Revisiting Giants' Off-Season Plan: How Well Did It Play Out?

Every year after the season ends, I lay out a multi-step off-season plan that I think the New York Giants should follow to improve the roster.

Mostly, the moves made are obvious to anyone who’s watched the team closely, though some macro suggestions often take different twists and turns. Then there are other things that one might expect that never come to fruition.

Let’s revisit the multi-step plan I laid out on January 24 and see what the team did and didn’t do.

1. Clean Up the Salary Cap

This will always be on any off-season to-do list because, like pass rushers, a team can never have too much salary cap space.

In my original plan, I wrote, “One move all but certain to be made is the dumping of receiver Kenny Golladay's contract. Golladay's $21.4 million cap number is currently the second highest on the team's books.”

That happened—to expect it would mean you weren’t paying attention.

But instead of designating Golladay as a post-June 1 cut which would have resulted in $13.5 million additional space (instead of $6.7 million), general manager Joe Schoen elected to rip off the bandage rather than carry dead money into 2024.

The other thing I suggested the team do, which they haven’t as of yet—and don’t appear to be willing to do—is to address defensive lineman Leonard Williams's $32.26 million cap. Williams is in the final year of his Giants contract—he has a voidable year in 2024—and he has no guaranteed money owed to him in 2023.

I proposed that the team “lower his $18 million base salary to a veteran minimum and convert the balance to a signing bonus as part of the new money in an extension. If they add two or three more years, they could spread the difference over the new years in the deal.”

Again, that didn’t happen. At the time, the team likely wanted to see how well Williams healed from his neck ailment that bogged him down for the latter part of last season and the postseason. That, fortunately, has resolved itself.

But as I always say, it takes two to make a contract. It’s certainly possible that Williams, who, despite saying he likes it with the Giants and that he loves playing alongside Dexter Lawrence, is banking on himself this coming season to show that the little nicks and bruises that seemed to have caught up with him over the last two years were the exception rather than the rule.

The other possible reason is that the Giants don’t need any cap relief from Williams yet. Per Over the Cap, they have $3,824,536 in cap space available, which should be more than enough to get them through the summer. With growing optimism of reaching a deal with running back Saquon Barkley that would lower his $10.1 million cap hit brought on by the franchise tag, they’ll stand to gain at least another $4 million in space.

Schoen isn’t going to restructure contracts just because a player has a grossly high hit. He takes each situation day by day and on a case-by-case basis. And if he can get through the year without touching Williams’ number (which, remember, was inflated to its current state thanks to the constant restructuring of his deal), that’s even better, as that means he doesn’t have to kick the can down the road.

2. Re-sign QB Daniel Jones

During his year-end press conference, Schoen spoke of quarterback Daniel Jones in such a way—including letting it slip the deal was already close to happening--that you knew the team would prioritize re-signing him.

The Giants gave Jones a four-year deal worth $160 million. But the deal is more of a two-year contract since all the guaranteed money is in the first two years. Take that however you want, but it sure would seem that the team, while optimistic Jones is the guy moving forward, didn’t want to lock up additional gobs of money just based on his one good season under the new coaching staff.

NFL quarterbacks generally don’t get judged until three years into their career. Although he’s entering his sixth season with Jones, his first three seasons were filled with constant change, a revolving door of systems and coaches, not to mention a lack of legitimate talent.

So think of the two guaranteed years as the Giants’ investment in him coming off that strong first season in the Brian Daboll-Mike Kafka offense. If Jones continues to ascend, they’ll redo his deal before the four years are up. If he doesn’t, he’s likely out of here after two years.

3. Re-sign Saquon Barkley

At the end of last year, I thought things might be far easier for the Giants to get a long-term deal done with running back Saquon Barkley than Jones.

That has not been the case. Although Barkley has said numerous times that he's not looking to reset the market and prefers to remain a Giant for life, thus far, there hasn’t been a deal presented that Barkley’s side has accepted.

So far, we know that two deals were offered, one at the bye week worth $12.5 million per year and another just before free agency reportedly worth up to $14 million.

What we don’t know, however, is more important than the AAPY: the length of the proposed deal and the guaranteed money. In other words, the structure. For the Giants, it would make all kinds of sense to give Barkley a deal that mirrors what Jones got in terms of length and structure (but not necessarily dollars). In other words, a four-year deal with guaranteed money in the first two seasons and an out after the second year.

In this scenario, the fourth year would contain a club option where if they pick it up (assuming Jones is still the quarterback), then Barkley would get an additional cash windfall based on the amount.

The two sides have until July 17 to get a long-term deal done, after which Barkley will have no choice but to play on the franchise tag, which will be worth a guaranteed $10.1 million. Stay tuned, as with there being just 12 days to go before that deadline, things are expected to heat up.

