John Harbaugh offered transparency about the Giants’ trade deadline process this week, confirming he reached out to Amy Adams Strunk on Jeffery Simmons and the team remains open for business. In a rare window as a buyer, New York appears likely to make at least one move before the November 10 deadline.
The team’s Dexter Lawrence trade left it vulnerable up front, hence the Simmons interest. The Giants were also in the DeForest Buckner market, Fox Sports’ Ralph Vacchiano notes, and explored what would have been a fascinating trade for an NFC East staple. New York and Washington had talks about a possible Daron Payne trade, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport said during an appearance on Big Day with Peter Schrager.
With the Commanders not intent on selling yet, as the NFC East is wide open, it would have been odd to see them make an intra-division trade involving a longtime starter. Payne then went down with a season-ending Jones fracture during Washington’s Friday practice last week, scuttling trade talks.
It is not known how far the rivals’ negotiations progressed on what would have been one of the more unusual trades in recent NFL history. While teams have shown an increased willingness to work with divisional opponents on draft swaps, exchanging starters in the middle of a playoff chase is not well-covered ground.
Payne, however, did/does not appear to be in the Commanders’ long-term plans. He signed an extension during Ron Rivera’s final offseason in charge, and before Josh Harris was approved as owner, and no extension talks are believed to have occurred before his contract year.
Payne joined Lawrence, Simmons, Quinnen Williams in signing big-ticket extensions during the 2023 offseason. The other three players have now been traded, while Payne is likely set for free agency on a down note. In an age-29 season despite entering the NFL in 2018 — a year prior to the Lawrence-Simmons-Williams trio — Payne is on a four-year, $90MM extension that carries a $16.4MM 2026 base salary.
He was identified as a trade candidate last month, and Rapoport adds interest was there — perhaps from beyond New York. But the Commanders will not be able to move the ninth-year D-lineman. Franchise-tagged in 2023, Payne was unlikely to be a tag-and-trade candidate before the injury; that pointed to a free agency departure.
The 49ers reacquired Buckner for a fourth-round pick. Now 32 and having battled injury trouble last season, Buckner is in the final year of his contract. He will play out that pact back in San Francisco, which drafted him in 2016. Buckner was dealt back to San Francisco on Oct. 27, with Simmons going to Chicago two days later. Payne went down Oct. 30.
With Payne injured and Buckner and Simmons being dealt elsewhere, the Giants will need to regroup at defensive tackle. The team is believed to be heavy in the Jonathan Taylor market, having pursued Kenneth Walker and Travis Etienne in the offseason.
As for Big Blue’s DT situation, Lawrence’s exit left the team without a true anchor in the middle. That said, Pro Football Focus has D.J. Reader ranked first among interior D-linemen this season. The Buckner, Payne and Simmons interest, however, clearly shows Harbaugh’s team wants to upgrade around him.