Keep or Cut? A Look at the New York Giants Toughest Roster Decisions
The Giants' cutting of receiver Golden Tate and linebacker David Mayo came as little surprise and were two moves predicted on this site as making the most sense as starting points.
Since then, there have been other members of the Giants mentioned as being potential cut candidates, but realistically speaking, some of those mentioned might not make as much sense. So let’s run down a few more names brought up around the internet and try to determine what the Giants might do.
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OG Kevin Zeitler
If the Giants are looking for optimal cap savings on Zeitler, this year will make the most sense to cut his contract as it’s in the last year of his deal, and he’d yield $12 million in savings while only generating a $2.5 million dead money hit.
Whereas if Zeitler is extended for the sake of lowering his 2021 cap number, the Giants are simply kicking the can down the road, as illustrated in the mock contract I created, which lowers his current year cap number but which potentially increases the dead money hit.
There’s a lot to be said about keeping one of the team’s most consistent starting offensive linemen from the last two seasons, especially when your franchise quarterback is entering that all-important third-year of his career. That's why a restructure is likely the way the Giants will go.
TE Evan Engram
Has there been a more frustrating player for this team of late than Evan Engram? His size and skillet scream “matchup nightmare" for defenses, but his injury history and a case of the yips scream “overrated” even louder.
The Giants are set to pay Engram $6.013 million, the amount owed as part of his option year on his rookie deal. That amount ranks 14th among the average per year paid out at the tight end position and is probably why the Giants will stand pat.
Whether the Giants should stick with Engram is another story as, again, he hasn’t quite turned into the force everyone expected despite getting opportunity after opportunity. To be fair, some of that has been injury-related, but it’s certainly fair to wonder how much of it has been on Engram himself.
At the end of last season, head coach Joe Judge sounded like he wasn’t ready to give up on him just yet. Whether that was because the Giants didn’t have any better options or because they still think they can salvage Engram and help him become that force his talents indicate him capable of becoming is another story.
With Judge reportedly making a coaching change at that spot—Derek Dooley will take over for Freddie Kitchens as the tight ends coach while Kitchens becomes a senior offensive assistant—this could be Engram’s last chance to develop into that all-around player the Giants envisioned him being.
And while on the subject of tight ends, a more likely candidate to have his contract terminated is Levine Toilolo, who would yield a full $2.925 million cap savings with no dead money.
OG Will Hernandez
Last season, the evidence appeared to mount against Hernandez, the team’s second-round draft pick in 2018, as being on his way out, but it’s fair to ask how much of Hernandez’s being “Wally Pipp’ed” by Shane Lemieux was a result of the former’s bout with COVID-19.
But here’s the thing. If Hernandez was healthy enough to play, one might have thought he’d see a lot more snaps than the 95 total he saw following his return from COVID-19 (a total that included no offensive snaps in the team’s big Week 17 must-win against Dallas1).
In Hernandez’s case, one can’t help but wonder if he’s a fit for what the Giants require of their offensive linemen in this scheme, which is more athleticism and mobility, something Lemieux brought to the table despite his pass block struggles.
If Lemieux is the future at left guard and the Giants bring back Zeitler, where does that leave Hernandez? Obviously, as a backup who, unless he cross-trained at right guard last year, can only play one position.
If that’s the case, there isn’t that much of a valid reason to keep him on the roster other than for the fact he’s still young and he’s on his rookie deal.
Punter Riley Dixon
Dixon’s a new name to surface as a possible cut candidate, especially after his inconsistent 2020 campaign in which he finished 25th in the NFL in net punting average.
Holding a $2.925 million cap charge in 2021, Dixon would yield a $2.75 million savings with only $250,000 dumped into the dead money ledger.
The Giants could then pursue a “cheaper” option, such as Pat O’Donnell, who has experience punting in all kinds of weather conditions thanks to his seven seasons in Chicago.
Last year when speaking about kickers, head coach Joe Judge mentioned how he had an affinity for older kickers because they had figured out how to take optimal care of themselves in addition to fine-tuning their routines.
O’Donnell just turned 30 last month and has never missed a game, who made him a sixth-round draft pick back in 2014. He has a career net punting average of 39.3 yards and is coming off a two-year, $3.5 million contract.
If he’d be willing to come in on a deal that averages half of what the Giants would save by cutting Dixon, then why not make the move?
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