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The Giants are sending a clear message after trading cornerback Eli Apple to the New Orleans Saints, and dealing nose tackle Damon Harrison to the Detroit Lions, over the past 24 hours.
This is now a rebuilding team, focusing on accumulating draft capital for veteran players, with an eye towards playing young talent over the second half of the season.
The two biggest winners of the pair of trades that unloaded a pair of veteran starters are undrafted rookie free agent cornerback Grant Haley and second-year defensive lineman Dalvin Tomlinson.
Both should push for starting jobs as soon as Sunday against Washington at MetLife Stadium.
Last week, in a move first reported by NJ Advance Media, the Giants promoted Haley from the practice squad to the 53-man roster, after he was one of the team’s first undrafted free agent signings last spring.
Who could be next Giants to get dealt?
Haley spent his first week on the 53-man roster, mostly working out of the slot position in practice, according to an individual with knowledge of the situation.
In three seasons at Penn State, Haley primarily played nickel cornerback while also starring on special teams. During training camp, the Giants worked the 5-foot-9 and 190 pound cornerback primarily on the outside with the second-team defense, he should walk into a starting role with B.W. Webb taking the spot vacated by Apple’s departure.
Meanwhile, Tomlinson should start in the middle of the Giants’ defensive line, in place of Harrison.
Tomlinson has played just over 57 percent of the Giants’ defensive snaps this season, and should take on an expanded role. Through the first seven games of the season, Tomlinson has already accumulated 21 tackles.
Trading Harrison seemed inevitable after the Giants invested significant resources in the NFL draft along the defensive line back in April, adding B.J. Hill in the third-round and R.J. McIntosh in the fifth.
The Giants have three more weeks to decide whether McIntosh is healthy enough and ready to take the field before deciding whether to shut him down for the season on season-ending IR due to an undisclosed illness that cost him training camp, the preseason, and the first seven games of the regular season.
Looking ahead to 2019 and beyond — and perhaps much sooner than that depending on McIntosh’s health — the Giants defensive line could become Hill, Tomlinson, and McIntosh.
Matt Lombardo may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @MattLombardoNFL
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