Giants trade Eli Apple, Damon Harrison: What was gained and lost

The New York Giants made two unexpected trades this week, dealing starting defensive tackle Damon “Snacks” Harrison to the Detroit Lions and cornerback Eli Apple to the New Orleans Saints for draft picks.

So, why did they move these two players?

“Snacks” became a casualty of age and economics. He will turn 30 next month, was on the books for $4.5 million for the remainder of this year and had cap hits of $7 million and $9.25 million the next two seasons. When the Giants started to lose this year, he became a marked man. The Giants are deep on the defensive line and have younger and cheaper options in Dalvin Tomlinson, B.J. Hill and R.J. McIntosh.

Apple is only 23 and was a former first round pick back in 2016. He was only making $2.5 million, but it was clear that general manager Dave Gettleman wasn’t sure about him after a tumultuous 2017 campaign. But, the Giants gave him a second chance. When the Saints came calling, Gettleman pulled the trigger on Apple. He already has his replacement in Sam Beal, who was selected in the NFL Supplemental Draft in July, but is on injured reserve (IR) with an injured shoulder.

So, what was gained by these two trades?

The Giants gained approximately $8 million in cap space next season, putting them about $33 million under the cap. They’ll open up more space if they cut ties with quarterback Eli Manning and linebacker Olivier Vernon, which is more likely than not to happen now.

They picked up three draft picks in the deals – a 2019 fourth rounder and a seventh in 2020 from New Orleans and a 2019 fifth rounder from Detroit.

That gives them eight draft picks in each of the next two drafts. In 2019, they have a first, a second, two fourths, two fifths, a sixth and a seventh. They used their third rounder on Beal and the seventh rounder is the one they got from the Rams in the Alec Ogletree trade. In 2020, they have all seven of their picks plus the additional seventh from the Saints.

Other residual effects

The Giants will not have to worry about exercising Apple’s fifth-year option, which comes due next spring. The additional picks gives them latitude and capital to create packages to move up in the draft.

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