A pair of Week 9 reports suggests the New York Giants may be the team most aggressively pursuing a trade for Indianapolis Colts star running back Jonathan Taylor.

This will be an interesting next week for the Giants. Heading into the Week 9 NFL schedule, they own a 4-2-1 record and sit atop the NFC East standings. This time last year, they were a team that NFL observers thought should be sellers. Now they can take a hard look at the trade market to find upgrades for a run at the division title in the second half.

The word around the team is that improving their defensive line and backfield is the top priority for head coach John Harbaugh and general manager Joe Schoen. When it comes to running back, the pie-in-the-sky target is the three-time Pro Bowler. Yet, while the Giants are reportedly involved in trade talks that started over the weekend, they are competing with teams like the Minnesota Vikings and Denver Broncos in the Taylor sweepstakes.

After giving up a fifth-rounder in a September trade for JJ McCarthy, a Tuesday report from NFL insider Jordan Schultz suggested the lack of a fourth- and fifth-rounder is a major hurdle for the team in ongoing trade discussions. Yet, that may still not stop Big Blue from getting a deal done.

NFL insider wouldn’t be ‘surprised’ if New York Giants win Jonathan Taylor trade chase

In a new trade deadline report from ESPN, Dan Graziano boldly claimed about Taylor, “I would guess he gets traded, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it was the Giants who made that move.” Yet he wasn’t the only NFL insider who suggested Giants management is very serious about adding the star running back.

In a seperate Wednesday report, SNY’s Connor Hughes revealed a story about how an NFL decision-maker explained to him once that a move like this for a top-notch RB should be “the cherry on top” to a roster that is ready to compete for a title. He noted the Philadelphia Eagles signing Saquon Barkley two years ago was a perfect example of this theory.

Yet, despite Hughes viewing the move as a bit of a risky overreach for where the team’s roster is currently, he noted: “It kind of feels like the Giants are approaching this like Jonathan is the cherry on top.”

The NFL insider also claimed that until Taylor is traded elsewhere, the Giants should be considered a very serious contender for the Colts RB. “Until the trade deadline passes, and he is still on the Colts and not on the Giants, this thing is not going anywhere because it is very, very clear the Giants want him,” Hughes said.