Matthew Stafford exchanges thoughts, DeShaun Watson, Giants, more

If you’re a New York Giants fan hoping the team will somehow pull DeShaun Watson away from the Houston Texans, your dream is probably dead with Saturday night’s hit Matthew Stafford-Jared Goff trade.

The Rams ditched Goff, a third-round pick in 2021 and first-round picks in 2022 and 2023 in exchange for Stafford. Stafford, 32, is good, but he’s seven years older and nowhere near player Watson.

If the Detroit Lions could get that for Stafford, the Texans would get a lot more than that for Watson if they ultimately choose to trade him.

If you’re the Giants, that probably means Daniel Jones, three first-round picks and one or more Day 2 picks.

Here’s an expected asking price in Houston:

My guess? It could go higher if two or three teams participate in the tender.

Now, sure, my philosophy is that when you find the quarterback that you think you can give yourself a shot at to compete for the titles for the next 10 years, you do what you have to do. The Giants, however, just don’t have much to give. Not, at least, without destroying their ability to put a good team around Watson.

The Giants have no additional choices at the start of the turn. The New York Jets, for example, have six top 100 picks this year and an additional first-round pick next year in Jamal Adams trading. The Jets could make that trade and still have enough picks early in the next two seasons to have a chance to put talent around Watson. The Giants would bankrupt their ability to add top young talent.

As for the trade itself, it’s an amazing “win now” move for the Rams. And, in my opinion, a good one. They have a great defense led by Aaron Donald, one of the best to ever play. They have a top level head coach. The quarterback game held them back. They don’t need to add much to be a title contender right now, they just needed a championship-level quarterback. Stafford has a much better chance of being that than Goff.

The Lions? They are full of choices and there are only two seasons of guaranteed money on the Goff deal. If he’s not the long-term fix in Detroit, he’s at least buying Lions time to find this guy.

More things than i think

• I can’t get mad about the Giants adding Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt to their coaching staff. Some people have been outraged since Pruitt was fired for cause when the school allegedly discovered serious NCAA violations under his direction. That doesn’t make Pruitt some sort of monster who should be treated like an outcast. This makes him the last player to reach a level above his actual abilities, proven when he couldn’t win or keep control of his schedule. Pruitt is apparently a very good defensive coach. If he can help Patrick Graham, cool. As far as I’m concerned, what happened in Tennessee has nothing to do with it.
• I think Chris Pflum, Joe DeLeone, Nick Falato, Mark Schofield and Emory Hunt [YouTube video recap] crushed our Senior Bowl cover. All I had to do all week was sit down and hit “publish”. Good job, gang!
• I think the Giants sign veteran center Jonotthan Harrison to a reserve / term contract with an unusual price of $ 2 million is an interesting move. I doubt that means competition for Nick Gates. This likely means the end of the Spencer Pulley save center, since the Giants can save $ 2.725 million by cutting against the hood by cutting Pulley. That doesn’t sound like a lot of money, but in a year when the cap goes down, even saving $ 725,000 might be worth it.