The Giants have been one of the busiest teams in free agency. Their all-in approach has surprised some around the team, especially since this isn’t a team that was only a piece or two away from the Super Bowl.
But maybe it shouldn’t be such a big surprise.
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Joe Judge wants to win now. The Giants need to get back to winning. Another 6-10 season won’t cut it. Jobs will be lost if that 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 this all mean?
Here are five thoughts on the Giants’ big moves, what it means for Daniel Jones and Dave Gettleman, and remaining holes to fill:
Win now, win later
The Giants wouldn’t have handed $111 million ($66.5 million guaranteed) in contracts to two players (Golladay and Jackson) if they didn’t legitimately believe they can 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 — edge rusher and offensive line — and problems with depth and questions about their quarterback, but there will be no excuses in 2021. The target is on the Giants’ back now. If they go 6-10 or 7-9 and miss the playoffs again, there will (or should) be a reckoning.
But the Giants also weren’t only making these moves for this year. If they were, the contracts would’ve only been for one year, or even two years. Golladay, Jackson and Williams aren’t yet 30. Golladay is the oldest of the group, turning 28 in December. All three are under contract for three years.
These are players who can grow in coach Joe Judge’s program, and with the Giants’ other core pieces — Saquon Barkley, Daniel Jones, Dexter Lawrence and James Bradberry — also hitting the prime years of their careers.
The Giants likely understand they won’t win a Super Bowl this year, but these moves are more forward-thinking then they might appear, considering the perception that they overpaid. The salary cap is expected to rise significantly in 2022 and 2023, while Jones is still on his rookie contract, and the Giants will have these players locked in already and acclimated into the Giants’ culture.
There is no guarantee Jackson or Golladay will work out, or that Williams will maintain his dominance, but if they do, the Giants are in great shape with talented core of young players at the center of their roster.
There still is work to do, though.
Risky business
One big adjustment the Giants made this free agency from last year is the willingness to take risks on players coming off injuries. Everyone the Giants signed last year had a history of good health. Bradberry, Ryan and Blake Martinez especially. The Giants’ ability to meet with players in person and give them physicals — as they did with Golladay and Jackson — likely played into that. That wasn’t an option last year.
Judge and the Giants dug into the backgrounds of both players. The spent multiple days speaking with them to decide if they’d fit into the environment. Then, the Giants pulled the trigger.
Still, it’d be remiss not to mention that the Giants just spent significant money on two players (Golladay/hip, Jackson/knee) who played in a combined eight games last year due to injury.
At their best, though, both are significant upgrades. Golladay led the NFL in receiving touchdowns (11), contested catch yardage (429) and with 16 catches thrown 20-plus yards downfield. Jackson has Pro Football Focus’ highest coverage grade when lined up outside since 2018.
It’s on the quarterback
Everything the Giants have done this offseason makes two things crystal clear:
1. They’re all-in on Daniel Jones as their quarterback.
2. If he’s not good enough this year, they’re in trouble.
The Giants are banking on Jones making progress. He showed flashes as a rookie but turned the ball over too much. He turned it over less in 2020, but still wasn’t good enough (11 touchdowns in 14 games), though his supporting cast was admittedly weak.
Dave Gettleman went out and got Jones a No. 1 receiver (Golladay), an upgrade at tight end (Kyle Rudolph), another speedy receiver (John Ross) and Barkley will return from his knee injury this season.
To say there are no excuses left for him to make would be hyperbole considering the state of the Giants’ offensive line — more on that shortly — but if he doesn’t show enough progress, this team isn’t making the playoffs.
Many will point to Josh Allen’s 2020 season as the model for what they Giants can get with Jones. That might be a stretch since Allen had a better second season than Jones. But Allen got Stefon Diggs, worked on his weaknesses and became an MVP candidate. If Jones can be Allen-lite, this team can make a giant leap forward.
If he doesn’t improve then Jones, Gettleman and offensive coordinator Jason Garrett might be gone in 2022.
Credit Gettleman, where it’s due
Speaking of Gettleman, he deserves a lot of credit for adjusting his strategy the last two years and showing a willingness to adapt when the things he did in 2018 and 2019 just weren’t working. Both of those offseasons were mostly disasters.
