New York Giants: Were Eli Apple and Damon Harrison trades sufficient?

The New York Giants trades of Eli Apple and Damon Harrison might have seemed like a the beginning of a fire sale, but both trades were made for a reason and both will help the rebuild for the Giants.

The New York Giants started their moves with the trade of fan favorite, and team favorite Damon Harrison, this trade was quite controversial.

Damon Harrison is arguably the best nose tackle in the NFL against the run.

He takes on double teams, shed them off and make plays in the backfield as many Giants fans have seen throughout the years.

More from Empire Writes Back

But Snacks was costing a pretty penny on a a defense where, although very dominant on first and second down, was getting taken off the field on third downs.

Structurally the trade might actually benefit the Giants in the long run.

When you look at Snacks contract it isn’t very “rebuild” friendly.

Snacks has an opt-out after this year, if the opt gets picked up he is owed 6.750 million in 2019 and 9.0 million in 2020.

By that point, he will be 30-year-old defensive tackle with his best years behind him, paying premium money while the team needs to spend money in other areas.

The reason why it was so easy to let him go is because the Giants are very high on young defensive lineman B.J. Hill and Dalvin Tomlinson.

Both have been playing very well this season and both will be big plugs on the defensive front for the Giants.

Hill and Tomlinson are high draft picks. The Giants used a 3rd and 2nd round picks respectively to draft these two and are very young (rookie, 2nd year, respectively).

So getting rid of Snack for younger, cheaper options might help the Giants in the long run. Look for the Giants to use that money that would have been owed to Harrison for offensive line help.

What about the Eli Apple trade?

Eli Apple, on the other hand, was in a different situation with the Giants.

The former first round pick has definitely had his ups and downs. And sadly there were more downs than ups.

Eli came in as a 10th overall pick out of Ohio State and had an okay freshman campaign.

The tandem of Jenkins, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and him were good enough to help the Giants rank in the top-10 in total defense.

But his second season was a complete disaster.

Along with his brutal play on the field, he and safety Landon Collins had a feud that lasted the last couple weeks of the 2017 season.

Landon Collins is seen as the captain of the defense and a true leader in the locker room but still had the reason to report to the media that Apple was a “cancer” to the team and that Apple “needs to grow up.”

Now, although it was perceived that in the offseason they hurried the hatchet, but this trade could be more about a culture change more than giving up on a first round pick just 2 and a half seasons in.

Maybe management felt that Apple wasn’t a part of the future of this team and a change of culture for him was needed.

Along with the easy departure for Harrison, the same could be said for Apple.

With the hopes of the playoffs seemingly gone, the Giants can look forward to next season and look to supplemental draft pick Sam Beal to fill Apple’s role.

The Giants spent a 2019 third round draft pick on him so the commitment to Beal is there, hopefully the talent translates.

According to Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller, Beal, 21, is considered the best prospect available in the supplemental draft since the Cleveland Browns selected wide receiver Josh Gordon in the second round of the 2012 NFL Supplemental Draft.

What does Giants only making two trades mean going forward?. light. Related Story

It is tough to argue that the Giants won’t end up using the draft capital acquired in these trades to move the team and new regime in a positive direction.

Home/New York Giants