4. Address the Other Key Free Agents

No one expected the Giants to re-sign all their other free agents, but some surprisingly left.

The first was defensive back Julian Love, who signed with Seattle. Love, you might recall, had preliminary contract extension talks with the Giants over the bye week only to fail to reach a deal. And despite the team wanting him back, no such deal was consummated.

The other surprise departure was center Jon Feliciano. It was thought the Giants might retain the veteran for another year while allowing a drafted center to cut his teeth. That was not the case, as Feliciano signed with the 49ers. Meanwhile, the Giants brought in J.C. Hassenauer after losing Nick Gates and drafted John Michael Schmitz. The hope is that Schmitz proves himself worthy of Day 1 starter status.

I also thought the Giants might bring back receiver Richie James, but he joined Kadarius Toney in Kansas City. But those I mentioned the Giants might bring back that did re-sign include outside linebacker Jihad Ward, running back Matt Breida, and receiver Sterling Shepard.

Some other guys they brought back that I didn’t think would return are receiver Darius Slayton and outside linebacker Oshane Ximines. They’re not splashy signings, but the focus was on depth, and these players know the systems in place.

5. Acquire a No. 1 Receiver

The Giants went outside the box to check this item off the list when they acquired, via trade, tight end Darren Waller from the Las Vegas Raiders.

Waller, a big target who, when healthy, can create headaches for opposing defenses, is the team’s de facto No.1 receiver. To his credit, Schoen probably recognized that a No. 1 receiver wouldn’t be readily available in free agency or the draft, so rather than force anything, he went outside the box.

"I know a number one wide receiver can be important, but there are some number one wide receivers that are home right now," Schoen said in his year-end press conference.

Schoen, who also added that he didn’t believe in a team being “one player away,” probably recognized that to acquire a legitimate No.1 receiver, he’d have to give up far more assets than he was willing. So for the price of the third-round pick he acquired from Kansas City in the Kadarius Toney trade, he landed Waller.

In 74 regular-season games with 52 starts, the 30-year-old tight end totaled 298 receptions for 3,572 yards and 19 touchdowns and has been productive in the red zone, where since 2019, he’s caught 35 of 55 pass targets (63.6 percent) for 234 yards and 12 touchdowns.

If Waller is truly past his injury woes, his addition to the Giants' offense will help turbocharge the unit, particularly in the deep passing game.

6. Beef up the Defense

This was priority No. 1 for Schoen, who recognized that the Giants' defense needed depth at all three levels.

So to no one’s surprise, Schoen signed Colts free agent linebacker Bobby Okereke to anchor the middle of the defense. Okereke’s production last year far topped any of the linebackers the Giants put on the field.

The team also addressed cornerback, another weak area that was made worse last year thanks to injuries. Taking advantage of a historically deep draft class, New York plucked Deonte Banks out of Maryland in the first round, the rookie projected to start opposite Adoree’ Jackson.

But Schoen didn’t stop there. He also added via the draft Tre Hawkins III and Gervarrius Owens, two young defensive backs who, with strong camps, can be immediate contributors in the sub-packages.

And he signed Lions cast off Amani Oruwariye, once a starter for Detroit who fell out of favor with their current coaching staff. Oruwariye is hoping to revive his career with the Giants.

The biggest (no pun intended) additions were on the defensive line, where the depth was the thinnest last year. Rather than ask starters Dexter Lawrence and Leonard Williams to play 80 or more percent of the snaps, the Giants brought in Rakeem Nunez-Roches and A’Shawn Robinson, two run-stuffing specialists. They also drafted Jordon Riley out of Oregon as a developmental prospect.

On paper, that’s much better depth than what the team had last year. But of course, the key will be keeping everyone healthy.

7. Extend Select Players Approaching the End of their Rookie Deals

Although the Giants exercised the option year on defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence’s contract, Schoen didn’t wait for the deal to expire before working with Lawrence’s representatives on a new long-term deal. This proactive approach fits in perfectly with his “draft-develop-retain” approach regarding core talent, of which Lawrence is.

Had the Giants not extended Lawrence, he would have counted for $12.407 million against the cap this year. But, in going back to the first item on my original plan, the Giants needed to clean up cap space. In realizing that they likely couldn’t carry Lawrence on his option year plus Leonard Williams plus one of Barkley/Jones on the franchise tag, Schoen got the deal done, cutting Lawrence’s cap hit nearly in half to a more manageable $6.653 million.

What the Giants didn’t do—and this comes as no surprise, to be honest—was to extend the contract of left tackle Andrew Thomas, whose option year was exercised and who will be a top priority for the team next off-season.

They also didn’t extend safety Xavier McKinney, who is in the last year of his rookie deal this season. McKinney has missed chunks of two of his first three years in the league, so his potential extension will wait until the off-season and likely be just behind Thomas’s extension in terms of priorities.

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