Should the Giants go all-in for the 2026 trade deadline’s biggest prize?

Should the New York Giants go all-in at the NFL trade deadline to try and improve their chances of winning the NFC East this season?

It’s a tricky question with defendable “yes” and “no” answers. Let’s look at both sides.

Why they should go all-in

The Giants are 4-2-1, leading a division where it looks like only one team — the Dallas Cowboys — is likely to really push them for the NFC East crown. The Giants, of course, already have a victory in hand.

Despite losing starting quarterback Jaxson Dart, star edge defender Brian Burns, and other key players the Giants have shown the resilience and toughness, what former Giants star and current radio analyst Carl Banks likes to call the “mental stamina” to make big plays in critical situations.

“The players have earned the right,” GM Joe Schoen said on Tuesday, referring to the Giants having meaningful games coming up in November. “They were able to finish some of these games or make plays at the end of games or whatever it may be through their preparation and hard work and practice and dedication to the team and seeing how things play out on Sunday. So, they’ve earned that right to be in these games, and I know they’re excited about it.”

They have also earned the right to have the organization support them by getting them some help, supplementing the roster in whatever way they can to give the team the best chance to finish what this gritty, under-manned, group has started.

“We’re going to be in this thing until the end now,” head coach John Harbaugh said after Sunday’s overtime victory over the heavily-favored Houston Texans.

Opportunities don’t come along every year, and sometimes they come along when you don’t expect them. The Philadelphia Eagles, NFC East champs three of the last four years, with a Super Bowl title and two Super Bowl appearances along the way, appear broken. GM Howie Roseman won’t let them stay that way. They will be back. Right now, though, their situation has opened a window in the division.

The Washington Commanders don’t appear capable of taking advantage. The Cowboys probaby have more talent than the Giants, but do they have the grit, the resilience, and the coaching to get out of their own way long enough to be what they have the talent to be? The answer for most of the last 30 years or so has been “no.”

The Giants aren’t paying Harbaugh $20 million annually to settle for seven wins when something bigger and more memorable is within reach, to say “no thanks, we’ll pass” when an opportunity to do something unexpectedly good comes along.

They are paying Harbaugh to win. And, they are staring at a chance to do that, despite all of the obstacles that have been placed in their way.

The Giants started down the “all-in” road by giving the Minnesota Vikings a 2027 fifth-round pick for J.J. McCarthy.

The big “all-in” prize would be Indianapolis Colts’ running back Jonathan Taylor. It is clear after the Colts dealt away All-Pro guard Quenton Nelson and star defensive tackle DeForest Buckner on Tuesday that the Colts are in tear-down mode after firing general manager Chris Ballard.

Harbaugh has said he would love to have a “Derrick Henry or Saquon Barkley circumstance” at running back. Cam Skattebo had a career-best 124 yards rushing on Sunday, but that was his first 100-yard game. He isn’t Henry or Barkley. Or Taylor.

Taylor has rushed for more than 1,000 yards four times — each time in his first six years he has been healthy enough to play a full season. He has 29 career 100-yard rushing games, three of those for more than 200.

What the Giants do need to be careful of should they employ an “all-in” approach that requires giving up premium draft assets — which a Taylor trade obviously would — is that they don’t do so for a short-term fix.

Taylor is still just 27 years old. He signed a two-year, $44 million extension through 2028. If the Giants traded for him, they would owe him the pro-rated portion of his $6.98 million 2026 salary, and roughly $34 million over the 2027 and 2028 seasons. That is not bad for a running back of that ilk, sitting right between Henry ($15 million) and Christian McCaffrey ($19 million) in average annual value.

Taylor would be the kind of investment likely to pay dividends beyond the remaining 10 games of this season.

There are other areas the Giants could supplement — defensive line and perhaps wide receiver topping the list.

Opportunities don’t come along all the time. The Giants have one, and the players have earned the organization’s support. That is the best argument for going all-in.

Why they shouldn’t

No matter what move, or moves, Schoen, Harbaugh, and the Giants make they are almost certainly not winning the organization’s fifth Lombardi Trophy of the Super Bowl era this season.

They must remember that. The idea is not to be a nine-win team, make the playoffs, get bounced quickly, and have bankrupted yourself of future assets that could help the team continue to ascend. The idea is to put the Giants in position to be an annual contender, to be a team always considered capable of making a deep playoff run if things break in their favor.

The Giants went down a similar road just a few years ago. In 2022, first-year coach Brian Daboll took the Giants on an unlikely playoff run, even winning a playoff game. The Giants followed that up by more or less abandoning the long-term build they had planned, giving Daniel Jones a big contract and trading draft assets for a 30-something tight end.

That blew up in their collective faces.

The Giants are now Harbaugh’s show, and if he wants an “all-in” move he will get one. Schoen, though, often talks about the lessons he has learned five seasons into his stint as general manager. Being honest about what you really are, and what the right path is to get where you really want to go is one of those lessons Giants fans should hope he has learned. And that he makes Harbaugh aware of.

The Giants are not operating from a position of strength when it comes to draft capital.

2027 Giants’ draft picks
(via Spotrac)

Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4 (projected compensatory selection)
Round 6 (own)
Round 6 (via Jaguars)

2028 Giants’ draft picks
(via Spotrac)

Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7 (via Chiefs)

Schoen would love to replenish, if possible.

“Obviously you want to have as many picks as you can. But, again, we’re glad we have Malachi Fields. We’re glad we have J.J. So, the utilization of those draft picks that we gave up to get those two players, we’re happy we have them,” Schoen said. “There are always options to regain capital down the road, whether it’s from players on the roster at the trade deadline if people call and it’s something that makes sense for us, through the offseason. If there’s trades being made around draft time, you can move back in the draft. There’s other ways that we can regain the capital, the compensatory formula, too. We’ll see how that plays out.

“But, yeah, if it makes sense right now for us to do something in the short term and long term, we’re going to look at any opportunity that we can to upgrade the roster. And, again, there’s avenues that we can try to recoup draft picks down the road.”

The Giants can’t fool themselves into believing that they possess a championship roster, or that one short-sighted move can make them one. Whatever they do, they must keep the long-term good of the team in mind.

What would I do?

I think I would make a trade for Taylor, if the price was right. If it’s me, I can’t surrender a first-round pick. I can stomach giving up a couple of Day 2 assets, though, because Taylor remains a game-changing back and he is signed at a reasonable contract number through 2028. I might even put Tyrone Tracy in a deal for Taylor if it lowered the draft assets I would have to surrender. Taylor would be far more than a rental.

I think the Giants also have to keep in mind that if J.J. McCarthy continues to impress they will head into the offseason with two starting-caliber quarterbacks under the age of 25. There are a lot of quarterback-needy teams who would be calling the Giants before the 2027 NFL Draft and looking to do business. So, they would be able to recoup premium draft capital that way.

I would also look for a low-cost way to improve the defensive line, and perhaps wide receiver.