Giants are doing a deep dive on Justin Herbert

For an hour or two during the Scouting Combine, someone suggested that the Giants were interested in quarterback Tom Brady. They weren’t.

Now, the impression is being created that the Giants are interested in quarterback Justin Herbert. They most likely aren’t.

“A draft tidbit to file away for Thursday,” tweets Ian Rapoport of the NFL. “The Giants have spent a lot of time researching Oregon QB Justin Herbert, a process that’s included FaceTime conversations with coach Joe Judge.”

The Giants surely won’t be drafting Justin Herbert a year after making quarterback Daniel Jones a top-10 pick (then again, with the Giants, who knows?). The far more likely explanation is that the Giants are hoping to know as much as they can about Herbert in order to engage in a meaningful negotiation, if a team drafting after No. 4 wants to move up and take him.

Teams that trade up during the draft are doing so for a specific player. The team potentially trading down will be in much better position to put a proper value on the player by studying him closely, and in turn to engage in a more effective negotiation.

The Chargers at No. 6 and the Panthers at No. 7 are teams that could try to do a deal with the Giants at No. 4, in order to get ahead of the Dolphins at No. 5. Ultimately, it could be the Dolphins who make the deal for a flip-flop in order to prevent the Chargers or the Panthers from moving ahead of them, if Herbert is Miami’s guy.