Four players Giants should look to deal at NFL trade deadline

When you heard Giants owner John Mara say that he is not planning to make any changes at head coach and general manager, Joe Schoen probably heard an OK to be a trade-deadline seller.

Mara’s recent vow to be more patient than he has been in the past takes some pressure off Schoen to act out of self-preservation.

It is shortsighted to keep impactful players in hopes of squeezing out an extra meaningless win or two to show enough “improvement” that it bolsters job security.

The Giants are 2-6 (or worse) at the midway point for the seventh time in eight seasons. None of the prior six resulted in more than six wins.

So, the Giants should be thinking long term as the Nov. 5 NFL trade deadline approaches. Schoen mistakenly kept Saquon Barkley and Xavier McKinney at last year’s deadline — after trading Leonard Williams for a second-round draft pick — only to allow himself to be quickly priced out of their free-agent markets.

The problem, however, is that the Giants don’t have any trade chips as valuable as Williams, Barkley or McKinney this season. Here are four players who could be dealt and might return a fifth-, sixth, or seventh-round draft pick, or a pick swap.

WR Darius Slayton

Three receivers (Davante Adams, Amari Cooper, DeAndre Hopkins, Diontae Johnson) have been traded in the last two weeks, but there are still plenty of contenders — Steelers, 49ers, Buccaneers and Chargers — looking for help. Other options who could be on the market include Courtland Sutton, Kendrick Bourne and Mike Williams.

Slayton is linked to potential trades every October, but it never has made more sense than now to part ways. He is in the final year of his contract and unlikely to re-sign as a free agent for the second time in his career, especially if his longtime running mate Daniel Jones is released in the offseason.

After his holdout in the spring resulted in marginal contract gains, Slayton changed agents, preparing for his big splash.

The Giants need to gain a clearer evaluation on 2023 third-round pick Jalin Hyatt, who has dazzling speed but completely has disappeared (one catch) behind Slayton and rookie Malik Nabers this season.

Trading Slayton, 27, would save about $1.8 million in salary but subtract one of the locker room’s most well-liked teammates and a veteran well-versed in how to play hard during difficult times.

OLB Azeez Ojulari

It would be easier to accept trading fill-in starter Ojulari if Kayvon Thibodeaux (broken scaphoid bone in wrist) was healthy — or if there were an indication that he might be back before the first week of December, on the high end on his estimated recovery timeline.

Ojulari, 24, has five sacks in three games since becoming the starter, recapturing his 2021 and 2022 form (13.5 sacks in 24 games). He has been slowed by injuries throughout his career and can be a liability against the run, but he is perfect for hunting quarterbacks as a No. 3 rusher for a contender in need like the Lions, Falcons or Bills.

Ojulari is a free agent after the season and the last player on the roster who wasn’t signed or re-signed by Schoen.

But are the Giants willing to elevate Tomon Fox or Benton Whitley to starter while Thibodeaux is sidelined?

OT Evan Neal

The Giants will do just about anything to avoid putting the No. 7 pick in the 2022 draft on the field. Neal’s tumble into oblivion began last year with an ankle injury that was much worse than originally diagnosed.

The offseason hope that a new offensive line coach would be able to unlock Neal, 24, hasn’t come to fruition.

There still is no plan to move him to left tackle — a position Neal played as a junior at Alabama and where the Giants are starting practice-squad pick-up Chris Hubbard — or to guard, so he is just wasting away as a backup right tackle.

There was a time when Neal — who has allowed 81 pressures and 10 sacks in 20 career games — was in the mix to be the No. 1 pick. Would some team with a high draft grade on him take a flier on fixing his balance, footwork and other ills?

It would just be about a fresh start for both sides because the Giants would take on a $3.8 million dead-cap charge in 2025 with marginal immediate savings.

RB Devin Singletary

Whenever he clears the concussion protocol, rookie Tyrone Tracy Jr. has earned the right to be the primary ball carrier after topping 125 yards and averaging more than seven per carry twice in four games.

Singletary, 27, was signed to a three-year, $16.5 million contract to be Barkley’s replacement because Schoen does not believe in overpaying running backs due to positional value.

Well, now Schoen has a backup running back who is owed another $1.25 million this season and $3.5 million guaranteed next season.

Could the rival Giants and Cowboys, who partnered when defensive tackle Jordan Phillips was sent to Dallas for a late-round pick in August, strike a second trade in three months?