The last couple of seasons were very tough for the New York Giants franchise.
After winning a grand total of 3 games in 2017, they followed it up with a 5 win performance in 2018. If selecting high in the draft was the goal, they achieved that.
For many Giant fans, the idea of trading Odell Beckham Jr was beyond comprehension. Even the front office thought it outrageous considering it was only a year ago the team gave OBJ a deal that made him one of the highest paid wide receivers in the game.
All this meant nothing after the trade of Beckham to Cleveland. Giant fans worst fears came true this past Winter. The deal netted the Giants a player and two picks.
The net effect is there could be three starting players from this trade.
This is little consolation to Giants' fans since their star player was gone. OBJ was one of the most talented Giant players, only eclipsed by, perhaps, Lawrence Taylor. It made him a fan favorite which only makes the divorce that much harder.
Fans tend to emotional which is necessary to keep in mind. Front offices are in the position of making the tough decisions that will benefit the team. Popularity is not the highest priority for them.
The biggest question is will the trade of OBJ come back to haunt the Giants?
It is important to remember this team won a total of 8 games the last two seasons with OBJ. How much worse could they really be without him?
Everyone knows it is hard to trade a superstar. In this situation, it made total sense for the Giants since they had so many holes to fill.
The result of the Beckham trade is the Giants got a starting safety, a defensive tackle who will be in the rotation, and a young corner back who came as the result of trading the 3rd round pick acquired in the Beckham deal to move up into the first round.
Does all this make the Giants a playoff team? That is not likely in the cards for them although you never know in the NFC East since the division winner tends to rotate each year.
The bottom line for this team is that the front office is working a plan to bring in talent that will help in the future. The Beckham trade carried with it a big cap hit for 2019. Next year, the Giants will have near $70 million to spend by the moves they made. This could bode very well if the younger players start to develop.
In the end, trading OBJ was the right move for the Giants. In the long run, they will be a better team for it.