Joe Schoen and the Giants (2-7) didn’t trade Azeez Ojulari or Darius Slayton before Tuesday’s deadline. But they did release veteran corner Nick McCloud, according to a source, after spending months trying to squeeze him into a pay cut. McCloud, 26, started five of the Giants’ nine games on defense. He played 31% of the defensive snaps, splitting time outside and in the slot. And he served as a core special teamer, logging 50% of that workload. He was viewed as versatile and valuable by the coaching staff, and he is well-liked in the locker room by the other Giants players. But Schoen and the front office wanted a steep reduction in McCloud’s $3 million, non-guaranteed salary. So they cut him Tuesday when he wouldn’t accept it. Not trading Ojulari and Slayton risks losing a promising young pass-rusher and a reliable veteran weapon for nothing in free agency in the spring. Retaining them may help Schoen and Brian Daboll win a handful of games down the stretch to keep his their jobs. There is no reliable depth behind either player on the edge or at receiver on the roster. So trading them away might have reduced an already bad team to non-competitive. McCloud’s release, though, is an example of the cutthroat operation the Giants are running. McCloud was considered so valuable by coaches that defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson and special teams coordinator Michael Ghobrial were arguing on the sideline over his usage during the Giants’ 28-3 loss to the Eagles on Oct. 20, sources say. Henderson wanted and needed McCloud to play more snaps on defense. Cor’Dale Flott and Tre Hawkins both got hurt mid-game, and Deonte Banks quit on a Jalen Hurts scramble. But pulling McCloud over to the defense full-time required a reduction of his heavy special teams workload. And Ghobrial wasn’t interested in losing McCloud from his side of the ball. So McCloud played only 18 defensive snaps (27%) compared to 27 special teams snaps (84%), and Banks never got benched. McCloud got beaten by Eagles top receiver A.J. Brown for a 41-yard touchdown in the second quarter of that loss. Still, it is believed defensive coordinator Shane Bowen would have sat Banks down during the game if McCloud had been available to regularly play defense. “When you look at the Philly game, we’d lost corners early in the game,” Henderson said last week when discussing Banks staying on the field. “We were holding our anatomy to get out [of] the game and continue to play. And right there it was a situation where I’m like [looking around]. “We were already rotating guys at the other corner position, just because of injuries in the game and guys playing special teams and that demand on them,” he added. “There was a lot going on.” Schoen originally acquired McCloud from the GM’s former team, the Buffalo Bills, off waivers in Aug. 2022. As HBO’s Hard Knocks demonstrated, though, when Schoen doesn’t believe an asset is worth the investment, he cuts bait. GET YOUR KICKS The Giants also cut punter Matt Haack, signaling Jamie Gillan’s return in Germany after missing the past four games with a left hamstring injury while not going on injured reserve.