The Giants have been one of the busiest teams in the free agency. His all-in approach surprised some around the team, especially since this is not a team that was just one or two pieces from the Super Bowl.
But maybe it shouldn’t be such a surprise.
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Joe Judge wants to win now. The Giants need to win again. Another 6-10 season will not do. Jobs will be lost if it happens again.
So they kept Leonard Williams and added wide receiver Kenny Golladay and cornerback Adoree ‘Jackson – signed on Monday night – to significant contracts.
What does all this mean?
Here are five ideas about the Giants’ big moves, what this means for Daniel Jones and Dave Gettleman and the remaining gaps to be filled:
Win now, win later
The Giants would not have delivered $ 111 million ($ 66.5 million guaranteed) in contracts for two players (Golladay and Jackson) if they did not legitimately believe they could be winners in 2021. Not to mention the $ 63 million paid to keep Leonard Williams, or the $ 31 million contract they gave Logan Ryan in December.
This is still a team with two significant holes – rusher tip and offensive line – and problems with depth and doubts about its quarterback, but there will be no excuses in 2021. The target is on the Giants’ back now. If they reach 6-10 or 7-9 and miss the playoffs again, there will be (or should be) a reckoning.
But the Giants weren’t making those moves either this year, either. If they were, the contracts would have been for just one year, or even two years. Golladay, Jackson and Williams are not even 30 years old. Golladay is the oldest in the group, turning 28 in December. All three are under contract for three years.
These are players who can grow on Joe Judge’s show and with the other major pieces of the Giants – Saquon Barkley, Daniel Jones, Dexter Lawrence, James Bradberry – also reaching the peak of their careers.
The Giants probably understand that they will not win the Super Bowl this year, but these moves are more progressive than they may seem, considering the perception that they have overpaid. The salary cap is expected to increase significantly in 2022 and 2023, while Jones is still in his rookie contract, and the Giants will already have these players trapped and acclimated to the Giants’ culture.
There is no guarantee that Jackson or Golladay’s signings will work, or that Williams will retain their dominance, but if they do, the Giants are in great shape with a talented core of young players at the center of their list.
There is still work to be done, however.
Risky business
A major adjustment that the Giants made at this free agency last year is their willingness to take risks with players recovering from injuries. All Giants hired last year had a history of good health. Bradberry, Ryan and Blake Martinez especially. The Giants’ ability to meet the players in person and give them physical examinations – as they did with Golladay and Jackson – probably contributed to this. That was not an option last year.
Judge and the Giants investigated the background of both players. They spent several days talking to them to decide whether they would fit into the environment. Then, the Giants pulled the trigger.
Still, it would be remiss not to mention that the Giants just spent significant money on two players (Golladay / hip, Jackson / knee) who played eight combined games last year due to injuries.
At their best, however, both are significant updates. Golladay led the NFL in receiving touchdowns (11), contested receiving yards (429) and with 16 receptions thrown over 20 yards on the field. Jackson has the highest coverage of Pro Football Focus when lined up outside since 2018.
It’s the quarterback
Everything the Giants have done in this off-season makes two things very clear:
1. They bet on Daniel Jones as a defender.
2. If he is not good enough this year, they are in trouble.
The Giants are betting on Jones’ progress. He showed flashes like a novice, but turned the ball too much. He turned less in 2020, but was still not good enough (11 touchdowns in 14 games), although his support cast was admittedly weak.
Dave Gettleman left and gave Jones receiver # 1 (Golladay), a tight end upgrade (Kyle Rudolph), another fast receiver (John Ross) and Barkley will return from his knee injury this season.
To say there are no more excuses for him to give would be overkill, considering the state of the Giants offensive line – more on that soon – but if he doesn’t show enough progress, the team is not making the playoffs.
Many will point to Josh Allen’s 2020 season as the model for what the giants can get from Jones. This may be overkill, as Allen had a better second season than Jones. But Allen got Stefon Diggs, worked on his weaknesses and became a candidate for MVP. If Jones can be Allen-lite, this team can take a giant leap forward.
If he doesn’t get better, then Jones, Gettleman and offensive coordinator Jason Garrett may have left in 2022.
Credit Gettleman, where it is due
Speaking of Gettleman, he deserves a lot of credit for adjusting his strategy over the past two years and showing a willingness to adapt when the things he did in 2018 and 2019 just weren’t working. Both off-seasons were mainly disasters.
