Kadarius Toney was by no means lengthy for the Giants as soon as Joe Schoen took over.
The Giants’ new GM is thorough. He did his homework on what occurred earlier than he and Brian Daboll bought right here.
Then Toney skipped the beginning of Daboll’s spring offseason exercises and strengthened inside considerations. He additionally had an arthroscopic knee process that sidelined him till coaching camp.
The Giants made calls trying to commerce Toney away within the spring, because the Daily News solely reported in April. But, predictably, they couldn’t fetch a adequate value at the moment.
Other entrance workplaces knew one thing was up when such a gifted 2021 first-round decide was available on the market in simply his second 12 months.
Despite Daboll’s and Schoen’s concerted efforts to publicly display that the group was embracing Toney, the oft-injured wideout by no means earned their belief.
He largely stayed injured and out of the lineup, tweaking each hamstrings in camp and the common season. His follow habits by no means gave off the impression of a participant who believed he needed to show himself.
That’s why he solely performed seven snaps within the season opener in Tennessee. That’s why they traded him Thursday to the Kansas City Chiefs for a compensatory third-round decide and a sixth-rounder — Schoen’s first commerce (not together with draft day shuffling) as Giants GM.
Fascinatingly, Toney tweeted after Thursday’s commerce that he’s not damage, though he missed the Giants’ final 5 video games with hamstring accidents, together with their journey to London.
“That Joke Would’ve Been Funny if I was Actually Hurt Still Lol,” Toney wrote in a since-deleted tweet. “Irrelevant people don’t get updates.”
That could be a violation if the Giants have been itemizing Toney as injured whereas wholesome. A Giants spokesperson mentioned the staff had no response to Toney’s declare. An NFL spokesperson didn’t reply to a request for touch upon whether or not the league investigates such issues.
Sources did inform the Daily News that Schoen and Daboll addressed the gamers on the sphere earlier than Thursday’s follow, although, minutes after the information of the commerce broke.
Schoen and Daboll advised the gamers they’re “going to do what’s best for the team,” one supply mentioned.
Giants gamers appeared to understand and perceive that transparency, though buying and selling away a gifted participant hypothetically might ship the flawed short-term message to a 6-1 staff.
The Philadelphia Eagles (6-0), in spite of everything, are doing the alternative: they simply traded a fourth-round decide away on Wednesday for Chicago Bears go rusher Robert Quinn.
“I don’t know if it sends a message,” captain Julian Love mentioned. “They are trying to build for the future. They’re trying to build the team. At the end of the day, no matter how we feel about [Toney], they have a plan for this team and we’ve just got to trust it.”
Left deal with Andrew Thomas mentioned he hopes for the perfect for Toney, who’s a “talented kid.” But up to now, Schoen and Daboll have steered the Giants in the best route, so there’s no motive to be skeptical.
“I think most of the guys trust in what they’ve done so far,” Thomas mentioned of gamers’ perception within the GM and head coach. “We’re winning games. Now we’re focused on Seattle.”
Love additionally mentioned he thought it was “the smart play” for Schoen and Daboll to talk to the gamers earlier than follow merely so that they wouldn’t be distracted, because the information had simply damaged.
“I think [with] the timing of it all, they had to address us so we could have a normal, good practice,” Love mentioned. “We all found out and it broke right before practice while we were getting ready. So it was a situation where I think they kind of wanted to get ahead of it.”
The abrupt timing of Toney’s commerce leaking earlier than follow appeared to account for Daboll’s curt solutions on the topic as he headed towards the sphere. The head coach mentioned he had simply spoken to Toney minutes earlier, previous to stepping out on the patio and dealing with the media.
“I understand all these questions right now. I got it completely,” Daboll mentioned. “It just happened a few seconds ago. I’ll just say Joe and I talk about a lot of things, and that was a decision we made. Our decision is for the team and we’re moving on. Wish Kadarius well.”
The commerce ought to be good for Toney, sending him to a potent offense in a much less seen market.
The query for the Giants now could be whether or not Toney’s commerce makes them kind of possible so as to add a large receiver earlier than subsequent Tuesday’s 4 p.m. NFL commerce deadline. They traded one in all their most gifted gamers at arguably their place of biggest want.
It frees up solely $755,000 of wage cap area for this season, which will increase the Giants’ out there cap room to round $3.56 million. And it saves Schoen $1.9 million in 2023 and $2.5 million in 2024, respectively, that he can spend elsewhere.
Kenny Golladay, an costly receiver already on the roster, admitted this type of commerce might have gamers like him questioning if they’re subsequent.
“I’ve been in this league long enough,” he mentioned. “Anything is possible.”
But Golladay, who’s rehabbing a knee harm, mentioned he desires to stay a Giant, get wholesome and contribute to this particular season after the Week 9 bye.
“Oh man, I want to be a part of it big time,” Golladay mentioned with a smile. “I’m trying everything to get back out there. I’ve never even been a part of a game that’s gone 6-1. As long as I can stay on the field and put the little injuries behind me, I definitely can do big things for this team.”
The Pittsburgh Steelers’ Chase Claypool and the Denver Broncos’ Jerry Jeudy are two intriguing abilities on rookie contracts who may be out there this week. Daboll coached Jeudy as a freshman at Alabama in 2017.
Free agent Odell Beckham Jr. is on the market for some contender to check in late November or December.
League sources mentioned this week that Schoen stays open to something wise on both facet: promoting or shopping for. But buying and selling Toney affirms that the Giants should not simply excited about this 12 months. They know who they’re. So Schoen won’t be carried out.
They are committing to a rebuild, and getting these belongings for Toney — together with the Chiefs’ compensatory decide for Ryan Poles’ GM hiring in Chicago — is a win for the first-year Giants GM.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com