Let’s be real. The New York Giants aren’t trading their crown jewels. But in the cold, transactional vacuum of the NFL, everyone has a price. If Joe Schoen suddenly lost his mind and put his roster on the auction block, who actually commands the premium draft capital?
ESPN’s Bill Barnwell recently took a spatula to the league, scraping together a list of players who could command at least a first-round pick in a hypothetical trade. Unsurprisingly, East Rutherford has a few assets that would make rival GMs drool.
Start with the franchise face. Jaxson Dart. He is the hope. Selected 25th overall in 2025, Dart showed enough rookie spark to keep his blue-chip pedigree intact. Barnwell values him at a single first-round pick. That feels low. Sure, he took too many hits, and his durability is a massive question mark. It didn’t help that he barely shared the field with his best weapons, Andrew Thomas and Malik Nabers, logging just 17 snaps with both active. Yet, in that microscopic window, he posted a stellar 76.2 QBR. If Dart takes the expected leap toward a 4,000-yard season, his trade value easily doubles. He is a dual-threat weapon with All-Pro upside. You don’t sell that cheap.
Joining Dart in the “one first-rounder” tier is rookie guard Francis Mauigoa. Finding elite protection is a nightmare in today’s NFL, making Mauigoa an instant luxury asset.
Then there are the guys who command a first-round pick “and more.”
Linebacker Arvell Reese and left tackle Andrew Thomas fit this bill. Thomas is a fascinating case. At 27, he plays a premium position at an elite level. He should be a perennial Pro Bowler. But he isn’t. Why? Because he cannot stay on the field. Thomas has managed exactly one fully healthy season out of five. Any team trading for him has to inherit that medical chart and still pay him like a king. It is a massive gamble.
But the real jackpot on this roster isn’t the quarterback or the blindside protector. It is Abdul Carter.
Barnwell pegs the second-round edge rusher as the Giants’ most valuable trade chip, worth a whopping two first-round selections. The raw stats won’t show it. Carter only bagged four sacks as a rookie. Look closer. His underlying metrics—the hurries, the quarterback hits—scream impending violence in Year 2. He was arguably the most lethal defensive prospect in the 2025 draft after terrorizing college offenses at Penn State. If he figures out how to stop the run in 2026, he becomes an unblockable nightmare.
And what about Malik Nabers?
He missed the cut. Blame the brutal knee injury he suffered last September against the Chargers, which shredded his ACL and meniscus. Nobody is trading a first-round pick for a wideout whose availability for the season opener remains a giant question mark. The talent is undeniable, but until he proves his knee can handle the turf, he stays off the market.
Of course, this is all academic. The Giants are building, not liquidating. But it is nice to know that if the ship starts sinking, the lifeboats are worth a fortune.
