Giants GM didn't bother listening to trades for No. 2 pick in NFL Draft: 'Leave me alone'

The Giants are doing a pretty good job in the 2018 NFL Draft. Dave Gettleman is grabbing all the guys he wants, seeing the matrix on his draft board and he is feeling it. You can tell, because of the quotes he's dishing out.

Gettleman even started crowing a bit before he had a monster second day of the draft -- after the Giants grabbed Saquon Barkley with the No. 2 overall pick on Thursday in Round 1 of the draft, Gettleman took to the podium and let the world know how he felt about getting Barkley where he got him.

For starters, he pointed out that Barkley was "touched by God" and that he was the best player in the draft. He would have gotten the pick in within two seconds except he had to wait.

"We all had such a conviction on this kid that at the end of the day ... the only reason that pick wasn't in at 9:58 was because we had to wait until the five-minute mark," Gettleman said. "Otherwise it would have been in."

Gettleman also explained that he did not have any interest in trading out of the No. 2 pick, something he tried to make clear before the draft. 

"People call you and they want the second pick of the draft for a bag of donuts, a hot pretzel and a hot dog," Gettleman explained during his press conference. "Leave me alone. I don't have time to screw around."

That didn't sit well with everyone.

There is a very viable argument for Gettleman not doing the right thing here: he could have called the Jets, who were already at No. 3, and made them pay the Trubisky Tax to move up to No. 2 and guarantee they get the guy they wanted. Call the Jets and lie if you have to -- we're getting calls from other people about moving up (there was a rumor the Broncos were interested, although John Elway later denied it).

The thing that irked me wasn't his unwillingness to trade down, it was Gettleman mocking "analytics" by pretending to type on a keyboard at his press conference. He got his guy, he's betting on Barkley, let the production speak for itself.  

It's beneath him to lob shots at, uh, nerds. People are going to criticize picks and there is a viable argument that taking a running back with the No. 2 pick is not a great use of resources when there are potential franchise quarterbacks available as well as a defensive player like Bradley Chubb.

Having said that, give Gettleman credit for sticking to his guns. He said all along he was going to draft based on his board and he was going to take the best player available. Saquon Barkley checks both boxes for him, and he took his guy. 

Trading down carried risk, if the Jets decided to take Barkley, but they weren't doing that. They were locked into a quarterback. As soon as Mayfield went, the Jets were wide-eyed, not expecting to have the option to get Darnold at No. 3. Squeeze the lemon and demand a pick or two while threatening to trade down. That's how you play the game. Gettleman's draft is great, so he's going be able to pop off as much as he wants over the next four months or so. 

If he's right about Eli and Barkley, he'll be able to crow even longer, because it means the Giants are going to be good next year.

CBS Sports Senior Writer


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