New York Giants fans may not see a way today, but the organization could win the trade with the Cleveland Browns involving Odell Beckham Jr.
The dust has settled. Arguments over the New York Giants trading superstar wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. to the Cleveland Browns have largely subsided. The Giants emerged from the other side intact and with safety Jabrill Peppers on the roster. There will, in fact, be offseason training, a draft, a preseason and meaningful football games. The Giants and the NFL go on.
Those who listen to sports talk radio, read columns and editorials and interact with fans and observers know the Giants have been absolutely ca-rushed for supposedly selling Beckham to the Browns at 50 cents on the dollar. A fully healthy and fully motivated Beckham can be the best playmaker at the position, and he’s just now entering his physical prime. Reactions to the transaction surprised few, if anybody.
The idea the Giants, not the Browns, can win the trade is unfathomable among members of both fan bases. Even Madden wanted no part of the deal. This is real life, not a video game, and factors other than player ratings must be considered when examining what the New York roster is today and, ultimately, what it will be following the draft.
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For starters, the Giants didn’t merely accept a scrub in Peppers for Beckham. When the safety isn’t forced to stand 30 yards behind the line of scrimmage ahead of snaps, he’s shown he can make plays and be the asset in coverage Landon Collins rarely was during his tenure with the Giants.
In December, Ben Linsey of Pro Football Focus offered praise for the 23-year old he referred to as a “swiss-army knife” while touching upon an impressive interception:
"While the sort of athleticism needed to make that play was never a question for Peppers, his coverage instincts were. The ability to quickly decipher that throw and break on the ball early is indicative of the step forward that Peppers has taken in Year 2 of his NFL career.The Browns have freed him from the free safety purgatory that he had occupied last season, and he has returned performances worthy of the first round pick they used to select him."
Peppers continuing to improve his craft and bolstering what was a porous secondary last December would go a long way to getting the Giants back toward respectability and helping those rocking OBJ Big Blue shirts at MetLife Stadium on Sundays remember that no one person was taking the franchise to the postseason next January. Granted, Peppers will likely never be the Beckham of his position. Few are. That doesn’t make him a bust or not worth getting.
As both John Fennelly of Giants Wire and NFL Network’s Peter Schrager pointed out last month, Beckham was far from New York’s most reliable player the past two seasons. Injuries sidelined him for 16 of the past 32 games. The Giants didn’t look all that different with or without him. New York’s defense, not the offense, cost the team wins versus the Indianapolis Colts and Dallas Cowboys late in the season.
Fennelly also wrote about Beckham’s unintentional on- and off-the-field impacts:
"The Giants were not the Giants while he was here. They danced around disciplining him and he walked all over them. He did nothing malicious, mind you, but make no mistake, there was a 52-and-1 feel to the team.Beckham burned through three coaches because the owners would not hold him accountable. It turned them into losers. As talented as he is, no team can overcome a locker room where certain players get preferential treatment. There’s no chance for unity there."
It’s possible Beckham was both popular among teammates and also, as Ralph Vacchiano of SNY delicately put it, a “pain,” and trading him didn’t deplete New York’s offense of star power. Running back Saquon Barkley likely didn’t hit his ceiling in 2018. Sterling Shepard is a proven receiver who has built chemistry with quarterback Eli Manning. Tight end Evan Engram is a promising prospect facing a make-or-break year.
Peppers and Beckham aren’t the only parts of the equation. As of the typing of this sentence, the Giants possess picks No. 6 and No. 17. General manager Dave Gettleman locating a stellar defensive rookie, of which there are plenty in this year’s class, and also using assets in one way or another to acquire Manning’s successor would make this a successful offseason.
The Football Outsiders website waits six years to evaluate drafts. We likely won’t need that long to know which team won the Beckham trade or if both emerged victorious or suffered defeats. The Giants are behind on the scoreboard of public opinion right now, but it’s only the first quarter.
There’s a lot of football left to be played.