As the 2022 NFL draft approaches, the New York Giants head into their most crucial stretch in recent years.
As they had in 2019 (due to the Odell Beckham Jr. trade), the Giants own two first-round picks in April’s draft and this time both come within the top-10.
One of the lingering questions about the Giants’ roster is what they are going to do with cornerback James Bradberry. In a cap-driven decision, the team has been trying to find a trade partner for the former Pro Bowler and now seem to be willing to eat money in order to move him.
As general manager Joe Schoen continues to rework the Giants’ roster, Big Blue still has plenty of holes to fill, so the route they ultimately decided take remains undetermined. While many believe they will go offensive line with both picks early on, fewer and fewer mocks have the Giants going offensive line with both picks.
That probability will likely drop even further if the Giants are able to trade Bradberry, leaving them a void at cornerback.
Enter Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner, who the Giants visited with earlier this week.
Clearly, @JeffRubys was the place to be in Cincy last night. Expected first-round CB Sauce Gardner went there last night: w/ the #Saints for appetizers and the #Giants for the main course.
— Aditi Kinkhabwala (@AKinkhabwala) March 24, 2022
Gardner, a junior out of Cincinnati, has been highly touted entering the draft and with the wide receiver talent in the NFC East, the cornerback position becomes even more important. Schoen also attended the Cincinnati pro day for what that’s worth, and the Giants have been connected to Gardner in recent mocks.
It’s pretty widely known that the Giants have plenty of needs on the roster, so it stands to reason Gardner may be among their potential targets.
A NFL source told me recently that #Giants and Sauce Gardner is there most logical of all the possible top 10 team and top 10 player marriages https://t.co/ySJsFGWOma
— Ryan Dunleavy (@rydunleavy) March 24, 2022
The Giants have also been rumored to have interest in moving back if the opportunity were to present itself in order to stock-pile draft capital in next year’s draft. It is possible the Giants are just doing their due diligence depending on the trade back possibilities.
As the draft inches closer and closer, it will be interesting to see if there are more ties connecting the Giants to Gardner.
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