New York Giants fans should not be too concerned about losing players in free agency as none of the impending free agents on their roster were “key pieces to the team in 2019,” according to Pro Football Focus.
The list of Giants scheduled to hit the market on March 18 (DI Leonard Williams, LB David Mayo, WR Cody Latimer, T Mike Remmers, S Michael Thomas and EDGE Markus Golden) aren’t worth the fan base sweating over losing.
"None of the Giants’ impending free agents were key pieces to the team in 2019"@PFF_Anthony:https://t.co/35IA4AzpR7
— PFF (@PFF) February 17, 2020
“None of the Giants’ impending free agents were key pieces to the team in 2019. They kind of put themselves in a bad spot with Leonard Williams, as they traded a third-round and fifth-round pick for him midseason and now have to pay a projected price of five years, $75 million with $43 million guaranteed. That’s the ninth largest contract for a non-quarterback this free agency, and he’s not even among the 20 best non-quarterback free agents, as he has failed to crack the top 25 in grade in each of his last three seasons. With a handful of cuts, New York can grow its cap situation and significantly improve its pass-rush and secondary, which ranked 26th and 30th in team grade, respectively. Shaq Barrett had the fourth most pressures last season, but again, they have to be careful not to overpay him.”
The final words of that analysis are key: “be careful not to overpay.” The Giants are expected to have in the excess of $60 million in cap space to pay free agents and many are viewing East Rutherford as a secondary destination.
The losing has tarnished the brand and the general consensus is that the franchise is headed in the wrong direction under general manager Dave Gettleman. But money talks, and players and their agents will remind the Giants of that. Those four Super Bowl trophies in the lobby no longer carry the weight they once did when it comes to swaying players to don the blue.
Unfortunately, they will have to overpay to land some of these big names, just like they had to do with Nate Solder a few years back. Look at how that has worked out.
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