The Falcons came away from the trade deadline empty-handed, leaving many fans disappointed. The club was connected to a number of pass rushers ahead of Tuesday’s deadline, but Azeez Ojulari was the target of which Atlanta was linked to most.
Dianna Russini revealed the Giants’ asking price of a late fourth-round pick or early fifth-rounder for the Georgia native. A new report from Dan Graziano of ESPN also brought to light that teams that checked in, which could presumably mean the Falcons, but Joe Schoen was the issue.
“Teams that checked in on Ojulari said Giants general manager Joe Schoen was asking for too much and never really moved, as he was only going to deal if he got his price,” Graziano writes.
The Giants have invested considerable resources in Brian Burns, Dexter Lawrence, and Kayvon Thibodeaux, so it’s highly unlikely they will re-sign Ojulari at season’s end. At 2-7, it doesn’t make much sense to hang onto a pending free agent that will almost assuredly walk. A competent general manager would have waited as long as he liked, but at the end of the day, Ojulari should have been auctioned off to the highest bidder.
Of course, asking a GM or head coach to actively make their roster worse, which could impact their jobs, isn’t always easy. In that same breath, Schoen and Brian Daboll’s jobs are secured, John Mara said earlier in the season. Another factor is that the Giants could expect to receive a compensatory pick when Azeez Ojulari leaves for free agency. However, they’re expected to be active in free agency, so any significant signing would cancel out Ojulari’s compensatory pick.
It seems like a bad franchise doing bad franchise things. For the Falcons, Terry Fontenot very well could’ve made a reasonable offer, but it takes two sides to tango. Joe Schoen has to agree to the deal, and the Giants never moved off their initial asking price.
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Photographer: Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire
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