Giants acquire former first-round pick Isaiah Simmons from Arizona
The Cardinals' Isaiah Simmons runs drills during training camp on July 31 in Glendale, Ariz. Credit: AP/Matt York
In the NFL, some trades are more intriguing than others.
On Thursday morning, the Giants made a deal for Arizona strong safety/linebacker Isaiah Simmons, who was once the eighth overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft.
The cost? A 2024 seventh-round pick.
This qualifies as intriguing. Mostly because you can only imagine the ways defensive coordinator Wink Martindale can utilize Simmons and his athletic ability.
The potential surely was worth that price.
Simmons played collegiately with Dexter Lawrence, who was the Giants' first-round draft pick in 2019.
A year later, the Cardinals selected Simmons who was expected to revolutionize the game with his position flexibility.
Highly decorated coming out of college, Simmons won rave reviews from draft experts. NFL.com noted his “rare versatility and matchup potential” and that his athleticism “allows coordinators freedom in game-planning.”
Coach Brian Daboll met Simmons over the phone on Thursday morning.
“He’s almost 6-4, around 240, explosive [and was a] high pick. I said hello to him, [we] introduced ourselves. We'll put him in our system and start teaching him our stuff.”
Simmons can play a variety of roles.
“I'd say let's get him here first and then kind of see what he does,” Daboll said. “I think he has some multiple-role potential, but again, we’ve got to see it.”
Simmons has played mostly at inside linebacker in his career, but also can play on the edge or in the secondary.
Since the offseason, the Cardinals and Simmons have seemed to be on a collision course. The team signaled in May its valuation of Simmons, declining to pick up his fifth-year option in 2024.
In a meeting earlier in the year, according to the Cardinals website, Simmons told first-year coach Jonathan Gannon that he did not want to play linebacker. That led Arizona general manager Monti Ossenfort to refer to trading Simmons as “a culmination,” again, according to the team website.
The idea that Simmons doesn’t want to play linebacker has the potential to become a storyline with the Giants. Of course, it also may help that Martindale considers his a “positionless defense” that is generally player friendly and ultra-aggressive.
Simmons played 25 snaps for Arizona in his second preseason game last week at safety. He made a switch to defensive back this offseason after playing linebacker in his first three seasons under former coach Kliff Kingsbury and former defensive coordinator Vance Joseph.
Perhaps Simmons will find the Giants’ defensive flexibility to his liking. That is the kind of scenario that make the acquisition of Simmons particularly intriguing.
“Again, that's one of the reasons why we made the trade,” Daboll said. “We thought there's some upside there. 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 athletic, explosive, has good size. I've seen him do some multiple things. So until we get him here, I'll give you a better answer, but certainly happy to have him.”
The 25-year-old Simmons has made 37 starts in his career and has not missed a game. Over the past three seasons, he has been credited with 258 total tackles, 7.5 sacks, seven forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and four interceptions.
According to the Cardinals website, Simmons lined up in the slot on 45.6% of defensive snaps last season. He played in the box for the majority of his remaining snaps. He also saw time at free safety and cornerback. It will be interesting to hear Martindale’s assessment of Simmons in man coverage. A rangy athlete, Simmons clearly could be asked to cover in space.
Whatever the case, the trade offers little risk for the Giants. The possible upside? Significant. Especially if Martindale and Simmons can make a connection. Obviously, Simmons won’t play Saturday night against the Jets in the preseason finale.
After that, anything seems possible.
Kimberly Jones covers the Giants for Newsday, a beat she first worked in the early 2000s before joining the YES Network to cover the Yankees. She worked for the NFL Network for more than a decade and has been heard semi-regularly on WFAN.
