The hot air balloon known as Rex Ryan is leaking again. How else do you explain this when asked about Buffalo Bills wide receiver Sammy Watkins becoming injury prone?



"Has he missed a little time? Yeah. Big deal. He and everyone else," Ryan told Sports Illustrated's Don Banks. "The [Odell] Beckham kid came out the same year, and he missed how many games with a hamstring issue?

"Believe me, I was trying to trade for him [with the Jets] when he had the hamstring. I was reading the [New York] papers, and I was like, 'Well, hell, we'll take him.' But Sammy's not even going to miss any time. He's going to be ready to roll when it matters."

Beckham, of course, is the Giants superstar wide receiver. He's crushed records in his first two professional seasons. The first-round pick surpassed Randy Moss for most receiving yards in his first two years.

So let's get this all straight. Ryan, the former Jets coach, was asked about Watkins' current foot injury and threw in two lines that he was trying to trade (in retrospect, of course) for Beckham before he ever played a game with the Giants.

Who is buying this? We never heard about it at the time, and this is the same Rex Ryan that has never made a personnel mistake, according to Rex Ryan.

Beckham was the 12th overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft. He missed pretty much all of training camp, the entire preseason and the first four games his rookie season. Everyone was frustrated.

But clearly the Giants were never going to give up on their first-round pick before he ever played a game, and the idea that such a player would even be available via trade at this point of his career seems silly.

But this is Ryan, king of the silly. So he seemed to throw in those lines as if they made complete, total sense and helped him prove a point.

Something tells me those phone calls to the Giants were never made. Maybe, at best, Ryan joked about it during the annual Snoopy Bowl between the crosstown rivals in the preseason.Something also tells me that Ryan doesn't have general manager Jerry Reese on speed dial.

But Ryan is now on record as saying he tried to trade for Beckham. Of course, it would've been a genius move.

Now, just to recap the early legend of Beckham (in retrospect): Chip Kelly had him ranked as the top receiver and Ryan tried to trade for him before he ever played a game.

Got it.

TALK IS CHEAP, Ep. 53: How Giants can improve roster before training camp

Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud or iHeartRadio.

Jordan Raanan may be reached at jraanan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JordanRaanan. Find NJ.com Giants on Facebook.