It was no secret the Giants wanted to select a cornerback in the first two days of the 2021 NFL Draft. They would have taken Patrick Surtain II or Jaycee Horn in the first round, but both were off the board, prompting the Giants to trade down.

Two rounds later, the Giants traded up to get one, moving from No. 76 to 71 in the third round Friday night to get Aaron Robinson from Central Florida.

“The value we had on Aaron, I just didn’t want to sit and wait,’’ general manger Dave Gettleman said. “He’s a press corner, and really fits what we do and who we want to be on defense.’’

Robinson started the past two years at Central Florida after transferring from Alabama. The Giants admittedly did not know much about him early in the process.

“I was sitting here through the pandemic, threw on the UCF tape and his instincts, his toughness and his tackling jumped out to me,’’ director of college scouting Chris Pettit said.

Two meetings with Robinson at the Senior Bowl went a long way toward the Giants giving him their stamp of approval.

“This guy’s got a good personality, he really lights up,’’ head coach Joe Judge said. “On the field when he makes a play his teammates immediately sprint to him, you can see he has a bond with his teammates.’’

The Giants see Robinson as a physical corner who can play in the slot, and perhaps on the boundary, as well. They have James Bradberry and newly signed Adoree’ Jackson as their starting corners, and Darnay Holmes, Sam Beal and Isaac Yiadom also are on the roster. The Giants liked Robinson enough to trade up for him.

“Thank those guys for believing in me,’’ Robinson said. “That just pushes me to want to get up there and work 10 times harder for some guys who believed in me.’’