Hakeem Nicks Was the Right Move over Braylon Edwards

The Giants almost never had Hakeem Nicks on their team.

After  getting knocked out of the 2008 playoffs by the Eagles, the Giants needed to upgrade their receiving corps.

Mostly it was due to Plaxico Burress shooting himself in the leg in a New York nightclub in November of 2008, which not only ended his season, but changed the entire Giants offense, and not for the better..

The Giants played the rest of the 2008 season without a pure No. 1 receiver and a 23-11 postseason loss at home was the result.

There were a lot of rumors floating around that the Giants and the Cleveland Browns were in discussions to make a trade for wide receiver Braylon Edwards.

The Giants were looking for a big-body receiver like Burress to take his place as their new go-to guy for Eli Manning.

Then-Browns GM George Kokinis and Giants GM Jerry Reese had several negotiations on what they thought was a fair trade.

Reese was willing to surrender the second and fifth-round draft picks along with wide receiver/kick returner Domenik Hixon.

Kokinis wanted more from the Giants and Reese.

At first, he wanted the second and third-round picks, but instead of Hixon, he wanted Steve Smith or defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka.

Reese was very hesitant to deal away Smith along with two draft picks.

Kokinis then got even more greedy and asked for the Giants' first and third-round picks along with Kiwanuka, and that ended up being the deal breaker for Reese.

The Giants then went on to draft Hakeem Nicks in the first round, Will Beatty in the second round and Ramses Barden in the third round.

My focus of this isn't as much on Beatty or Barden, because they haven't made the type of impact Nicks has.

Nicks on the other hand, has been nothing short of sensational for the Giants in three years,

In his rookie season, he played 14 games and caught 47 passes for 790 yards and six touchdowns. Nicks battled some injuries that year, but we all saw that the Giants had a future star on their hands.

In 2010, Nicks caught 79 passes for 1,052 yards and 11 touchdowns and in 2011, he caught 76 passes for 1,152 yards and seven touchdowns.

Edwards on the other hand, has not been the No. 1 type receiver that the Giants were trying to trade for.

He hasn't had a 1,000-yard season since 2007. His best season with the Jets was in 2010, catching 53 passes for 904 yards and seven touchdowns. This year with the 49ers, he played in nine games and caught 15 passes for 181 yards and no touchdowns.

Edwards' future in the NFL isn't certain. He could go back to the Jets where he had some success, but he's not the No. 1 receiver everyone once thought he was.

Nicks' future with the Giants and in the NFL is as bright as can be, and his career is only getting started.

Just imagine if the Giants caved in and dealt for Edwards out of desperation?

There's a chance they wouldn't be playing in Super Bowl XLVI in two weeks.

Three years later, it's definitely safe to say Reese made the right choice in not trading away the possibility of getting Nicks for a sub-par Edwards.

Edwards ended up being released because he couldn't stay healthy, and he didn't play in the playoffs for the 49ers.

Nicks is a huge reason why the Giants might win their second Super Bowl in less than five years.

It goes to show that some of the best trades are the ones you don't make. Reese got it right with Nicks.