New York Giants 2022 Training Camp Roster Preview: OT Matt Gono

Could offensive lineman Matt Gono be a surprise to make the New York Giants roster?

One of the first moves New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen made to fix the offensive line was to sign offensive tackle Matt Gono to a free-agent contract before the start of the 2022 league year.

The Liberian-born Gono, 6-foot-4, 305 pounds, grew up in Cinnaminson, New Jersey, and played his college football at Wesley College. Gono, 25 years old, originally signed with the Falcons as an undrafted free agent in 2018 and made the 53-man roster that summer as a reserve offensive lineman who would only see action in the Falcons' final regular-season contest.

The following year, Gono appeared in five games for the Falcons, and then in 2020, he saw his role increase, even more, appearing in 16 games for Atlanta with four starts and with most of his snaps at right tackle. Per Pro Football Focus, Gono played 376 offensive line snaps and allowed 17 pressures for a 95.9 pass-blocking efficiency rating.

That was good enough for the Falcons to place a second-round tender on Gono, who also has experience playing guard when he became a restricted free agent after the 2020 season. Gono eventually signed a one-year contract, but thanks to off-season surgery for an undisclosed issue, he spent the 2021 season on the reserve/physically unable to perform list.

Ultimately, the Falcons gave up on Gono, releasing him on January 28. The Giants decided he was worth taking a flier on, and he will compete with Korey Cunningham, among others, for the reserve guard/tackle role on the team.

What He Brings

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Gono has the desired length, and wingspan teams look for in their offensive tackles and has very good athleticism. His Relative Athletic Score coming out of Wesley College (where he dominated his competition) was 9.53 out of a possible 10.0, suggesting that he was on par athletic-wise with his fellow draft class members.

Gono has quick feet and good mobility. While he has enough strength to hold up as a tackle, his functional strength at guard and at the point of attack was a concern coming out of college.

Gono has also been guilty of bending at the waist a little too much. Overall, he is a player with a lot of upside but who also needs a great deal of refinement to his overall game before any thought can be given to making him a regular piece of the puzzle.

His Contract

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Gono signed a one-year deal worth $1.187 million. The deal contains $100,00 in guaranteed salary (his base salary being $1.035 million). He also received a $75,000 signing bonus and will get a per-game roster bonus of up to $52,500.

Gono's deal also included a $25,000 workout bonus. His contract, which counts for 0.5 percent of the Giants' total cap, will cost them just $175,000 in dead money if he doesn't make the roster and yield an $820,000 cap savings.

Roster Projection/Expectation

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The fact that Atlanta thought enough of Gono to place a second-round restricted free agent tender on a guy who initially was an undrafted free agent. That the Giants offered a per-game roster bonus as part of their contract to Gono might very well suggest that they could envision him as providing depth in the guard/tackle swing role for a year until rookie Josh Ezeudu is ready to take on the duty.

Gono's primary competition this summer will be Korey Cunningham, who is strictly an offensive tackle. With a strong camp, Gono, thanks to his position versatility, should edge out Cunningham, serving as the veteran stop-gap until Ezeudu is deemed ready by the coaches to take on that role (hence, the likely reason for the per-game roster bonus).

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