On Thursday, the New York Giants added some talent to their defense when they acquired LB/DB Isaiah Simmons from the Arizona Cardinals for a seventh-round pick in 2024, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Simmons, the eighth pick in the 2020 draft, had his fifth-year option declined in the offseason, making him a free agent at the end of the season.
With the addition of Simmons, Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale has another toy.
The 25-year-old can play multiple positions on defense, including safety, linebacker, and corner.
Giants head coach Brian Daboll said the team made the trade because of Simmons’ versatility.
“Again, that’s one of the reasons why we made the trade,” Daboll said. “We thought there’s some upside there. Again, we’ll put him in; we’ll ask him to do probably quite a bit of things just to see what he takes to. A guy that’s, again, athletic, explosive, has good size. I’ve seen him do some multiple things. So again, until we get him here, I’ll give you a better answer, but certainly happy to have him.”
Daboll credited Giants GM Joe Schoen for adding more talent to the defense.
“(General manager) Joe (Schoen)’s done a good job with his staff of, again, just evaluating and keeping conversations open about a number of players, him being one of them,” Schoen said. “Again, he’s almost 6’4”, around 240, explosive, high pick. So, just got off the phone with him a little while ago, said hello to him, introduced ourselves. We’ll put him in our system and start teaching him our stuff.’
Last season, the four-year veteran started 13 games for the Cardinals and recorded 99 tackles, including four sacks and two interceptions, one he returned for a touchdown.
Simmons could replicate Tony Jefferson and Landon Collins’s role for the Giants last season, as both players played the linebacker/safety in Martindale’s defense.
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