The Giants are looking at two spots as the 2026 NFL trade deadline approaches: running back and defensive tackle. On the defensive line, the biggest names are already gone, with DeForest Buckner and Jeffrey Simmons off the board. That leaves New York with the kind of short-term, incremental options that usually come with a deadline market this deep into the season.
At running back, the dream target is Jonathan Taylor of the Indianapolis Colts. But Taylor does not sound eager to move, and the asking price may be too steep for a Giants team that is not in a championship window. That shifts the conversation to a more realistic upgrade.
The name that makes the most sense is Tony Pollard.
Pollard wouldn’t bring the kind of workhorse presence Taylor does, and he wouldn’t give John Harbaugh the “Derrick Henry or Saquon Barkley circumstance” he would like to have. What he would give the Giants is a clear step up over Tyrone Tracy and Devin Singletary, while pairing with Cam Skattebo in a two-back setup.
The appeal starts with the production. Pollard, 29, has never averaged less than 4.0 yards per carry in his eight NFL seasons since the Dallas Cowboys took him in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft. He’s currently at 4.3 yards per carry for the Tennessee Titans and is on track for a career-high 1,171 rushing yards, which would also mark his fifth straight 1,000-yard season.
He brings value in the passing game, too. Pollard has caught at least 30 passes in each of the last five seasons.
The contract situation also makes him movable. Pollard is in the final year of a three-year, $21.75 million deal with Tennessee.
If the Giants traded for him, they would only owe the prorated portion of his $6.74 million 2026 base salary. Over 10 weeks, that comes out to $3.74 million.
Of course, there’s a reason this is not an easy call for Tennessee. The Titans are 1-6, but they’re still trying to help 2025 No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward develop into an effective NFL quarterback. That’s not going well, but shipping out their best running back would make the job even harder and strip away a big part of their run game.
If the Giants make a push, the likely price would be one of their two sixth-round picks in 2027, or a fifth- or sixth-rounder in 2028. The problem is that a bidding war could drive that number up, and Tennessee might decide Pollard is more useful to them than whatever draft pick comes back.
The Giants’ mid-round flexibility is limited, too. Their only currently tradeable mid-round pick in 2027 is a third-rounder.
They do not have a fourth-rounder, which went in the Malachi Fields deal, or a fifth-rounder, which went in the J.J. McCarthy deal.
There’s also the human side of it. Skattebo, Tracy, and Singletary looked like a close group at the end of the win over the Houston Texans. That kind of chemistry probably wouldn’t stop the Giants from making a move for Pollard, but it is part of the equation they have to weigh.
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