Giants' Multistep Plan to Crush Free Agency
There won’t be any free-agency “splashes” made by the New York Giants this off-season, and not just because the team is so strapped for salary cap space.
Instead, the Giants, under first-year general manager Joe Schoen, plan to take a systematic approach to fix a roster that last year finished 4-13 under the weight of a rash of injuries, head-scratching coaching decisions, an offensive scheme that in retrospect didn’t take full advantage of what the players did well.
So as Schoen, assistant manager Brandon Brown, head coach Brian Daboll and the rest of the decision-makers gear up for the start of the roster rebuild season, it’s important to remember that Lombardi Trophies have never been won in the off-season. Free agency isn’t about how many guys a team brings in. It’s not about landing the “name brand” athletes of the world.
And unless a team is one or two players away from making a run, it shouldn’t be about the “now” as much as it should be about the future, meaning the smart teams plan their salary caps for at least three years down the road to accommodate future transactions such as contract extensions and the unexpected.
It’s about fit, both in the team’s locker room and within the schemes of the coaching staff. And if the Giants’ three coordinators did what they’re being paid to do, they came up with a wish list of player types (not necessarily names) for Schoen and the front office to find for the team.
What else can the Giants do to crush free agency? Let’s take a look.
1. Don’t tender any of their RFAs.
The Giants have three players set to be restricted free agents (RFAs): fullback Cullen Gillaspia, safety Joshua Kalu and safety Steven Parker. With the lowest (rights of first refusal) tender set at $2.4 million, there is zero chance of any of those three receiving a tender, nor should they.
The Giants carried Gillaspia as a second fullback for his special teams value, a move that in retrospect wasn’t the best use of salary cap funds. Kalu tore his pectoral in the preseason, and Parker was an occasional fill-in whom, if the team wants back, can probably be had for a veteran minimum type of deal.
2. Don’t go crazy with tendering ERFAs.
The Giants’ exclusive rights free agents include safety J.R. Reed, quarterback Jake Fromm, guard Kyle Murphy, receiver David Sills V, and cornerback Jarren Williams. Under normal circumstances, a reserve/futures contract for each wouldn’t be a bad idea, but those contracts can add up for a team that has to be really selective about how it spends whatever cap money it can scrape together.
So far, that seems to be the approach the Giants have taken. They’ve signed Sills to a reserve/futures contract, but not the others, whom one might have thought would be done by now. Considering the others weren’t signed, that could very well indicate that the Giants are planning to move on from them, which would make sense.
3. Let most of the unrestricted free agents walk.
The Giants have 22 players set to become unrestricted free agents: offensive linemen Nate Solder (tackle), Will Hernandez (guard), Korey Cunningham (tackle); Billy Price (center) and Matt Skura (interior); defensive linemen Austin Johnson and Danny Shelton; tight ends Evan Engram and Levine Toilolo; safeties Jabrill Peppers and Nate Ebner; receivers John Ross, Dante Pettis, and C.J. Board, guard Will Hernandez; quarterback Mike Glennon; defensive back Keion Crossen; fullback Eli Penny; long snapper Casey Kreiter; inside linebackers Benardrick McKinney, Reggie Ragland, and Jaylon Smith; and outside linebacker Lorenzo Carter.
Of those 22, one could make a case for Price as a backup guard/center, though with Jon Feliciano having been released by the Bills, it probably wouldn't be a stretch to say he'd be the more attractive option to Daboll and Schoen.
A case could also be made for Board and Kreiter (for special teams) and for Jaylon Smith (depth). Some might argue that Carter deserves another chance, but this draft class is so deep in edge rushers the Giants might be better off using the money that they’d otherwise spend on Carter elsewhere.
I mentioned Smith because I didn’t think he played that badly last year in a limited engagement. With Blake Martinez now confirmed to be coming back after accepting a pay cut, an inside linebacker group of Martinez, Smith, Tae Crowder, and either a draft pick or Carter Coughlin (if healthy) could work well.
Engram, despite all his warts—and he has plenty—is another guy I think would have benefitted from the new system that is expected to merge the best of what Kansas City and Buffalo have to offer. That said, Engram not only will have a nice market for his services, both sides probably need a fresh start from one another (plus, there looks like there will be decent enough value in Day 2 and 3 in the draft for teams looking for tight ends).
