After months of negotiations, the New York Giants finally managed to lock up their star quarterback in Daniel Jones to a long-term extension. Say what you want about the deal itself, but the Giants managed to keep their quarterback of the future in town. Now that Jones is sticking around, though, other moves need to be made, and one such move that falls into that category involves making a trade for DeAndre Hopkins.
All throughout the 2022 season, the Giants managed to skate by without a truly top-tier wide receiver for Jones to throw to. That was offset by their dynamic ground-game, led by Jones himself and star running back Saquon Barkley, but the stakes have been raised exponentially for both New York and Jones as a result of this deal. They can't trot out the same subpar receiving corps that they did last season and expect to take a sizable step forward.
Luckily for New York, their receiving corps was so bad that it shouldn't take much work to upgrade it this offseason. However, one option stands out among the rest of the bunch this offseason, and that's Hopkins, the Arizona Cardinals star wide receiver who could be on the move via trade. With Jones locked up to a long-term deal, the Giants need to turn their atttention to making a move for Hopkins, and here's why.
Giants need to trade for DeAndre Hopkins
The 2022 campaign was a breakout season for Jones, both on the ground as a rusher and in the air as a passer. Jones' numbers as a passer aren't necessarily bad, but first-year head coach Brian Daboll found a way to make things easier for Jones in the air, and he translated it into a solid if unspectacular season in the air (317/472, 3205 YDS, 15 TD, 5 INT).
Of course, this isn't necessarily the end of the world considering Jones' impact on the ground (120 CAR, 708 YDS, 7 TD), but again, everything is different now. Jones got the huge deal he wanted; now he's going to have to take another step forward as a passer in 2022.
Jones isn't going to be alone in the quest to make that possible for him, though. The front office has to help him out a bit. The only two receivers for the Giants that had over 500 yards receiving last season were Darius Slayton and Richie James, and it's worth noting that there were five games on the season where James didn't even accrue ten receiving yards.
Upgrades are needed here, and that's where Hopkins comes into play. The Cardinals endured a horrible 2022 campaign, with one of their few bright spots being the play of Hopkins. Despite playing in just nine games, Hopkins was wildly productive (64 REC, 717 YDS, 3 TD) proving that he can still be the top option in the passing game.
Arizona is in a messy spot, with tons of concerns regarding quarterback Kyler Murray flaring up, and a completely new coaching staff taking over. Hopkins has become a trade candidate for them as a result, and unsurprisingly, he's garnering a ton of interest on the trade market. There are lots of teams that need a top-tier wideout, but do any of them have more to lose than the Giants by not trading for Hopkins?
Think about it; New York has put all of their chips on the table, and the offseason hasn't even really started yet. Jones is getting paid $40 million a year at this point, and they also just placed the franchise tag on Barkley. While he hasn't been extended yet, the two key pillars of this team's offense are going to be sticking around for quite some time.
But they aren't going to be able to win a Super Bowl on their own, which we saw this season. That means they need serious upgrades at their wide receiver position. Slayton is a decent secondary receiver, but he should never be leading his team in receiving yards at the end of the season. Even if the Giants add Hopkins, they still would likely have to bring in more help at the position behind him.
Re-signing Jones is one thing, but the Giants have to realize the work cannot end here. They need to continually find ways to upgrade their supporting cast around Jones in hopes that it will help him continue to grow as the leader of the offense, and the easiest way to accomplish that this offseason would be to go out and trade for Hopkins.
It's not the only hole this team has to fix right now, but it may be their biggest, and if they can manage to land Hopkins, New York would immediately be a team worth worrying about for the 2023 season and beyond.
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