There was a time, Dave Gettleman says, when he was going to do it.
“It’’ is something he has never, ever done, in the eight previous NFL drafts (five for the Panthers, the past three for the Giants) running the show as a general manager.
Gettleman was going to trade — wait for it — down.
“Sometimes you have a trade and the guy that the team is trading up for gets picked in front of you,’’ Gettleman said Thursday. “We’ve had that happen to us. We’ve got a trade, we’ve got a trade. So-and-so selects, no trade. ‘Dave, goodbye,’ and they hang the phone up on me. So that’s happened, too.’’
Gettleman characterized his track record of never trading down “almost becoming an urban myth,’’ and he reiterated that he is not opposed to moving down in a draft.
“I’ve tried, I really have,’’ he said.
He tried as recently as one year ago. The Giants had the No. 36-overall pick in the 2020 draft and found a team that wanted to trade up into that spot high in the second round. Gettleman would have pulled the trigger and received additional picks in return, if not for one factor: He craved safety Xavier McKinney. Once Gettleman saw McKinney was on the board at No. 36, the trade down was rejected.
Next week, owning the No. 11-overall pick, could be a prime opportunity for Gettleman to give it another go, especially if he believes he can get an edge rusher he likes a few spots later in the first round. Finding a trade partner is always a challenge, though.
Clearly, none of this is causing any angst for the 70-year-old Gettleman. Earlier in the week, a comment by Daniel Jeremiah, an NFL Network draft analyst, had Gettleman cracking up. Jeremiah said, “I think we’ll see a right turn in a NASCAR race before we see Dave Gettleman trade back.’’ Gettleman called it a “helluva line’’ and added, “I had a good laugh.’’
Who gets the last laugh Thursday night in the first round of the draft?
“Honest, I’ve tried to trade back, but it’s got to be value,’’ Gettleman said. “I’m not getting fleeced. I refuse to do it. If somebody wants to make a bad trade back, God bless them.’’
Trading back would give the Giants extra draft capital, something they could use, as they go into the draft with just six picks. They gave up their fifth-round pick to the Jets in the Leonard Williams trade and sent their seventh-round pick to the Broncos for cornerback Isaac Yiadom. The Giants added a second sixth-round pick by trading Markus Golden to the Cardinals.
Four other teams have just six picks. The Seahawks have a league-low three picks.
“I’m very comfortable with the six picks,’’ Gettleman said. “I’m fine with the number of picks we have in this draft.’’