Again, the Giants need to be judicious with their spending. But even if their cap situation was a lot healthier, it’s doubtful they’d bring back a lot of their soon-to-be UFAs anyway.
4. Get a solid backup quarterback.
No, it probably won’t be Mitchell Trubisky. But the backup quarterback needs to meet a few criteria. One, ideally, he will have a lot of games logged as a starter with a winning record or as close to a .500 record as possible. Two, he needs to have a strong arm and decent enough mobility. And three, his price tag needs to be reasonable.
Therein lies the challenge. Finding a guy who offers the first two points might preclude him from meeting criteria three. But if you’re the Giants, you offer that guy a contract that includes incentives for playing time (which he’d likely earn given Daniel Jones’s injury history so far), and you call it a day.
Marcus Mariota of the Raiders could be a name to watch, assuming the Colts don't go all out to land him after trading away Carson Wentz. Mariota is coming off a year in which his contract was amended to only cost $3.5 million, so maybe the Giants give him a similar type of deal (minus the no-trade clause) and throw in the aforementioned playing time incentives that could potentially increase the deal's value.
Another guy I wouldn't mind the Giants pursuing is Jacoby Brissett, who is 14-23 as a starter but who would meet most of the criteria I outlined. Brissett should be able to give Jones a little nudge as far as competition, which is something thus far Jones really hasn't had. And if Jones should have to miss time again this season due to injury, Brissett should be able to hold things down for a game or so.
5. Offensive line, offensive line, offensive line!
The offensive line is a glaring need, so much so that it's safe to say that this unit will be addressed via free agency and the draft.
The Giants signed offensive tackle Matt Gono to a contract, the terms of which aren't yet known as of this writing. That’s a start, but it’s not nearly enough. And although this coming draft class is said to be deep for offensive linemen, the Giants need to strike a mix between veterans and rookies for their revamped offensive line.
Ideally, their new offensive line would include a veteran at center, a young right tackle from the draft; at least one veteran guard (former Bills guard Jon Feliciano could be a name to watch); and a veteran center to orchestrate the entire operation, such as 26-year-old Brian Allen of the Rams who, per Spotrac, has a calculated market value of $5.4 million per year based on a five year, $27.141 million contract.
But with news of the Bills having released right tackle Daryl Williams, might the Giants spend there, or will they instead think long-term and go with a draft prospect? What they do over these next few days could be very telling regarding their plans for the offensive line.
6. Don't Rush into Free Agency
Ever since the legal tampering period was instituted, there's always been something of a mad rush by teams to land the top free agents. The Giants, however, can't afford to be one of these teams, not just because they don't have the money, but because sometimes signing the big names to big money isn't always the best strategy.
Remember, football is a team game. And if a team is ending up with five guys accounting for nearly 50 percent of their salary cap yet failing to match that with production (the situation the Giants were in prior to their trimming some fat off their cap), that's just not a sound strategy.
And if that's not enough to convince you that it's unwise to rush into free agency, remember that there is no such thing as winning the off-season; the teams who approach roster-building slow and steady are usually the ones in contention for the Lombardi.
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7. Stay away from chronically injured players.
If there was one thing that former general manager Dave Gettleman always used to say that was true, it was that "Injured players are going to get injured."
(Ironic, isn't it, considering Gettleman broke his own rule last year? But I digress.)
Look no further than what happened to the Giants last year with receiver Kenny Golladay, who was one of the top free agents on the market at any position despite coming off an injury-shortened season.
Yes, Golladay, who didn't record a single touchdown reception, was a regular on the team's weekly injury report. He missed half of training camp with a hamstring strain, and then he missed a few games during the season with a knee issue.
In short, we never really got to see a healthy Golladay build up that chemistry with quarterback Daniel Jones, who, week after week, didn't know who he was going to have in games.
Injuries happen, even to guys who have been relatively healthy most of their careers. But the Giants need to proceed with extreme caution on guys that are coming off significant injuries or who have a history of nagging issues that have cost them game or practice time in the past. Spending big money on those guys just doesn't seem to be a wise strategy, no matter how desperate the team might be.
8. Be Patient
The Giants might be tempted to trade cornerback James Bradberry or running back Saquon Barkley to the first team that comes along with a reasonable offer, but it's important that they don't let others dictate their actions or terms.
In other words, despite likely being desperate for salary cap space, don't make any moves until fully fleshing out what's available and weighing the pros and cons.
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