How will the Odell Beckham Jr. trade shake up Giants draft plans?

Giants fans are lamenting the loss of Odell Beckham Jr. right now, but this deal can’t be fully evaluated until Dave Gettleman executes his draft plans.

Dave Gettleman isn’t very popular with Giants fans after trading Odell Beckham Jr. to the Browns. The reality is that no final judgment should be made until the Giants are able to use the valuable draft picks they acquired in the deal.

The Giants receive the No. 17 and No. 95 picks along with safety Jabrill Peppers in exchange for Beckham. Add that to their No. 6 selection and Gettleman has a lot of draft capital to work with in April. The question today is how the Beckham deal might change what the Giants look to do when they are on the clock.

The best thing they can do is draft a quarterback in the first round. They’ve been linked to Ohio State’s Dwayne Haskins who could be available at No. 6, but don’t rule out the possibility that Gettleman may prefer another quarterback who could be available at No. 17 like Duke’s Daniel Jones who has been compared to Eli Manning.

Getting Peppers in this deal also will have a real impact on the Giants’ draft plans. The decision to let Landon Collins go originally gave Gettleman a major hole to fill at safety. Given the way the free agency market has already progressed, it was very likely the Giants would need to use a quality draft pick to solve that issue. Adding Peppers gives the Giants more flexibility to take the best player available when they’re on the clock.

Specifically, filling the need at safety with Peppers should allow the Giants to use one of their first round picks on either an offensive tackle or edge rusher. Considering the draft is flush with pass rushers, the Giants may use the No. 6 pick on an edge rusher like Josh Allen, Montez Sweat or Rashan Gary if they are available. If he waits until the No. 17 pick, the options on the edge are less appealing.

Gettleman makes no secret of his desire to win games in the trenches. Adding an extra first rounder and filling a need in the defensive backfield will make it even easier for him to grab the big body he likes early in the draft.

One thing the Beckham trade won’t do is force the Giants to draft a wide receiver with a high pick. That’s not something that the old school Gettleman is going to be remotely comfortable with. Look for them to double down on their desire to grind opponents with their run game. They might draft a wide receiver on Day Three, but it would be a major surprise to see the franchise try to replace Beckham Jr. with a receiver before then.