The New York Giants are wafer thin when it comes to veteran, proven players in their secondary. The legal problems of Deandre Baker, the injury to Xavier MacDaniel and Sam Beal’s opt-out – three high draft choices the Giants considered potential starters – had left the cupboard bare.
On Monday, the Giants made a splash and bold stroke to offset those losses when they signed veteran defensive back and former New England Patriots and Rutgers star Logan Ryan to a one-year, $7.5 million deal.
Logan Ryan is returning home to New Jersey. The star defensive back has agreed to 1 year, $7.5 million deal with the #Giants, source said.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 31, 2020
Ryan was looking for a deal that would pay him $10 million per year but no team was willing match that. With the season closing in, Ryan switched agents and decided to take a lesser deal. the Giants, in dire need of secondary help, were hoping to not have to use their 2021 carryover cap warchest but they took a second glance at their depth chart and decided to make the move.
“It is easy to see why adding Ryan is attractive to the Giants,” writes The Post’s Paul Schwartz. “They have only one proven cornerback, free-agent addition James Bradberry. Baker, a first-round pick in 2019, is on the exempt list and facing four armed robbery counts in Florida. Beal decided to opt-out for COVID-19 reasons. The depth chart is left with Grant Haley and Corey Ballentine off of last season’s roster. The Giants thought they had a deal with veteran Ross Cockrell in mid-August, but it fell through. The signings this summer of Prince Smith and Brandon Williams are not anywhere near the profile of bringing in a proven commodity such as Ryan….Jabrill Peppers is the starting strong safety and second-year Julian Love is a promising player who will fill some of the void created by McKinney’s absence. Ryan would provide insurance on the back end.”
Ryan was a third round pick of the Patriots in 2016 and played four years there, winning two Super Bowls. He played the last two seasons In Tennessee. Ryan has played in 109 games, starting 85 and has 17 career interceptions. He can play all of the positions in the secondary if called upon.
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