For the better part of the offseason, the New York Giants have been connected to every edge rusher that has become available, including remaining free agents Jadeveon Clowney and Markus Golden.
To date however, general manager Dave Gettleman has not made a play for a top-tier pass rusher and by the sounds of it, he’s not going to.
Asked about Clowney and Golden specifically during a Monday conference call, Gettleman made it abundantly clear that several of the team’s young stars are coming up on new contracts and because of that, the Giants are reluctant to drop a high-paying, long-term contract on a top-end edge rusher.
“Well, part of the tight rope that I walk on is short-term and long-term. Part of the long-term is we have some good, young players right now. We’ve got Dalvin Tomlinson, (Evan) Engram and (Jabrill) Peppers. We have to make decisions on them. They’re some good, young players. After another year, you guys are going to be banging on me about Saquon (Barkley),” Gettleman said.
“As I used to tell the guys down in Charlotte, when you wouldn’t spend all your money in free agency, I’d say, ‘Listen, you’re going to kill me about this? Well, you’re going to double kill me when we don’t have money to extend Luke Kuechly or Cam Newton or whomever.’ It’s a collaborative decision we make as we talk about how we’re moving forward. Right now, this is the decision we made. We’re just going to move forward the way we are now.”
As things sit, the Giants have roughly $16 million in salary cap space, which is $4 million less than Gettleman wanted to carry into the draft. And with both Clowney and Golden looking for deals in excess of $10 million annually, it seems highly unlikely the Giants reverse course and add either.
Of course, the Giants could potentially add Clemson linebacker Isaiah Simmons in Round 1 of the 2020 NFL Draft, which would provide them with that much-needed edge rusher, while also saving them from handing out a big-money contract with a line of other extensions on tap.
“A lot of people were raised with the 2007 and 2011 Super Bowl teams where we could consistently apply pressure with four. That is the goal, that’s what you want. You can’t manufacture it and you can’t overpay for it,” Gettleman added. “What it really comes down to is it doesn’t matter who gets the sacks, it’s about how many sacks you actually get. It really is about how much pressure you apply. Some of this is going to have to come through scheme. Obviously, we haven’t gone through the draft yet. With where we’re at, would I not want two defensive ends that are 25 sacks a year guys? Who doesn’t? We are not in that position right now, so we will just keep building it.”
Outside of the Simmons scenario however, do not expect the Giants to make big-time move along the edge.
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