Would be curious on everyone's thoughts on this; after some thought this would be my ideal off-season.
extensions:
Julian Love: He's earned it. Really solid foundational piece for the Giants. Hopefully a 4 years deal.
Nick Gates: Hoping the he continues to prove that he deserves it, if he closes out the season strong. Hopefully a 3-4 year modest deal.
Daniel Jones: He's going to be better than any rookie and in year 2 of the system next year, he should be better. Getting him help at the WR position and continuing to solidify the O-line is going to continue to help him. Thinking a 2-3 year deal...probably going to take $25 million a year.
Darius Slayton: I think he gets a 2 year deal. He's a solid #3 or #4 with the speed to take the top off.
Leonard Williams: Have to extend him to take his $32 million cap hit down. Cutting him could be an option as well. Really good player, but not at that price.
5th year option already picked up: Dexter Lawrence. A long term deal should eventually be worked out.
Saquon Barkley: Really tough decision here, and some of it depends on if they can afford to sign both him and Jones...I'm not sure if they can. By gut says, invest in the QB...not the RB. I would offer Saquon a deal that makes him one of the top 5-6 RB's in the league....not sure if he takes that. Unfortunately, if he doesn't, I think you let him walk. RB position is just too risky.
2 priority FA's.
Mecole Hardman. WR Kansas City: Hoping he doesn't get franchised by KC. Kafka obviously knows him...he's just what this offense needs. Explosive quickness and speed. Can play in the slot or be a great #2. Will only be 25 years old. (Hoping the Giants draft their #1 WR, which gives them the draft pick, Hardman, Wandale Robinson and Slayton as their 4th).
Tremaine Edmunds. LB Buffalo. Schoen and Daboll have the familiarity. Giants haven't had a cover LB like him in years...maybe ever. He's productive and should be affordable, although it will be a long term deal. Will only be 25 years old.
Overall, I’d prefer the Giants re-sign their own guys and use the draft over spending a lot of FA cash.
- And really need several the backup WRs to be decent Punt Returners and not put starters back there ever again
- Tight End unit needs a veteran
- Defensive Tackle needs a rotational guy
- ILB needs 2 new additions
- Another Guard
And of those groups, probably need to find a starter at WR, ILB and Guard the most from Free Agency.
WR
WR
CB
CB
LB
LB
Punter
RB
OL
As a percentage of the cap (2023 - 2025), that would put Jones well below the average for a veteran QB.
It’s a bit of a catch-22, if the market says Jones is mid tier starter, he’s probably getting 35M in AAV. No way he looks himself into a long term bad deal.
If the market says he’s not a mid tier starter, 25M AAV is too much. And his agent probably encourages to take a 1-year deal somewhere to repair his image and get another crack at starting before conceding he’s a career backup.
I'm not going Hardman while resigning Slayton. It'd probably be one or the other for me
Wink will love him and we know the Coach and GM already do.
15-20mil per year...get ready for it!
CAP HELL
"Jason_OTC
@Jason_OTC
·
Nov 6
These teams are projected over the cap
Packers- $165K
Browns- $570K
Rams- $4.0M
Panthers- $9.3M
Vikings- $10.2M
Dolphins- $11.5M
Jaguars- $12.8M
Bills- $14.8M
Chargers- $16.0M
Titans- $22.1M
Bucs- $51.5M
Saints- $65.4M"
Bills fans love Terrel Bernard
That's a highlight-of-the-offseason signing for most teams.
They excercised his 5th year option last year....good player.
They may try to sign him to a long year deal.
IOL
LB
CB
Doesn't always works out that way where position fits need in FA and draft but I wouldn't mind taking that approach if possible, the only risky element is the biggest need we have is WR so putting all those eggs in the draft basket is dangerous.
- And really need several the backup WRs to be decent Punt Returners and not put starters back there ever again
- Tight End unit needs a veteran
- Defensive Tackle needs a rotational guy
- ILB needs 2 new additions
- Another Guard
And of those groups, probably need to find a starter at WR, ILB and Guard the most from Free Agency.
