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New York Giants: Should or Will the Giants trade Beckham?

By Michael Stewart @golferbad

Introduction: Odell Beckham Jr. is arguably the best player on the current Giants roster. His injury in 2017 that ended his season really hurt the Giants on the field. In his career, Beckham has amassed 4,424 receiving yards on 313 receptions and 38 touchdowns; basically in 3 full seasons.

Beckham has also been a 3x Pro Bowler and named second team All-Pro 2x. However; despite all his achievements and talents on the field, Beckham has become a distraction with off the field drama, on field antics and his threats of holding out. So the million or possibly millions dollar question is: Is Beckham really worth keeping?

There should be no argument that Beckham is still one of the best wide receivers in the NFL as he has outperformed his rookie contract and in all likelihood be one of the highest paid wide receivers in the league.

I believe the negative side of Beckham will be the deciding factor as to whether the Giants re-sign him to a long-term deal as GM Dave Gettleman has already got the wheels in motion with the trade of JPP to free up $19M+ in cap space for 2019 to be in a position to get a deal done. However; Gettleman will not re-sign Beckham if he feels that Beckham will be a distraction and a negative influence to the team.

Gettleman is no stranger with top free agents demanding deals more than what management has projected. A few years back Carolina cornerback Josh Norman had arguably one of the best seasons a cornerback could have in the NFL and looked to cash in on a big contract. Both sides were at a deadlock and ultimately, the solution by Gettleman was to let Norman walk to the highest bidder.

That scenario could very well play out the same way for Beckham, unless Gettleman decides to trade the talented wide out and receive draft picks; rather than seeing him walk for compensation. So that leads me to the next million dollar question:

Will the Giants trade Beckham? Based on reports circulating throughout media land, the Giants are actively listening to offers; although they insist that Beckham is not on the trading block. We’ve all seen the reports of the demands (at least two 1st round picks) and that’s just a starting point. At this point, it would take an outrageous offer to pry Beckham from the Giants, similar to the Hershel Walker trade (Minnesota to Dallas) and that’s not happening. The Giants are not in a hurry to trade Beckham; despite of the 2018 NFL draft less than a month away.

Final Thoughts:  Could the Giants explore a trade for Beckham? Yes, if they are blown away. However; the only team currently having a top 10 pick in the draft that could be a serious contender for Beckham are the San Francisco 49ers who have 9 picks with the 9th overall pick and three other picks within the top 74.  It would make sense that the 49ers would want to make a splash to keep up with their division rival (Los Angeles Rams), so what would it take? Recently; the Patriots traded Wide Receiver Brandin Cooks and a 4th round pick to the Los Angeles Rams for their 23rd pick in the 1st round and 6th round pick in the 2018 draft.

With that being the case, an argument could be found here that the Giants should at least get a 1st and possibly two additional picks as equal compensation for Beckham The 49ers, would need to part with their 9th overall pick, a 2nd rounder (#59) and possibly their 4th round pick (#128). If the Giants do decide to make a deal with the 49ers, they could select a number of prospects at #9 such as; defensive end Marcus Davenport, linebackers Tremaine Edmunds and Roquan Smith or cornerback Denzel Ward and then use one of their 2nd round picks on the best wide receiver available; which could be Christian Kirk, James Washington, Courtland Sutton, D J Clark or perhaps Equanimeous St. Brown.

Would this deal prevent the Giants from being a playoff contender in 2018? Not likely; although losing Beckham’s talents on the field will be an adjustment for the Giants. Their overall talent on the roster and prospects they will acquire through the draft should be enough to give them a chance to battle for a playoff spot. Keep in mind that every Giants Super Bowl victory was a result of a dominate defense and a strong running game and not an All Pro wide receiver.