The New York Giants and Indianapolis Colts have both had very busy offseason periods. Both teams have made a lot of changes and more could still be in store. How about a potential trade between the two that sends young wide receiver Kadarius Toney to the Colts?
When a new regime takes over a franchise, normally the first thing they do is purge the roster. Whether that is to bring in their own talent or because of salary cap restraints, an overhaul almost always occurs.
For the Giants, it was certainly more of the latter. Joe Schoen took over as general manager, but he is inheriting a mess left behind by Dave Gettleman. The Giants had one of the weakest rosters in the league yet were capped out despite being a starting quarterback on a rookie contract.
There wasn’t much that Gettleman did right when it came to constructing the roster. New York was weak in the trenches and there didn’t seem to be a plan in place. Schoen has a lot of work to do when it comes to building up this roster, as getting the salary cap in place was the first order of business.
We saw plenty of veterans released this offseason as a result of being cap casualties. One interesting player whose name popped up in some rumors is Karadius Toney. Toney was selected in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft and had a rookie season to forget as he was sidelined for a majority of it.
Immensely talented, Toney got off on the wrong page with Schoen and new head coach Brian Daboll, as he wasn’t present at the start of voluntary camp. After that, rumors began leaking that the team could be looking to trade him.
No one wants to give up on a first-round pick that quickly, but Toney is likely on thin ice with the new management in place. If he doesn’t show some more commitment to the team, Schoen should have no problem shipping him out of town as he isn’t one of his guys.
Numerous teams should be willing to take a chance on someone with a first-round pedigree and the game-breaking skill set that Toney has. Could the Indianapolis Colts emerge?
They have Michael Pittman Jr. entrenched as their No. 1 target and selected Alec Pierce in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft out of Cincinnati. However, Toney would bring another dimension to the offense given his athleticism and big-play ability, able to turn something out of nothing on short passes.
Would a second-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft be enough to get a deal done? For the Giants, they would look to get back as much value as possible. They would seek a first-round pick, but Toney hasn’t lived up to that billing yet. Indianapolis may actually offer less, possibly a mid-round pick as Toney hasn’t shown much yet in his NFL career.
A second-round pick seems like a fair compromise. Schoen and the Giants wipe their hands clean of another Gettleman player, netting more draft compensation in the process. The Colts get an explosive athlete for Matt Ryan to throw to, making their passing offense that much more dangerous.