Agreed with this list. Add in CB too
Holmes a FA and I think Arob can be a better slot. Also think we can fill some positions in FA without breaking bank. Would concentrate a solid 2nd TE and one ILB. Those positions are lower tier for salary cap. Add in rotational DT too ( have some hope for Davidson but with like a solid developmental guys in the rds 3-5 area)
Completely agree with Edmunds or Lavonte David.
WR is going to be a very hard position to fix in the offseason. Hard to rely on a rookie being your WR1 and the list of UFA WRs is underwhelming to say the least. The best of the bunch is:
DJ Chark
Juju Smith-Schuster
Jakobi Meyers
I think trading for a WR may end up being something the Giants explore this offseason. Davante Adams could end up being a very popular name as Derek Carr is most likely to be cut this offseason. I don't see the Giants trading 1st round picks for Adams or any WR for that matter but i'll include them anyways. Another thing to keep an eye on is the Brady situation. If Brady finally retires you have to think that Mike Evans can be had. The other interesting team to keep an eye on are the Rams. They have very little draft capital and if Stafford decides to hang them up you could see Kupp become available as well. Here is my list of potential WRs that could be available in a trade:
Davonte Adams
Brandin Cooks
Jerry Jeudy
Courtland Sutton
Mike Evans
Cooper Kupp
1. Barkley back at a reasonable price (<17mil apy)
2. DJ back at a reasonable price (<25mil, incentive laden, 2-3 yr deal)
3. JLove back on a long term deal (8-9mil apy)
4. Slayton back (FA market is weak at WR, similar deal to MVS in KC)
5. Oshane back on a decent backup contract
6. Ward back (similar deal to this years)
7. Moreau back if they can get him for 2-3mil apy
8. KG cut (somewhat obvious move but had to list it)
9. Gates back- team friendly, incentive type deal. This is a higher priority, but forgot he was a FA while making list.
Acquisitions (FA/trade/draft)
1. A stud WR in R1 or a trade. Addison/JSN/Johnson in R1. Unlikely but DJ Moore would be the dream trade scenario. Really, this team needs to cluster draft WR’s…so give me a couple more throughout the draft
2. CB help. Early in draft. Let Arob play in the slot where he belongs next year.
3. DL- both draft and FA mid level signings. Need better rotation on DL- can’t have Dex and Lw playing 80% of snaps week in and week out. Davidson showed promise but besides him they have no depth
4. LB- some speed and impact players are needed here. Can find this on day 2 or early day 3 of draft, also some vets who should have a reasonable price tag in FA.
5. A developmental C
6. An upgrade at TE2
7. An upgrade at RB2 (would love to find our version of Pollard in this draft to take some pressure off of Saquon and keep his legs fresh. No more 30-35 carriy games for #26 next year.
6. A TE2 - late in draft or a Low risk, high reward FA signing.
7. A new punter
8. A guy who can return punts and kicks without fumbling
Last but not least…
NEW playing surface at MetLife. The player acquisitions above mean NOTHING if they all get hurt
1. Barkley back at a reasonable price (<17mil apy)
2. DJ back at a reasonable price (<25mil, incentive laden, 2-3 yr deal)
3. JLove back on a long term deal (8-9mil apy)
4. Slayton back (FA market is weak at WR, similar deal to MVS in KC)
5. Oshane back on a decent backup contract
6. Ward back (similar deal to this years)
7. Moreau back if they can get him for 2-3mil apy
8. KG cut (somewhat obvious move but had to list it)
9. Gates back- team friendly, incentive type deal. This is a higher priority, but forgot he was a FA while making list.
Acquisitions (FA/trade/draft)
1. A stud WR in R1 or a trade. Addison/JSN/Johnson in R1. Unlikely but DJ Moore would be the dream trade scenario. Really, this team needs to cluster draft WR’s…so give me a couple more throughout the draft
2. CB help. Early in draft. Let Arob play in the slot where he belongs next year.
3. DL- both draft and FA mid level signings. Need better rotation on DL- can’t have Dex and Lw playing 80% of snaps week in and week out. Davidson showed promise but besides him they have no depth
4. LB- some speed and impact players are needed here. Can find this on day 2 or early day 3 of draft, also some vets who should have a reasonable price tag in FA.
