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The New York Giants’ defensive line performed well last season and helped contribute to one of the more surprisingly solid defenses in 2020. One of the biggest challenges this offseason for the Giants will be keeping that D-line together.
Although the Giants would ideally like to retain both Dalvin Tomlinson and Leonard Williams, getting both under contract may be a challenge to say the least.
One potential option is the franchise tag, which could go to Williams for the second straight year. However, Pro Football Focused believes tagging Tomlinson may make more sense.
A second franchise tag for Leonard Williams would cost $19.35 million in 2021, making it more likely the Giants will look to extend him to a long-term offer if they choose to retain him. While he should reach or perhaps even exceed that number on a per-year basis, it’s still a lot to carry on a $180.5 million salary cap.
The Giants are reportedly working hard to retain both Williams and Tomlinson — the latter of whom drew a trade-deadline offer from the Green Bay Packers — but that could prove challenging leading to the franchise tag. Tomlinson has always been a stout nose tackle against the run, but he took a big step in 2020 and earned a career-high 74.7 pass-rush grade.
In addition to 2019 first-round pick Dexter Lawrence, this seems a bit like overkill along the interior of the defensive line, especially considering the Giants’ edge rush unit finished with the fifth-worst grade in the NFL. Nevertheless, all three are undoubtedly great players that would wreak havoc on opposing interior offensive lines once again.
General manager Dave Gettleman will be faced with a tough decision if the Giants were to have to pick between Tomlinson and Williams. Tomlinson was a captain for Big Blue this past season and the Giants clearly like him.
Williams was acquired by New York via trade in the middle of the 2019 season — a trade that was met with a lot of doubt with the Giants in the middle of a losing campaign. Following Williams’ double-digit sack season however, surely the Giants would like to keep him.
Tagging Tomlinson would likely mean a salary cap hit of over $13.7 million for the 2021 season, which is a similar number to the contract prediction PFF had for Tomlinson last month.
While the Giants have plenty of needs this offseason, keeping Tomlinson will likely be among their top priorities.
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