping a former UDFA you may have to cut anyway for draft capital would (and also controlling where he goes) would be a good outcome. But what about a player with significantly better pedigree than a former UDFA?
It isn’t just a regular trade, but a three-way trade. As such, I’ll just be posting the Giants’ part of his explanation of the trade.
Giants get: 2027 seventh-round pick (from Chargers)
Chargers get: OL Evan Neal, 2026 fifth-round pick (from Cardinals)
Cardinals get: WR Quentin JohnstonA three-way trade involving two disappointing first-round picks? Sure, why not?
Neal has been wildly disappointing since the Giants drafted him at No. 7 in 2022. The 24-year-old lineman has struggled with injuries, has insulted local fans and hasn’t played well enough when he is on the field. He spent the first half of 2024 on the active roster without playing snaps, and the Giants preferred street free agents and replacement-level options to him at left tackle after Andrew Thomas went down injured. They eventually gave Neal snaps on the right side to finish the season, and he has spent training camp at guard, where he hasn’t been impressive.
C’mon man.
When Ed asked me to look at an Evan Neal trade scenario, I was intrigued. Then, when I read the proposal I did a Marge Simpson groan.
First and foremost: This is fanfiction.
Three-way trades do happen in the NFL, but they’re ridiculously rare. Team would much rather execute direct self-contained deals where they both try to extract as much value as possible. Adding a third team complicates everything and adds far more variables than with which GMs are typically comfortable.
IF this trade happened (and it’d be a big “if”, which we’ll get to in a minute) it would be two separate trades. It would be the Giants trading Neal to the Chargers. Then, in a separate transaction, the Chargers and Cardinals would execute a trade.
So, looking at THAT trade… Why would the Giants move Neal for only a seventh-round pick? He’s a former first rounder who has looked at least as good at right guard as Greg Van Roten did a year ago. In fact, I’d argue that his play strength, footwork, and ability to recover are superior to Van Roten’s. He has upside considering he only has about 60 snaps under his belt at the position.
That isn’t to say that Neal is a guaranteed starter and untouchable. The fact that Josh Ezeudu looked...
