ESPN: Giants’ addition of James Bradberry ‘overrated’

ESPN was heavily critical of the New York Giants’ decision to sign veteran CB James Bradberry, calling the deal “overrated.”

The New York Giants were in desperate need of veteran help at the cornerback position, so to rectify that, they went out and agreed to terms with James Bradberry, who had been a draft choice of Dave Gettleman in Carolina.

However, despite Bradberry’s remarkable one-on-one success in 2019, in which he completely shut down the likes of Julio Jones and Mike Evans, ESPN has labeled the move “overrated” because of numbers supplied by Pro Football Focus.

James Bradberry, CB, New York Giants
The deal: Three years, $45 million ($32 million guaranteed)
2020 NFL Free Agency

This deal made Bradberry one of the three highest-paid cornerbacks in the entire NFL, and given his recent performance, it’s a pretty risky investment. Consider he has failed to crack a 65.0 coverage grade in each of the past three seasons, and none of those seasons ended with him ranking among the 50 best cornerbacks in the league in our ratings.

Over those past three seasons, Bradberry gave up 53 explosive plays of 15-plus yards at outside corner, five more than anyone else in the NFL in that period. The Giants’ secondary was pretty poor before the move (it ranked 30th in team coverage grade in 2019), and it’s hard to tell how much a player like Bradberry really moves the needle.

Again, as a quick reminder, here’s a look at how Bradberry fared one-on-one in 2019:

And here’s where he ranked among NFL cornerbacks in creating tight windows for quarterbacks to throw:

Do you want results or grades based on personal interpretation? That’s where we seem to consistency find ourselves when we argue financials vs. production, so if success on the field does not translate into high analytics grades, do those numbers really even matter?

The Giants needed a No. 1 corner and they went out and signed a No. 1 corner as the market was being completely reset. We won’t really know whether or not the Bradberry deal was a good one until we’re a couple years down the line.

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