Jason Leach
With less than two weeks from the 2026 NFL Draft, there’s a ton of anticipation to see how the New York Giants will conduct their first draft under new head coach John Harbaugh.
The Giants have a total of seven picks, including the fifth overall pick, but they don’t have a third pick, having used that to trade back into the first round last year to take Jaxson Dart. This leaves the team with just two picks in the top 104, which has people speculating the team may make a trade to get another pick in the top 100.
“Everybody’s tradeable, everybody.” Harbaugh said last week when addressing trade rumors.
Three players have been the subject of trade rumors, and we’ll take a look at each player and explore why New York could trade them during the NFL Draft.
Related: 6 Best Dexter Lawrence Landing Spots After Trade Request From Giants
Dexter Lawrence
Last week, news broke that Dexter Lawrence wants to be traded. The 28 -year-old defensive tackle had been unhappy with his contract situation for the past few seasons, and now that he’s outside the top 10 paid defensive tackles, he apparently wants out of New York.
As much as the Giants would love to keep Lawrence, they have a tough decision on their hands on whether to give him a new deal. He’s coming off a down season where he had career lows in tackles and sacks, which might be a sign that he’s on the decline.
Lawrence’s current contract runs through the end of the 2027 season which means the team has all of the leverage in the negotiations. The belief is that New York could either get a late first-round or second-round pick if they trade their three-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman. If a team offers this to Big Blue, don’t be surprised if Harbaugh and general manager Joe Schoen pull the trigger and make the deal.
Related: Why The Giants Should Pay Dexter Lawrence, And Why They Should Trade Him
Kayvon Thibodeaux
A shoulder injury limited Kayvon Thibodeaux to appear in just in just 10 games in 2025, where he had 25 tackles with two and a half sacks. Now he’s entering the final year of his rookie contract, and there’s a cloud of uncertainty on whether or not he’ll be with the team for Week 1.
With Brian Burns coming off a career-high 16.5 sacks and Abdul Carter having a solid final month of his rookie season, the Giants have their starting edge rushers set for years to come. It’s hard to see a scenario where the team would consider offering Thibodeaux a new deal when the season is over.
Instead of letting the 25-year-old edge rusher leave via free agency and get nothing in return, it would be in the best long-term interest of the team to try to move him and get a draft pick in return.
Tyrone Tracy Jr
If the Giants draft Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love with the fifth overall pick, expect them to try to move third-year running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. Despite Tracy being highly productive in his first two seasons, the backfield would be too crowded with him, Love, and Cam Skattebo at the top of the depth chart.
Teams would be interested in acquiring Tracy since he’s a versatile back who has had over 1,000 all-purpose yards two years in a row. One team that comes to mind that could need the service of the 26-year-old running back is the Jacksonville Jaguars, who lost Travis Etienne Jr to the New Orleans Saints in free agency.
Jacksonville has three third-round picks (81st, 88th, and 100th overall) and might be willing to part ways with one of those picks to acquire Tracy. Tracy’s base salary for this season is $1.075 million, which is feasible for the Jaguars since they have a little over $5 million in cap space.
Of course, this scenario will become irrelevant if Love is off the board when New York is on the clock, or if the team decides to go in another direction with the fifth pick.
Related: 2026 NFL Mock Draft: Trades Take Over First Round of NFL Draft