5. A developmental C
6. An upgrade at TE2
7. An upgrade at RB2 (would love to find our version of Pollard in this draft to take some pressure off of Saquon and keep his legs fresh. No more 30-35 carriy games for #26 next year.
6. A TE2 - late in draft or a Low risk, high reward FA signing.
7. A new punter
8. A guy who can return punts and kicks without fumbling
Last but not least…
NEW playing surface at MetLife. The player acquisitions above mean NOTHING if they all get hurt
This is like my 7 year olds Christmas list. Can you give a total the cap space it would take to do this? DJ and Saquon would be 2/3rds of our cap space alone?
Signing DJ is not only dumb given his level of production, it's a cap killer. Why would you sign Saquon for a top of the market contract when you can tag him for $11-12 million?
-Offer Jones 2 years $50mn. If he says no, let him walk.
Runningback
-Franchise Barkley
-Draft a RB mid/late round
Wide Receiver
-Resign Slayton to a cheap 1/2 year deal
-Everyone else on the roster is gone except Robinson and Shepard (they're no cap savings if you release Shepard)
-Would prefer BPA in the draft, but an emphasis has to be on WR in the early rounds
Tight End
-Improve depth via cheap FAs. Bellinger is the starter next year
Offensive Line
-Draft a guard early in the draft
-Resign Gates to a cheap deal
-Resign Thomas early if possible
--
Defensive Line
-Resign Williams and Lawrence to lock them up and clear cap space
-Improve depth with cheap FA
Edge
-Focus on depth
Middle Linebacker
-Try and get one new starter in FA
CB
-Resign Adoree
-Draft or FA another outside CB across Adoree
S
-Resign McKinney early if possible
-Resign Love
--
Essentially resigning Jones, SB, Slayton, and Love. Early resignings ideally for Williams, Thomas, and McKinney
Higher profile draft picks / cap space used on WR, Guard, and CB. Depth at the other positions.
-Offer Jones 2 years $50mn. If he says no, let him walk.
Runningback
-Franchise Barkley
-Draft a RB mid/late round
Wide Receiver
-Resign Slayton to a cheap 1/2 year deal
-Everyone else on the roster is gone except Robinson and Shepard (they're no cap savings if you release Shepard)
-Would prefer BPA in the draft, but an emphasis has to be on WR in the early rounds
Tight End
-Improve depth via cheap FAs. Bellinger is the starter next year
Offensive Line
-Draft a guard early in the draft
-Resign Gates to a cheap deal
-Resign Thomas early if possible
--
Defensive Line
-Resign Williams and Lawrence to lock them up and clear cap space
-Improve depth with cheap FA
Edge
-Focus on depth
Middle Linebacker
-Try and get one new starter in FA
CB
-Resign Adoree
-Draft or FA another outside CB across Adoree
S
-Resign McKinney early if possible
-Resign Love
--
Essentially resigning Jones, SB, Slayton, and Love. Early resignings ideally for Williams, Thomas, and McKinney
Higher profile draft picks / cap space used on WR, Guard, and CB. Depth at the other positions.
Starters next year would be
QB - Jones
RB - Barkley
WR - High Draft Pick, Slayton, Robinson
TE - Bellinger, Cheap FA
LT - Thomas
LG - High Draft Pick
C - Gates
RG - Glowinski
RT - Neal
DL - Ward
DL - Lawrence
DL - Williams
EDGE - Ojulari
EDGE - Thibs
ILB - Crowder / McFadden / Smith
ILB - Mid-range FA or pick
CB - Jackson
CB - Mid-range FA or pick
CB - Robinson/Holmes/Flott
FS - Mckinney
SS - Love