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The New York Giants have several significant areas of need they must address this offseason and none of them come inside at the guard spot. However, that may change if general manager Dave Gettleman decides to move on from Will Hernandez and/or opts to release Kevin Zeitler to create some cap space.
In the event that either of those moves happen — and even if they don’t — might the Giants consider an offensive line shuffle to help fit Joe Thuney into the fold?
Thuney’s name has been thrown around more and more in recent days with some beginning to speculate that he could be a fit for the Giants. FanSided’s Matt Lombardo is one of them.
If the NY Giants are not sold on Lemieux developing into a long-term solution at guard (and at this stage, why would they be?), Thuney makes some sense. Likewise, if the Giants move on from Kevin Zeitler and his $14.5 million cap number in 2021, Thuney would be an obvious candidate to replace him.
The New England Patriots-to-Giants pipeline is well-worn at this point, and Joe Judge’s presence as head coach makes New York a fit for Thuney. However, the Giants are currently just $920,000 under the projected salary cap, so it might take some lifting to be in position to beat Thuney’s market.
Lombardo isn’t alone. Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox also believes the Giants should hone in on Thuney and find a way to get him on board.
If the Giants do generate some much-needed cap room, Patriots guard Joe Thuney could be the perfect free-agent target. He has also played tackle in New England and played at least 97 percent of the offensive snaps in each of his five pro campaigns. He allowed just two sacks over 980 snaps this past season, according to Pro Football Focus.
Adding the 28-year-old Thuney could help bolster the Giants line for the long term. This would be a major benefit as the Giants look to develop, protect and/or determine the future of quarterback Daniel Jones. To this point, protection has been an issue for the third-year pro, who has taken 83 sacks in his 27 NFL games.
The prospect of adding Thuney is an interesting one, but it would require several dominoes to fall into place. It would also come at a major expense and potentially prevent the Giants from adding the top-end playmakers they covet.
While the offensive line has been a problem for nearly a decade now, the team is much more secure at the guard spots than they are at the other positions. Head coach Joe Judge seems to like Shane Lemieux at left guard and Zeitler is easily the Giants’ most steady offensive lineman at right guard. And if the argument against him is that his contract is too rich for New York’s blood, what would that mean for Thuney who is likely to demand an even larger salary?
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