The New York Giants didn’t sit still at the 2026 NFL trade deadline, even if the final result left them empty-handed on the splash front.
After landing former No. 10 overall pick J.J. McCarthy, the Giants were clearly hunting for another difference-maker to help push them toward the NFC East.
They didn’t just kick the tires on a running back market that had already gotten expensive. According to ESPN’s Jordan Raanan, New York actually called the Atlanta Falcons about Bijan Robinson.
That’s a massive swing, especially considering the kind of season Robinson is having. He leads the NFL with 880 rushing yards through nine games, and he also owns the fifth-most career scrimmage yards before age 25 in NFL history. To even get Atlanta to listen, the Giants would have needed to put together a monster package - the kind that likely would have emptied their draft cupboard for the next three years.
The asking price was always going to be a problem. Jonathan Taylor stayed put with the Colts despite the rumors and his goodbye message, and multiple teams backed away from that chase once the cost became clear. The Giants were among those who officially pulled out of a multi-pick offer for Taylor before turning their attention elsewhere.
Atlanta, though, was never likely to move Robinson. The Falcons see him as the face of the franchise, and they backed that up this offseason with a three-year extension worth up to $75 million after he put together a franchise-record 2,298 scrimmage yards in 2025.
So the blockbuster never got close. The Falcons are still in the thick of the lowly NFC South, and the Giants will have to move forward with what they have as they try to hold off the Cowboys.
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