Funnily, at Gettleman’s most recent press conference he alluded to two philosophies that seemed outdated:
1. He doesn’t believe in capitalizing on a quarterback’s rookie contract window.
2. He doesn’t like restructuring contracts to create cap space.
Of course, the Giants went and did the opposite of those two things. Their moves clearly indicate an intent to capitalize on Jones’ cheap deal before he’s due for a new one — theoretically, at least — in a couple of years. The Giants don’t go and give Golladay and Jackson significant multi-year deals if they actually believed what Gettleman said. Jones’ cap hit in 2022 is only $8.3 million, which ranks 24th among quarterbacks. That year, cap hits for Williams ($26.5M), Golladay ($21.1M) and likely Jackson (figure TBD) are going to be significant.
And the second point: The Giants technically haven’t had to restructure any deals yet, though they are going to be right up against the cap after Jackson’s contract, will need space for their draft class and probably aren’t done adding free agents (at the lower, minimum salary sort of level). Bradberry’s deal will almost certainly be restructured for around $6.5 million in savings, and Martinez ($3.5 million), Ryan ($3 million) and Sterling Shepard ($4 million) are also candidates for that. The restructures push some money into future years, but that’ll be less of an issue than it seems for a team without many commitments beyond next year.
Beyond that, it’s clear the Giants are finally catching up to the rest of the NFL with their focus on the passing game, on both offense and defense.
The Giants have invested heavily in the last three years in their secondary. They signed Bradberry ($46.5 million), Ryan ($6.5 million and then $31 million) and Jackson ($39 million) in free agency. They drafted Xavier McKinney in the second round, and two others (Darnay Holmes and Julian Love) in the fourth. Jabrill Peppers came in the Odell Beckham trade, will make $6 million this year and is due for a new contract himself.
The Giants are clearly banking on the idea that it’s much easier to get creative in generating a pass rush (via blitzes, especially) if things are taken care of on the backend. This is now one of the most talented secondaries in the NFL.
On offense, the Giants have 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, maybe, Evan Engram. Plus, Barkley is one of the better pass-catching running backs, and Devontae Booker should be an upgrade over Dion Lewis in that department.
It still might not work, and there are still serious questions in two key areas the Gettleman has struggled with in the draft and free agency, but he deserves credit.
It’s clear that Judge has significantly impacted the Giants’ process in free agency. But Gettleman still gets a pat on the back.
Job well done.
Glaring holes
Free agency was always going to make it obvious what the Giants plan to do in the NFL Draft. Sure, they’ll pick the “best player available” and it’d be hard to pass on drafting someone like wide receiver Jaylen Waddle even if that’s not a need now.
But ultimately, the Giants are more likely to address one of two positions in the first round: Edge rusher or offensive line. Specifically, guard.
The Giants haven’t signed any outside linebackers and they just can’t try to bank on Lorenzo Carter and Oshane Ximines (nine games, one sack combined in 2020) breaking out again. They don’t quite have to funds to add an impact pass rusher in free agency, though they can snag a Kyler Fackrell-esque rotational player. They tried signing Leonard Floyd, which likely would’ve prevented them from getting Golladay.
Unfortunately, this is a weak draft class at edge rusher. There might not be a player worth picking 11th, though a case could probably be made for Miami’s Gregory Rousseau or Michigan’s Kwity Paye. The second round is more likely.
The Giants made it clear earlier this offseason that they’re going to bank on development of their young offensive linemen rather than splurging on big-money free agents. Going with the same group (minus Kevin Zeitler) would be a major risk. This was the worst pass-blocking team in the NFL last season, per PFF. Andrew Thomas needs to show progress at left tackle. Nick Gates is only in his second season ever playing center. And Matt Peart, Shane Lemieux and Will Hernandez are all major question marks.
The Giants also view the return of Nate Solder as, essentially, a free agent addition. He should be the swing tackle, but he was also awful when he last played in 2019.
Don’t be surprised at all if the Giants’ first pick is another offensive lineman. Some players that could be fits in the Giants’ range (or in a trade-back): Northwestern tackle Rashawn Slater (can also play guard) or USC’s Alijah Vera-Tucker.
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Zack Rosenblatt may be reached at zrosenblatt@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here.
