Who is Giants' Biggest Offseason Departure?

Saquon Barkley was named the Giants' most significant off-season loss by CBS Sports, but we disagree. Here's why.

Shane Bowen on Giants Defense's Progress /

The New York Giants and running back Saquon Barkley wanted to be together for the long term, but it was not meant to be.

It was not meant to be, as the Giants, knowing that Barkley sought to be paid like a top running back in the league, weren't willing to offer him more than the $10 million per year range that he eventually got from the Philadelphia Eagles.

And so, with Barkley having taken his talents to Philadelphia, which was willing to pay him, the Giants' non-move to retain one of their best offensive players made CBS Sports’ list as the Giants’ most notable off-season departure, ahead of safety Xavier McKinney.  

The Giants, who seem to gravitate toward a more deep passing attack anyway, signed Devin Singletary, the Texans’ leading rusher last year.

While Singletary hasn’t been the high-volume back that Barkley has been, he’s been productive, posting a better career success rate than Barkley and showing he’s more durable.

The rest of the running backs committee figures to be rookie Tyrone Tracy, Jr. and Eric Gray, with Jashaun Corbin and Dante Miller slugging it out this season for the remaining spot if the Giants go with four. 

Former Giants safety Xavier McKinney, now with the Green Bay Packers. / Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

While Barkley is a good–and obvious–choice for the most significant departure, our choice for the most notable Giants departure is McKinney.

Last year’s starting safety is one of two players to play every single snap (inside linebacker Bobby Okereke is the other).

Unlike at running back, where the Giants replaced Barkley with an established veteran, the Giants are turning toward youth to replace McKinney. This past spring, the team had third-year man Dane Belton take snaps at safety alongside Jason Pinnock. 

Second-round pick Tyler Nubin, the player projected to inherit McKinney’s starting role eventually, also took some snaps. Still, he didn’t take as many first-team snaps, at least in those practices open to the media.

Head coach Brian Daboll downplayed that. “I would say this is OTAs, but ones, twos, three–a lot of people mixing in there. Nubin is taking snaps with all of them,” he said. 

“You watch them over in individuals a lot of times. People are going through it, and he's over there to the side before he gets his rep doing the same thing as (Jason) Pinnock. He asks a lot of questions and is very attentive. I’m glad we have him.”

Daboll was asked about his expectations for Nubin. 

“Yeah, I think we throw them out there, give them as many reps as we can, do as much individual technique work as we can, and it's really up to the player in terms of how they progress, the production they have, the assignment execution we want them to have,” he said.

“Regardless where they're drafted, whatever round, free agent, you try to play the best guys.”   

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