CBS Sports Picks Giants as One of Five Teams That Could Have an Unhappy 2024 Season

The 2024 NFL roster-building season hasn't even begun yet, but that hasn't stopped Jeff Kerr of CBS Sports from including the New York Giants as one of five teams poised to take a major fall in the upcoming season.

(Like falling from 9-7-1 in 2022 to 6-11 in 2023 wasn't big enough? But I digress.)

Kerr's reasoning for the Giants' inclusion on a list that also includes the New Orleans Saints, Cleveland Browns, Denver Broncos, and Minnesota Vikings is as follows:

There are some teams that really weren't as good as their record indicated -- and one of them was the Giants. Even though New York finished 4-3 in its last seven games, was there any reason to feel optimistic about the team at the conclusion of the season?

This is a point that Justin Penik of the "Talkin' Giants" podcast made on a recent appearance of the Locked On Giants podcast, the clip of which you can see in the video above. Penik noted that the Giants 2-8 record to start the season, in which a significantly banged up Giants team was outscored 266-118 and had five blowout losses, was of major concern.

But on the flip side, one might argue that the Giants, were it not for a slip-up in each contest, should have won two of those games against the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets, which would have made their record in that stretch 4-6.

But yeah, you know the old saying..."Woulda, coulda, shoulda, didn't."

But getting back to Kerr's reasoning to include the Giants on this list, he lists other concerns such as running back Saquon Barkley's pending free agency, quarterback Daniel Jones's huge cap hit despite there being no assurance of him being ready to play Week 1, and the defense needing to learn a new system under Shane Bowen, hired to replace Wink Martindale.

All of this, plus the statement, "Even if Jones plays, he'll be playing behind an offensive line that's perpetually poor (allowed 85 sacks last season)," gives Kerr little hope that the Giants will start to trend upward in 2024.

And therein lies the problem with the analysis. If general manager Joe Schoen were to bury his head in the sand and declare all is well with the franchise, that would be a major cause for concern.

But he hasn't shown any indication of that being the case in his recent interviews. And quite frankly, it's too early to conclude that doomsday is coming to East Rutherford.

Schoen is undoubtedly aware of the problems with the offensive line, which has a new coach (Carmen Bricillo) in charge of that unit. He's acknowledged that they have to do something at quarterback since Tyrod Taylor will be an unrestricted free agent, and there are no guarantees Jones will be ready to go from his ACL tear in Week 1.

He's also said that the plan is to meet with Barkley's agents at the combine, which begins in two weeks, to see if the two sides can't come to a common ground to grant the running back's desire to be a Giant for life.

And as far as the defensive players needing to learn a new system? Can it really be any worse than a defensive unit that finished 27th overall, 29th against the run, 19th against the pass, 28th in first downs allowed, 25th in red zone conversions allowed, and 23rd in goal-to-go situations?

The Giants have questions they need to answer honestly, the future of the quarterback position being one. They also have to be honest with themselves regarding the planned personnel moves they want to make.

But until all of that reveals itself, to suggest that the Giants, who must show progress this coming year lest the leadership team face the prospect of ownership's wrath, have no hope of being anything other than a poor franchise yet again is premature.

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