No team was more closely connected to this year’s first-round-caliber wide receivers than the Giants, who hosted the group on “30” visits and met with the 2023 class’ top pass catchers at their pro days. But Big Blue left Round 1 with cornerback Deonte Banks. It does not appear the team was conducting a smokescreen effort regarding receivers.
Holding the No. 25 overall pick to start the draft, the Giants explored multiple trade-up avenues, Dan Duggan of The Athletic notes. One of them involved conversations with a team holding a mid-first-round pick, with Duggan adding those talks may well have centered around Zay Flowers (subscription required).
The Giants met with Flowers, and a draft-day report indicated they were the highest on the Boston College prospect and USC’s Jordan Addison at receiver. After Flowers went off the board to Baltimore at No. 22, a source informed Duggan that Addison would have been the likely Giants choice at 25. Once Minnesota nabbed the former Kenny Pickett Pitt target at 23, the Giants traded fifth- and seventh-round picks to move up one spot — via the Jaguars — for Banks.
GM Joe Schoen described the mood around the time Addison was picked as “pretty tense.” The run on receivers stopped at the Vikings’ No. 23 pick, and no other corner went in the first round. While the Giants could have stood pat and selected Joey Porter Jr., they obviously placed a value gap between he and Banks, who made the Giants one of his many pre-draft visits. Schoen confirmed (via the New York Post’s Ryan Dunleavy) Banks was not on the Giants’ radar at this point last year, due to his 2021 season being cut short by a shoulder injury. The Maryland prospect will be expected to start opposite Adoree’ Jackson as a rookie, and with Jackson in a contract year and not expected to be extended, the rookie resides as the Giants’ new cornerstone at the position.
Schoen and Bills GM Brandon Beane held trade discussions — centered on the Giants moving back — as well, per SI.com’s Albert Breer, who confirms Schoen also told his former boss he was considering a move up the board. The Bills and Giants worked out trade parameters for a Buffalo trade-up, Breer notes, with the AFC East team targeting tight end Dalton Kincaid. Shortly after the Vikings’ Addison pick, Schoen informed Beane he was trading up to No. 24 and the New York teams’ trade would not commence. The Bills also traded up with the Jags, who moved down twice and chose tackle Anton Harrison.
The Giants standing down regarding a trade-up for a wide receiver leaves more questions about its wideout room compared to how it would have looked if Flowers or Addison became Big Apple-bound. The team still re-signed Darius Slayton and Sterling Shepard and added Parris Campbell and Jamison Crowder, to say nothing of the big-ticket Darren Waller addition at tight end. The Giants circled back to their receiver interest with third-rounder Jalin Hyatt, who also made a pre-draft visit.
Hyatt will bring deep speed to the equation and should be expected to play a key role early, though the Giants have amassed some pass-catching depth after last season’s plans went awry quickly.