Bills To Trade DE Boogie Basham To Giants

9:53am: This move will indeed lead to Ximines being released. The Giants had re-signed the Old Dominion alum midway through this offseason, but ESPN’s Jordan Raanan notes he will be cut. Ximines played four seasons with the Giants, arriving as a Dave Gettleman-era draft choice. While he recorded 4.5 sacks as a rookie, the former third-rounder only managed two in the ensuing three years.

9:20am: Coworkers for several years in Buffalo, Joe Schoen and Brandon Beane have a trade in place. The Giants are set to acquire edge rusher Boogie Basham from the Bills, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com reports.

Schoen was in place as the Bills’ assistant GM when they drafted Basham in the 2021 second round. While Basham has not taken off in Buffalo, the Giants will give him an opportunity. The Giants had been among the most active teams in the market for edge help, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.

Beane and his former top lieutenant agreed to a pick-swap deal for Basham, with Pelissero adding the Bills and Giants will exchange 2025 late-round picks. Two years remain on Basham’s rookie contract.

The Bills’ Leonard Floyd addition made Basham a logical trade candidate, with the Bills also rostering 2020 second-rounder A.J. Epenesa and 2021 first-rounder Gregory Rousseau. Von Miller remains this position group’s anchor, but the future Hall of Famer is not certain to begin the season on time. The Bills have until 3pm CT today to move Miller from the active/PUP list to the reserve/PUP list, a designation that would shelve him for at least four games. The team could also go week to week with the high-priced D-end, but Shaq Lawson having re-signed this year also complicated Basham’s Bills place.

Epenesa has also drawn trade interest, per Fowler. One year remains on Epenesa’s rookie deal, but with Miller returning from his second ACL tear as a pro, it would make sense if the Bills held onto the Iowa alum for depth purposes. Epenesa finished with a career-high 6.5 sacks last season, breaking through after not producing more than 1.5 in either of his first two NFL slates. Basham, however, has not taken off. The Wake Forest product has 4.5 sacks and eight QB hits in 23 NFL games.

Chosen 61st overall, Basham has yet to make a start as a pro. Rousseau, Epenesa and then Miller have blocked Basham lineup avenues, and the Giants do not present an immediate starter opportunity. Kayvon Thibodeaux and Azeez Ojulari are in place as Big Blue’s starting edge rushers, but Schoen will take a flier on Basham as a depth piece. The Giants still have Jihad Ward and Oshane Ximines behind their starters. The latter, a former third-round pick, is not a lock to make the roster, The Athletic’s Dan Duggan notes (subscription required). With Basham now en route, Ximines may soon be released.

This move comes after the Giants sent the Cardinals a seventh-round pick for Isaiah Simmons. The team had been rumored to be eyeing another low-risk trade, per Duggan, and given Schoen’s Bills past, they are always a logical candidate to do business with the Giants. Beane and Schoen had first-round trade parameters in place this year, but no deal ended up happening.