Dave Gettleman's Track Record Suggests He's Not Likely to Trade Down With Giants

Dave Gettleman was the Carolina Panthers’ General Manager for the previous five drafts, and then was fired abruptly last summer. He didn’t take long to get back in the game, and is returning to the draft with the New York Giants this year without missing a draft cycle. He’ll possess the 2nd pick and plenty of intrigue about where he should go, and in many ways can dictate how the rest of the draft proceeds.

I think it would be shocking if a team that has been in steady decline (yes, they made the playoffs two years ago, in a brief uptick, but haven’t won a playoff game since the Super Bowl after the 2011 season) doesn’t address quarterback of the future here. Regardless of the talk and smoke screens.

I’d also like to point out this nugget passed on from Kevin Cole–David Gettleman has never traded down. I had to go check it myself, and it’s true. In those five drafts with Carolina, Gettleman entered the drafts with 34 picks, be they from prior veteran player or draft trades, compensatory picks, or the assigned pick. Carolina left them with 27 picks made. All told, Gettleman traded up six times, and never traded down once. The one year that they had accumulated the most picks, before the 2015 draft with 9 selections, he made two different 3-for-1 trades to move up, leaving the draft with 5 selections made. (Trading up for Devin Funchess in the 2nd round was his earliest trade-up).

The Giants have 6 picks right now, after the latest trade of Jason Pierre-Paul to Tampa Bay. Now, we don’t know how Gettleman will view constructing this roster, which has more holes than the Panthers did four years ago. But he has been basically the anti-Belichick when it comes to trading philosophy over the last five years (Belichick is a net +5 on trading down, and all the trade-ups have come late in the draft).