Very early in my sales career, the manager of a store I was working at decided to hold a meeting. Sales were down, the salesmen were bitching about conditions, and he was going to nip it in the bud once and for all. He started off the meeting by pointing to the door and saying, "See that? That's the exit. We don't just put that there for the customers to use. If you're not happy here, let me know and I'll accommodate you. I've got five applications on my desk for every one of you." Suffice to say he got his point across. The bitching stopped and sales soon picked up. Mission accomplished.
I am quite certain that the last thing John Harbaugh wanted to do was trade one of his better players, even if that player did have an "off" year. In his mind, the Giants were better off with Dexter Lawrence on the roster than without him. But after Lawrence issued his trade demand and refused to negotiate on a new contract, Harbaugh's hands were tied.
He could've called Lawrence's bluff and forced him to report to camp or forfeit his salary. But as I wrote in a previous post, why would he want that kind of headache in his first year as head coach? In the end, Harbaugh had no choice but to show his disgruntled player the exit, as it were. And in so doing, he laid down a marker. Don't want to be here? No problem.
What's remarkable about this situation isn't that the Giants moved on from Lawrence, it's what they got in return. Harbaugh had said he wanted no less than a top ten pick for him, and that's exactly what he got. The Cincinnati Bengals traded the 10th pick straight up for the defensive tackle.
Already the Monday-morning quarterbacks are at it, arguing that the Giants should've gotten the same haul the Jets got for Quininen Williams: a first, a second and a player. But like I pointed in that same post, you can't compare a trade made at the deadline with a trade made less than a week before the Draft. The Jets had all the leverage in that deal; the Giants had practically none, especially given Lawrence's demands. Frankly, I was starting to doubt whether they could even get a first rounder for him.
But the Bengals needed to improve a defense that was third from the bottom in the NFL, and they figured - correctly - that the best defensive players were all going to be gone by the time they got to choose. So they made the deal.
There were no losers in this trade. Both sides won. The Bengals got the player they wanted and the Giants got the draft capital they needed. They also saved $13 million in cap space, which they can put towards another free agent, D.J. Reader perhaps.
The real question is what will Harbaugh do with the 10th pick? Will he keep it, or will he trade back, as Gary Myers suggested, to get even more draft capital? It all depends on what happens with picks 6 thru 9. Assuming Jeremiyah Love goes 4th to the Tennessee Titans, the Giants will have their choice of Sonny Styles or Caleb Downs at 5. Either would instantly be a stud. Let's say Harbaugh takes Styles. It's unlikely that Downs would still be available at 10. That goes the same for Carnell Tate and Jordan Tyson - the latter generally considered to be the best wide receiver in the Draft.
The Giants could certainly use some help at offensive tackle, as well as cornerback. There are several players at those positions who would be still be on board deep into the first round. Trading back six or seven spots could get them a badly needed third round pick. After pick 37, the Giants don't select again until 105. That's a long time to go between picks.
It's important to remember that for all the good vibes the Harbaugh signing engendered, the Giants went 4-13 last season; the year before that they went 3-14; and the year before that they went 6-11. This team isn't two or three players away from being a contender; it's eight or nine players away. It needs all the draft picks it can get. Indeed, I wouldn't rule out the Giants trading Kayvon Thibodeaux. If Harbaugh could get a second and fourth for him, imagine the holes he could fill with those picks.
That's the difference between John Harbaugh and Joe Schoen or Dave Gettleman. Harbaugh clearly knows the Giants aren't a playoff team, and he isn't willing to take short cuts to get there. He only wants players who want to be here. He has a vision and the mandate from ownership to see it through. And make no mistake about it, he is running the show. Schoen can hold all the press conferences he wants; on Draft Day, Harbaugh will have the final word. In fact, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Schoen is let go next week. Dawn Aponte, who was hired in February to be the team's Senior Vice President of Football Operations, is more than capable of filling his shoes.
For the first time in a long time, this franchise is in competent hands.
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