The New York Giants have a lot of tier 1 needs entering free agency and the new league year, but some of their tier 2 needs could turn out to be equally important.
Among them is the need for an outside receiver capable of stretching the field and, perhaps far more importantly, serving as a red zone and endzone target.
Those over at ESPN have a “daring” solution to that problem for the Giants — sign wide receiver Amari Cooper.
New York Giants: Sign WR Amari Cooper
The Giants’ trio of offensive playmakers — Daniel Jones, Saquon Barkley and Darius Slayton — will all be 23 years old at the start of the 2020 season. Jones might not be Patrick Mahomes, but his 53.9 QBR as a rookie is promising. And quarterbacks tend to make their biggest performance improvements between their rookie and second seasons. The Giants should spend to add talent around Jones now and make his window for rookie-contract success as long as possible.
Signing Cooper would hurt the division-rival Cowboys and reunite Cooper with the head coach for whom he had his greatest success: Former Cowboys coach Jason Garrett is now the Giants’ offensive coordinator. Cooper also makes sense for the Giants’ roster. Slayton surprised during his rookie season but did most of his damage on deep passes thrown 20 or more yards in the air. Cooper thrived on both intermediate (10-19 air yards, 37.2% DVOA) and deep throws (20-plus air yards, 79.8% DVOA) and would give Jones a plus weapon for every area of the field. Cooper is young for a sixth-year player, turning 26 in June. He aligns well with the Giants’ likely trajectory with Jones under center and ability to cut veteran receiver Golden Tate after the 2020 season to save $6 million in cap space.
The idea of Cooper reuniting with Jason Garrett in East Rutherford is an intriguing one, and yes, it would do damage to the Dallas Cowboys in the process. That’s always a bonus, but given what Cooper is likely to command on the open market, would it be prudent for general manager Dave Gettleman to burn a substantial amount of cap space for another wide receiver?
Cooper certainly would make the Giants offense more dynamic, but it all boils down to dollars and cents. If the veteran receiver is looking to cash in after a career season (and of course he will be), that’s likely to price Big Blue out of the market.
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