


The Giants need corners badly, but it was the Atlanta Falcons who landed a former top-3 pick on the cheap.
The Falcons acquired Jeff Okudah from the Detroit Lions on Tuesday in exchange for a fifth-round pick in this month’s draft, according to reports.
Okudah, 24, the third overall pick of the 2020 NFL Draft out of Ohio State, hasn’t lived up to his billing in the pros yet.
But he’s a 6-1, 202-pound corner with first-round talent, upside, and a pick-6 on his resume from a Week 10 NFC North win over the Chicago Bears last season.
He played in only 10 total games in his first two NFL seasons due to injuries that included a hamstring, a core injury and a torn Achilles.
Then Okudah started and played in 15 of the Lions’ 17 games last season with 73 tackles, seven passes defended, two tackles for loss, an interception returned for a touchdown and a forced fumble.
The Lions made this decision with Okudah, a draft pick of previous GM Bob Quinn, entering the fourth-year of his rookie contract.
Detroit had the option of picking up Okudah’s fifth-year option but instead dealt him to Atlanta, which now has Okudah’s $10.6 million cap hit for 2023 and the choice of picking up his option or extending him at some point if he earns it.
The Falcons’ trade for Okudah was described by ESPN as a collaborative process between Lions GM Brad Holmes and Falcons GM Terry Fontenot that clearly was kept fairly quiet.
Giants GM Joe Schoen sniffed out tight end Darren Waller’s availability in Las Vegas through early spring conversations with Raiders GM Dave Ziegler, though.
And while the Giants are tight against the cap, there can be no limit to the team’s eagerness to add young, developing, talented players if they’re only going to cost a late-round pick.
The Giants need corners in a big way on both the outside and in the slot.
Don Martindale’s depth chart is topped by Adoree Jackson, second-year player Cor’Dale Flott, recovering vet Aaron Robinson, the versatile Nick McCloud, slot Darnay Holmes and new additions such as former Duke player Leonard Johnson and former Lion Amani Oruwariye.
It could easily be argued, therefore, that corner is the roster’s No. 1 need in the first round of this year’s draft.
But it would have been nice to take a chance on a first-round talent with a fifth-round pick, too, and give Giants defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson even more tools in the secondary.
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