NFL free agency will begin in just over three weeks and then the frenzy will be on. But before then, analysts from around the league will try their hand at predicting where each of the top 50 free agents will sign.
Pro Football Focus recently took on that very exercise and concluded that four of the top 50 available players will end up with the New York Giants.
Two are obvious and don’t necessarily need a further breakdown: quarterback Daniel Jones and running back Saquon Barkley.
After that, things got a bit more interesting.
With safety Julian Love seemingly headed to the open market, the Giants will find themselves on the hunt for a replacement (assuming he’s not re-signed). In that scenario, PFF predicts Buffalo Bills safety Jordan Poyer reunites with general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll.
Predicting Poyer to the Giants feels too simple, but there are too many connections between him and the Giants coaching staff/front office with Brian Daboll and Joe Schoen. Additionally, both Julian Love and Tony Jefferson are set to be free agents, leaving a hole at safety, which Poyer would be able to fill. Poyer has been an excellent safety for the Bills since 2017, grading below 70.0 for only one season. He would be a huge addition to the Giants’ secondary, which struggled to contain some of the better passing offenses in the league.
We’re not exactly sure that Poyer represents an upgrade over Love but he would be a solid replacement if the Giants’ captain sets sail.
Next up, PFF predicts the Giants will sign Tennessee Titans linebacker David Long, which would be seen as an immediate upgrade.
The Titans don’t have much cap space heading into free agency, and while Long was a huge part of their No. 1-ranked run defense in 2022, they’ll likely let him walk, especially with Zach Cunningham’s deal on the books. The Giants just had one of the league’s worst linebacker rooms, starting a playoff game with Jaylon Smith and Jarrad Davis. They desperately need to upgrade the position, and Long would be that guy. In the regular season, Long posted the seventh-best run stop percentage among all linebackers, while recording a 1.1-yard average depth of tackle (best). The Giants’ run defense was pretty bad in 2022, so adding Long would help to shore that part of the defense up heading into 2023.
Long may be dominant against the run but he does struggle at times in coverage. The trade-off may be worth it after a year in which the Giants were routinely carved up on the ground. Still, that would leave them in search of additional linebackers who can also cover running backs and tight ends.
[lawrence-related id=706659,706690,706663]
[mm-video type=video id=01gstca7830sh8hqgbse playlist_id=none player_id=01eqbvhghtkmz2182d image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gstca7830sh8hqgbse/01gstca7830sh8hqgbse-26d978d82126ef645d23f7aecbedf740.jpg]