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Tom Canavan/Associated Press

What they needed to do

The New York Giants needed to reload. Not even rebuild, just reload. They needed to work on improving their relationship with superstar wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., they needed to move on from washed-up quarterback Eli Manning and they needed to be selective about who to keep and who not to keep. They needed to consider who was likely to be a part of the next era of Giants football and move on from everybody else.

What they did right

They moved on from pass-rusher Olivier Vernon, who wasn't worth his bloated salary, and they got a strong veteran guard in return. Kevin Zeitler can bring more stability to an oft-criticized offensive line, and he's a lot cheaper than Vernon. They also landed an extra first-round pick, another third-round selection and a solid young safety in Jabrill Peppers. All of those pieces can come in handy as they reload.

Where they went wrong

The problem is they gave up their most talented young player in exchange for Peppers and those draft picks. Beckham is a special player, and he's only 26 years old. The Giants had him under contract through 2023, and he and 2018 first-round back Saquon Barkley could have become one of the best offensive duos in football. Combined with Zeitler and Will Hernandez on the offensive line and Evan Engram at tight end, that'd be a hell of an environment for a rookie quarterback. But the Giants gave up on one of the most gifted players in football while continuing to pay their dinosaur quarterback $23.2 million at age 38. And then you give $9.4 million a year to Golden Tate? It's disgusting, it's malpractice and it has rightly turned general manager Dave Gettleman into a punchline.

What they should do now

This is beyond repair for 2019, but at least it should be Manning's final year. Time to draft his successor, as well as the best player available with the other of those two first-round picks. They also need an impact front-end defender, which should be possible with the No. 37 overall selection.