Williams trade cost Big Blue picks so moving back in draft may make sense

It’s easy to watch physical specimen Isaiah Simmons crush the NFL Combine, see the Giants with major needs on defense, and call it a no-brainer to draft the Clemson linebacker No. 4 overall. Dave Gettleman also might do what plenty of NFL talent evaluators in Indianapolis thought the Giants GM will do: take the best offensive tackle available to protect Daniel Jones, whether it’s Louisville’s Mekhi Becton, Iowa’s Tristan Wirfs or another top talent.

But the Giants’ absence of a high thirdround pick due to October’s Leonard Williams trade with the Jets may loom large in a decision not to draft anyone in that spot, but to trade back.

For if you paid attention to this year’s combine, you saw that this is a strong draft class. There are high-end prospects, and teams also project to land instant contributors in the second, third, even fourth rounds at key positions.

Wide receiver and corner are particularly deep. Quarterback has some talent. There are some intriguing interior offensive linemen complementing tantalizing offensive tackles. Corner, tackle, safety, linebacker and center are among the Giants’ many obvious needs.

And while the Giants project to receive a late third-round compensatory pick due to Landon Collins’ free agent signing in Washington, Gettleman’s trade of a 2020 third-rounder and 2021 fifth-rounder for Williams means the Giants own only two of this draft’s first 97 picks.

That’s simply not enough for rookie head coach Joe Judge to quickly reinforce a barren roster, even with his $70 million-plus in cap space entering free agency. Not to mention their 2021 fifthrounder to the Jets becomes a fourthrounder if the Giants re-sign Williams.

The Giants’ leverage at No. 4, where QB-hungry teams are eager to move, is simply too great for them to ignore. They could trade back as far as No. 7 with Carolina, for example, and still land one of four revered offensive tackles or Auburn defensive tackle Derrick Brown.

Brown is a Gettleman player if there ever was one, someone considered pound-for-pound the most solid prospect in this draft, good enough to go at the Giants’ original pick. He tested poorly at the combine but is still thought of that highly.

The Niners traded back from No. 2 to 3 in 2017 with the Chicago Bears and got two third-round picks (one of them the following year) and a fourth, while still drafting No. 3 overall. The Bears drafted North Carolina QB Mitchell Trubisky.

The Colts traded back from No. 3 to 6 in 2018 with the Jets and got three second-round picks (two that year and one the next year) while still drafting in the top 10. The Jets drafted USC QB Sam Darnold.

The common denominator is that a market existed those years for teams moving up to draft quarterbacks. If the Giants traded back to No. 6 with the Chargers, let’s say, they could still take a player in the top 10, plus add a haul of picks, including one in the high third round, which they vacated in the Williams deal.

Drafting Simmons at four would be an exciting pick, too. The Giants desperately need playmakers on defense. Judge values versatility, and Simmons has that.

But his versatility also could be viewed as Simmons not having a defined position, and he could be a player that requires the right coordinator to properly maximize his full talents and fit.

So while Simmons and others are favorable options if the Giants stay put, you’d better believe Judge is looking into maximizing return on a trade back if the opportunity presents itself.

Because the Giants need to quality in quantity. And that’s the best way to get both.

TOP CORNER SHAKEN UP

Ohio State’s Jeff Okudah, the top corner in the draft and another Giants option at No. 4, was shaken up in Sunday’s on-field combine drills when his head snapped back onto the turf during a ball drill.

Okudah fell backward catching a deep pass, and NFL Network said the impact on his head and neck would keep him out of more drills other than the jump tests thereafter. He is feeling fine, however, per ESPN, and remains a top-five prospect.

The Giants could value a player like Okudah even more than Simmons, since they know exactly what he is. But they also might spend big at that position in free agency first.

PRIME TIME SHADE

Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, a.k.a. Prime Time, took a gratuitous shot at the Giants during Sunday’s NFL Network coverage of the NFL Combine defensive backs drills.

Sanders recalled that in his preparation for the 1989 NFL Draft, one team gave him a book as thick as an encyclopedia to take a test. Host Rich Eisen recalled Sanders had told him the team was the Giants. Sanders confirmed.

Sanders remembered that he declined to take the test, telling the Giants he wouldn’t be available at their pick anyway. But he couldn’t finish the story without trashing Big Blue.

“They haven’t been to the Super Bowl in a long time,” Sanders said. “Like, what kind of tests are they taking? I mean, what does the test do?”

Ouch.

RUNNING THE OPTIONS

March 18 isn’t just the start of the league year and free agency; it’s also the day the Giants must pay left tackle Nate Solder a $3 million roster bonus if he’s still on the team. And it’s their deadline to pick up or pass on club options in the contracts of backup quarterback Alex Tanney and free safety Antoine Bethea.

Cutting Solder, 31, would carry a $13 million dead cap hit and save only $6.5 million in cap space for 2020. It’s reasonable to expect the Giants will retain him one more year.

The second and final year of Bethea’s contract carries a $2.875 million cap hit, per Over The Cap. It would be a surprise if the Giants picked that up. Tanney would cost $1 million against the cap. He’s been great for Jones’ development, but the new staff might have its own people.

FOLLOW THE LEADER?

NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith finally stepped out and spoke on the union’s behalf on Thursday in Indy, prompted by vocal dissent from stars such as Packers QB Aaron Rodgers.

Smith’s damage control in publicly welcoming those voices missed the overall point, though: His membership isn’t organized and unified behind one man or message.

That’s the problem and the reason players now are speaking out, using words at odds with the union leadership’s. Maybe Smith should speak more himself on the players’ behalf.