Three Giants Make Pro Football Focus’s Top 100 Free-Agent List

Pro Football Focus recently unveiled its list of their top 100 free agents along with contract projections for each, and three pending New York Giants unrestricted free agents made the cut, with two placing in the top 15.

Running back Saquon Barkley (12), quarterback Daniel Jones (13), and safety Julian Love (61) were the three to land on PFF’s list, and those choices come as no surprise since all three are expected to be priority targets for the Giants front office staff to re-sign.

Barkley could figure to be the most challenging to get back under contract if reports of his camp seeking an average annual APY of $16 million (similar to that of Christian McCaffrey) are accurate. PFF projects the franchise tag for Barkley, which would be a 1-year, $10.09 million fully guaranteed deal, noting:

When healthy, there is no question Barkley is a difference-maker on the ground and through the air. That may be understating things, as he was a significant chunk of the Giants' offense in the 2022 regular season. Barkley accounted for nearly 30% of New York's total yards on offense in 2022. His usage appeared to have caught up with him at times, but that illustrates how much he did for the team in every conceivable way.

PFF notes that Barkley, who turned 26 years old on February 9, racked up 32 explosive rushes, tying him for the fifth most among running backs while also dropping his stuffed rate from 9.2% over his first three seasons to 6.8%.

The contract projection is interesting. PFF is apparently optimistic that the Giants will get Jones's deal done before the March 7 stag deadline so that they have the franchise tag available on Barkley. And ideally, that's probably what the Giants would like to happen, which is why according to an ESPN report, talks have since commenced with Jones's representatives.

If this is how things play out, Barkley no doubt wouldn't be happy to get the tag, as it would all but eliminate potential suitors from knocking on his door with offers, given that it would cost a new team two first-round picks to sign Barkley.

PFF projects a four-year, $160 million deal for Jones, which comes to $40 million per year and includes $115 million guaranteed. This is significantly north of the $32 million franchise tag, which would likely be the APY floor for a new deal. And the contract length would certainly be reasonable as chances are it would allow for an escape hatch after two seasons while also providing a buffer to spread out a signing bonus.

Notes PFF of Jones:

Jones finished the year strong before a rough finale against the Philadelphia Eagles, with his 78.8 passing grade from Week 10 (following the Giants’ bye week) through the wild-card round ranking seventh among quarterbacks and his 84.0% adjusted completion percentage placing first. That said, Jones did not have much production downfield, but an injury-decimated wide receiver corps is partially to blame. We still have major reservations about Jones as a true franchise quarterback, but the Giants brass doesn’t seem to.

For those who remain adamant about moving on from Jones, the Giants don't appear to have much choice. They're set to draft 25th this year, which is far too low to grab a potential franchise quarterback. They're several players away from having a more complete roster, so they're unlikely to enter into a blockbuster trade to move up.

All of this favors Jones in terms of leverage. If the Giants don't get the deal done, they will have to use the franchise tag at a rate of $32 million, which will drastically cut into their available projected salary cap space.

The $40 million APY might be a bit high, though it's unclear if that figure includes any incentives which are sure to be a part of Jones's deal. New York could also structure his guaranteed money, similar to how the Bills set up quarterback Josh Allen's deal, allowing them to bail on the contract after two seasons.

But as far as having lingering doubts, the Giants no doubt feel good about what Jones was able to do despite having some talent deficiencies with which to work and figure that if they can add to his cache, he might be that much better in future years.

Love, with whom the Giants had discussions during the bye, is projected to land a three-year, $23.25 million ($7.75M per year) deal with $15 million total guaranteed.

Notes PFF of the fourth-year defensive back:

Love offers a diverse skill set as a defensive back who can serve as a ballhawk in the deep third and make plays down in the box. He was also a player the Giants trusted in the slot. He played by far the most snaps in his career in 2022 (1,006) and earned a career-high 71.5 coverage grade in the process. Love is a good tackler in space, with his 80 tackles in 2022 the seventh most among safeties and his six missed tackles the second-fewest among safeties in the top 25 in total tackles.

Love has certainly been a solid player for the Giants, plus he was a team captain for them. But it's also fair to wonder if the team might have seen enough from youngsters Jason Pinnock and Dane Belton to feel comfortable enough to move on from Love, who is all but certain to receive interest if he hits the open market.

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