Interestingly, at Gettleman’s most recent press conference, he alluded to two philosophies that seemed out of date:
1. He doesn’t believe in capitalizing a quarterback’s rookie contract window.
2. He doesn’t like to restructure contracts to create an upper limit.
Of course, the Giants went and did the opposite of these two things. His moves clearly indicate an intention to capitalize on Jones’ cheap business before he makes a new one – theoretically, at least – in a few years. The Giants are not going to give Golladay and Jackson meaningful multi-year deals if they really believe what Gettleman said. Jones’ capitalization in 2022 was just $ 8.3 million, which is 24th among quarterbacks. That year, the maximum limits for Williams ($ 26.5 million), Golladay ($ 21.1 million) and probably Jackson (number to be defined) will be significant.
And the second point: the Giants have technically not had to restructure any deals yet, although they are well up against the limit after Jackson’s contract, they will need space for their recruiting class and probably haven’t finished adding free agents (at the most low, type of minimum wage). The Bradberry business will almost certainly be restructured to around $ 6.5 million in savings, and Martinez ($ 3.5 million), Ryan ($ 3 million) and Sterling Shepard ($ 4 million) are also candidates for this. The restructuring pushes some money into the years to come, but that will be less of a problem than it looks for a team without many commitments beyond the next year.
Furthermore, it is clear that the Giants are finally catching up with the rest of the NFL with their focus on passing, both in attack and defense.
The giants invested heavily in the last three years in high school. They signed Bradberry ($ 46.5 million), Ryan ($ 6.5 million and then $ 31 million) and Jackson ($ 39 million) in a free agency. They recruited Xavier McKinney in the second round and two others (Darnay Holmes and Julian Love) in the fourth. Jabrill Peppers came in Odell Beckham’s trade, will earn $ 6 million this year and must sign a new contract.
The Giants are clearly betting on the idea that it is much easier to be creative in the generation of pass rush (via blitzes, especially) if things are done on the back end. This is now one of the most talented side of the NFL.
In the attack, the Giants added Golladay, Ross, Rudolph and, last season, Dante Pettis. Golden Tate was a miserable failure, but this group looks explosive and promising alongside Darius Slayton, Shepard and, perhaps, Evan Engram. In addition, Barkley is one of the best running backs in passing detection, and Devontae Booker should be an update on Dion Lewis in that department.
It may not work yet, and there are still serious issues in two key areas that Gettleman has struggled with in the draft and in the free agency, but he deserves credit.
Of course, Judge significantly impacted the Giants’ free agency process. But Gettleman still gets a pat on the back.
Work well done.
Screaming holes
The free agency would always make it obvious what the Giants plan to do in the NFL Draft. Of course, they will choose the “best player available” and it would be difficult to fail to select someone like wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, even if that is not a necessity now.
But ultimately, the Giants are more likely to face one of two positions in the first round: Edge rusher or offensive line. Specifically, guard.
The Giants have not hired any external linebackers and they simply cannot try to bet on Lorenzo Carter and Oshane Ximines (nine games, a combined sack in 2020) bursting again. They don’t need funds to add a faster impact pass to the free agency, although they can hook a Kyler Fackrell-style rotating player. They tried to hire Leonard Floyd, which probably would have prevented them from catching Golladay.
Unfortunately, this is a weak draft class on the edge rusher. There may not be a player worth 11th, although a case could probably be made for Gregory Rousseau of Miami or Kwity Paye of Michigan. The second round is more likely.
The Giants made it clear at the beginning of the off-season that they will bet on the development of their young attackers, instead of spending money on free agents. Going with the same group (without Kevin Zeitler) would be a big risk. This was the worst NFL pass blocking team last season, by PFF. Andrew Thomas needs to show progress on the left tackle. Nick Gates is only in his second season as a pivot. And Matt Peart, Shane Lemieux and Will Hernandez are all major question marks.
The Giants also see the return of Nate Solder as, essentially, a free agent addition. He was supposed to be the swing tackle, but he also sucked when he last played in 2019.
Don’t be surprised if the Giants’ first choice is another offensive lineman. Some players who can fit into the Giants’ range (or in a trade): Northwestern tackle Rashawn Slater (can also play guard) or Alijah Vera-Tucker from USC.
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