The Giants are masters at figuring out how to stay younger on the offensive line.
Improving is the difficult part.
Just when it seemed that the offensive line would not be a major off-season emphasis for the first time in a decade, the Giants cut right guard Kevin Zeitler by $ 12 million in salary cap savings to be targeted at passer Leonard Williams. franchise brand. Nate Solder may have died, too, if the sides failed to agree on a restructured contract – an opportunity that was never presented to Zeitler, a source told the Post.
The Giants will go into free action with a left tackle configuration Andrew Thomas, left guard Will Hernandez, central Nick Gates, right guard Shane Lemieux and right tackle Matt Peart / Solder. Here are the two very different ways to turn the situation around:
Glass half full
Super Bowl 60 champion Giants looks at the 2018-20 draft as the basis for the 2025 championship. All five home strikers then came together – drawn up in the first, second, third and sixth rounds and completed by a non-gems. crafted – and grew to be a better sum than the individual parts. Just as General Manager Dave Gettleman predicted when he promised to prioritize repairing the line in December 2017.
That’s the dream, anyway. Borrowed from a similar plan that the Giants used during their last two Super Bowl victories.
The Giants finally have a core capable of fulfilling the football saying that the lines need time and patience to build the chemistry. All five beginners (except Solder) are 25 years old or younger and, combined, are only worth $ 15.5 million against the 2021 limit, compared to Solder’s pre-restructured $ 16.5 million charge. Hernandez is entering his year of walking, but the other four are signed for at least two more seasons.
And there is an opportunity to offer competition. The salary cap caused by COVID-19 has plummeted from a projected $ 210 million to $ 182.5 million, prompting the Giants to choose their best defensive striker over their best offensive striker.
Zeitler is an example of bloodshed across the league this week. There is an opportunity to find two quality veterans for the price of their $ 12 million salary, especially if the Pro Bowl guards connected to Gettleman, Trai Turner and Andrew Norwell, hit the market. A quality left guard can help Thomas reach the next level after a very strong submission.
“While he fought, especially at the start of the season, he showed me enough growth and improvement during the season to be optimistic about his future,” NFL Network analyst Joe Thomas, a future Hall of Fame member, told the Post. “I believe he still has a chance to be an obstacle to the left of the franchise, but it will take work and continuous improvement.”
Glass half empty
This is another way to see the beginners: Thomas allowed the second biggest pressure (57) in the NFL, Hernandez lost his initial job in the middle of last season and did not play in the final, Gates was the pivot in 27th place by Pro Football Focus, Lemieux was the lowest ranked NFL pass guard, Peart had an early career and Solder allowed the third largest number of sacks in the NFL (11) when he last played in 2019.
“These are more questions than answers,” said an NFL scout on the 31st row of the ranking last season. “Thomas was chosen first, but he clearly took fourth place among the new tackles last year.”
If the goal of the Giants season – as it should be – is to come out with a definitive answer whether Daniel Jones is the franchise’s quarterback or needs to be replaced, that line is capable of imploding and creating the excuses that the Jets have left weeding this season to determine the future of Sam Darnold.
You get what you pay for.
Although an unexpected number of attackers of initial caliber are available and the oversupply could reduce the price of the free agent, the Giants still need to make the right decision, eliminating the masses in search of an upgrade.
Faith may be lost due to recent miscalculations of the offensive line – Solder and Patrick Omameh were detained by a free agent in 2018, and neither Hernandez nor Thomas have lived up to their recruiting status so far – and a history of overconfidence during the post-Super Bowl years on marginal additions Jon Halapio, Spencer Pulley, Jamon Brown, Brett Jones, Marshall Newhouse, JD Walton and Bobby Hart.
The resources dedicated to the line once again diminish the ability to meet the other urgent needs of a No. 1 receiver, genuine pass-rusher and a 2-gauge NFL cornerback.