SEC Coach: Giants Were 'Pretty Livid' Eagles Traded Up to Draft DeVonta Smith

The Eagles and Cowboys made a surprise intradivisional trade in the 2021 NFL draft that allowed Philadelphia to leapfrog the New York Giants and select Alabama receiver DeVonta Smith.

Apparently, the Giants weren't too pleased with the NFC East swap.

"The Giants wanted DeVonta bad. They were pretty livid when Philly moved in front of them," one SEC defensive coordinator told Adam Rittenberg of ESPN.

The Eagles sent Dallas a third-round pick (No. 84 overall) for the price of moving up two spots and nabbing the reigning Heisman Trophy winner.

The Giants wound up making the best of a bad situation by trading back to No. 20, acquiring a 2021 fifth-round pick (No. 164 overall) and a first-round pick and fourth-round pick in 2022 from the Chicago Bears for their trouble. They used the No. 20 pick on Florida receiver Kadarius Toney.

Giants general manager Dave Gettleman told reporters the Eagles' trade up influenced their decision to move back: 

"That was part of it. Howie (Roseman) is not afraid to trade with anybody. I had a conversation with him earlier in the week and he said, 'Dave, do you have any problems trading with me?' I said, 'No, if it works for both of us, it works for both of us.' They made the trade and we decided to trade back."

The Cowboys, meanwhile, netted a third-round pick for the price of simply moving down two spots to No. 12 and still landed the player they wanted, Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons. It could be argued that playing their division foes against one another led to Dallas being the major winner in this scenario.