Giants chose to stand pat at the NFL trade deadline. Will they regret it?
Giants coach John Harbaugh looks on during the second quarter against the Eagles on Nov. 8, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pa. Credit: Getty Images/Caleb Bowlin
In the movie “Hoosiers”, Hickory basketball coach Norman Dale delivers a memorable line after one of his players fouls out and he’s left with just four players on the court.
“My team is on the floor,” said Dale, played by the late Gene Hackman.
John Harbaugh could say the same thing after the Giants didn’t make a move and the trade deadline passed Tuesday. No extra help is coming at running back, defensive tackle, or any other position.
What do the Giants need to maintain their lead in the NFC East? Whatever it is, it’s in that locker room. Harbaugh’s team is on the field, despite any attempts to make deals before Thursday night’s home game against the Commanders.
Such is deadline day. On one hand, it disappoints people who wanted the Giants to make another splashy move. On the other, there’s what Harbaugh said about the lack of deals signaling support of his personnel.
“You could just as well make the case that you’re showing belief in your guys that you can do something by keeping all the guys you got,” Harbaugh said. “We love our guys and we feel like we have everything we need to go accomplish everything we want to accomplish. Now we just gotta go do it.”
Fair statement. Can the Giants do it? Let’s revisit that later. First, a case for why they couldn’t get any deals done.
The Giants simply lacked the draft capital teams were asking for. They don’t have a fourth-or-fifth-round pick in next year’s draft. That meant they had to think twice before giving away a second-or-third-rounder, or dipping into their 2028 picks.
Maybe they should have.
It’s hard to look at their running back room and not worry about the lack of a high-end No. 1 option. That’s no disrespect to Cam Skattebo and his strengths. His limitations, though, are evident. He has just two runs over 20 yards in 15 career games.
The Giants are 17th in rushing this season with 112.1 yards per game, and 24th in yards per carry (3.87). Perhaps the asking price for Colts running back Jonathan Taylor was too high, or they just couldn’t arrange a sweet deal for a cheaper option like Titans back Tony Pollard.
Either way, the lack of draft picks played a role. Sure, the Giants could’ve explored using future picks, but they didn’t want to sacrifice the future for the present. While Harbaugh said Monday that “the now” outweighs the future, he acknowledged on Tuesday that being prudent was also important.
“We’re willing to pay a price to make our team better,” Harbaugh said. “But it’s got to be something that really makes our team better and it’s got to be worth it. So if we don’t make a deal, it’ll be because we didn’t have anything that we felt good enough about.”
So go ahead and circle Nov. 29 on your calendars. The Giants will go to Indianapolis and see Taylor in a Colts uniform. Cue the handwringing if Taylor shreds this run defense, but remember that the Colts also had a choice, and they chose not to deal their star running back.
The Giants also didn’t add a defensive tackle. That means Harbaugh and the front office have to ride with a defense ranked 27th in yards allowed per carry (4.69) It means they have to pray D.J. Reader and Shelby Harris stay durable, since both tackles have been stout all season stopping the run. But when they leave the field? The run defense worsens.
That may be a bigger problem, because the Giants face Taylor, Christian McCaffrey of the 49ers and Jahmyr Gibbs of the Lions in the second half of the season. And Thursday brings Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels, who ran for 103 yards against the Giants last month.
So that brings the question: can these Giants, as constructed, finish the fight? We’ll find out. Close wins have been their identity. It’d be a lot easier if some of these next few games were less of a slog, especially as the schedule gets tougher after Thursday night.
Adding another playmaker would’ve helped. The Giants might regret not pushing forward on a deal to save picks, but this team still has questions as to how good they really are. Those will have to be answered by those who are here.
“One of the things I love the most about this team is we’re just so hell-bent on focusing on that next moment and staying present,” J.J. McCarthy said. “Not letting things outside of our control dictate how we’re going to operate. At the end of the day, I feel like that’s exactly how we’re going to approach it.”
Harbaugh’s team is indeed on the field now. Now they must show if that’s enough to finish the race to a playoff berth.
Evan Barnes covers the Giants for Newsday. He previously covered the Brooklyn Nets, Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.
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