Hakeem Nicks Isn't Getting Traded. Stop It.
CBS – Several NFL clubs are planning to determine the degree to which New York Giants wide receiver Hakeem Nicks might be available via trade following New York dropping to 0-6 this week, according to league sources. Teams view Nicks as the best option available and with the Giants in a freefall, big changes possibly on the way there, and Nicks a potential unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, other general managers want to hear for themselves just how amenable to a trade Giants GM Jerry Reese might be. Several GMs contacted believed the Giants could get at least a third-round pick for Nicks, even if he is just a late-season “rental” who then hits the open market in March. Nicks, 25, could end up being the highest-paid player in what looks to be a pedestrian free-agent class (tight end Jimmy Graham, for instance, is going to be franchised by the Saints if he isn’t extended). Among the teams holding internal discussions about him, according to club sources, were the 49ers and Falcons (who lost Julio Jones for the season but are not conceding the season … at least certainly not yet). New England and Baltimore are also contending teams in need of an upgrade at receiver, and the market for Nicks would be robust, sources believe, if the Giants express a willingness to listen to offers.
Of course rumors are swirling. The Giants are in a free fall, Nicks is a FA-to-be, wideouts are dropping like flies & the trade deadline is two weeks away. But the NFL isn’t like baseball. Teams don’t mortgage a significant chunk of their future on a rental player, even if #88 could be a difference-maker. No one’s giving up a #1, and to think Reese would be interested in anything like a 3rd-rounder is absurd. For as bad as they’ve been, Big Blue isn’t in full-fledged “blow it all up and start over” mode. Sure, they need new pieces, but they’ve been hammered by injuries as well. It’s not far-fetched to believe they’ll bounce back in a big way next year with their own high picks and shedding some dead weight (Snee may retire, Diehl, Tuck & Myers are FA, Rolle & Webster should be released) for more cap room. Nicks will play a major role in any Giants success, and they know that. No chance he gets moved.
You could argue that Nicks is a free agent after this season. That Reese might as well get something for him. But he’s never come out with anything negative about playing in New Jersey York. The G-Men stand as good a chance as any to sign him this off-season as they’ve said all along they want to do. Competition will be stiff though – the FA WR crop is thin. Boldin is old and neither James Jones or Jeremy Maclin are on Nicks’ (healthy) level. Someone’s gonna be driving up the price to snag the top dog…which is why the Giants should just franchise him. Cough up the $10+ mil to stay out of a bidding war until 2015 when the market could be saturated with names like Marshall, Roddy, Welker, Wayne, AJ Green, Jordy, Demaryius, Dez, Cobb, etc. Buy another year to see if Rueben Randle can mature enough to fill Hakeem Nicks’ shoes. If he’s disgruntled, so be it. The Giants would be disgruntled if Nicks leveraged a weak FA class to price them out and no one would give a shit. Regardless of what ends up happening long-term though, it’s obvious Big Blue has more to gain by keeping their star receiver than flipping him for a mediocre pick.