As New York Giants training camp approaches, head coach Brian Daboll and his staff will soon have to start cutting down the Giants roster to 53 by the end of the preseason. Not all the G Men who won’t end up on the team need to be cut, though. Some have value to other teams, and the Giants could put them on the trading block. With that in mind, here are three potential Giants trade candidates heading into 2023 training camp, including running back Matt Breida, wide receiver Sterling Shepard, and defensive tackle Vernon Butler.
RB Matt Breida
Veteran running back Matt Breida is a player who Brian Daboll brought with him from the Buffalo Bills to the Giants last season. New head coaches often do this to help instill their culture and brand of football with their new franchise.
Daboll did that in spades last season, immediately turning the Giants from a 4-13 squad to a 9-7-1 playoff team. Now, his concerns have to be more about talent than culture entering his second Giants training camp.
At the RB position, Daboll has Saquon Barkley as his starter and Gary Brightwell as the RB3 and kick returner. That means there may be just one spot on the final roster for another runner, and Breida and rookie fifth-round pick Eric Gray from Oklahoma.
Gray is a talented back with all-around skills that could make him the heir apparent to Barkley, who will play this season on the franchise tag, not a long-term deal. In Gray’s last season for the Sooners, he ran for 1,366 yards on 213 carries and scored 11 rushing touchdowns. He also caught 33 balls for 229 yards.
All this makes Breida the most likely odd man out. And if the Giants trade him instead of simply cutting him, they could potentially get a late-round draft pick for their troubles, as Breida is a reliable, proven backup RB with a history of solid play in the NFL.
WR Sterling Shepard
Just like the Giants training camp will see a talented running back not make the team, some players at the wide receiver position will suffer the same fate. The team will likely carry six WRs, and there are at least nine wideouts who could make a case to be on the final 53-man roster.
Isaiah Hodgins, offseason free-agent acquisition Parris Campbell, rookie third-round pick Jalin Hyatt, and second-year WR Wan'Dale Robinson will definitely be on the squad. That leaves just two spots for veterans like Darius Slayton, Sterling Shepard, Collin Johnson, Jamison Crowder, and David Sills.
Shepard is the longest-tenured New York Giants player right now, having spent his entire seven-year NFL career in New Jersey. However, he simply hasn’t stayed healthy in recent campaigns. He’s played just 10 games in the past two seasons and missed 10 games in the two seasons before that.
It may be best for all involved for the Giants to trade Shepard somewhere so he can get a fresh start at 30. A new location, new coaches, and new training staff might help the talented wideout stay on the field and get the Giants a pick in return.
Plus, it will give Johnson, Crowder, and Sills a chance to make the team, and those players all offer something a little different than Shepard or other pass-catchers on the roster, especially the 6-foot-6 Johnson.
DT Vernon Butler
The last position group with a lot of competition is on the defensive side of the ball. That’s where Vernon Butler sits at the back end of a talented DT depth chart.
Butler is another former Bills player who came south with Brian Daboll in 2022. He’s a solid player and a 2016 first-round pick, but the Giants' D-line room is starting to get a little crowded.
This offseason heading into Giants 2023 training camp, the franchise gave nose tackle Dexter Lawrence a four-year, $90 million contract extension and signed free agents Rakeem Nunez-Riches and A’Shawn Robinson. That will make up the core group this season along with Pro Bowl DT Leonard Williams.
After that, the Giants roster also boasts some promising youngsters like DJ Davidson, Jordon Riley, and Kobe Smith. Unless the Giants want to try and stash one or two of these young DTs on the practice squad, it is likely Butler who will face the ax.
That said, teams are always in need of big bodies up front — on both sides of the ball – and Butler is a solid player. A Giants trade could send him to a team that truly needs leadership and D-tackle depth in a way Big Blue does not right now.
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