5 Giants who are candidates for contract extensions

Here’s a look at five members of the New York Giants who are candidates for contract extensions ahead of 2020 free agency.

The New York Giants have a total of 17 players on their roster who are not under contract past this season.

Headed for unrestricted free agency are: Eli Manning, Leonard Williams, Marcus Golden, Mike Remmers, Michael Thomas, Russell Shepard, Cody Latimer, Zak DeOssie, Antonio Hamilton, David Mayo, Javorius Allen, Deone Bucannon, Scott Simonson, Alex Tanney, Corey Coleman, Cody Core and Riley Dixon.

It’s unlikely the team will bring Manning back. That would be counterproductive in a number of ways. DeOssie appears to have played his last down in blue and many of the others are veterans that can be upgraded through either the draft or free agency, where the Giants are positioned to be very active.

Here are five impending free agents the Giants could be looking to prioritize and extend:

Defensive lineman Leonard Williams

After surrendering a 2020 third-round pick and a 2021 fifth-round pick (that becomes a fourth rounder if they sign him) to land Williams, general manager Dave Gettleman will look foolish if he allows the former Pro Bowler to walk.

Gettleman might look even more foolish if he gives Williams an over-the-market contract. Williams has not brought enough to the table for the Giants for them to go above and beyond to retain him.

Williams is not worth both a third- and a fourth-round pick plus a contract that could pay him double-digit millions per annum. No sense throwing good money after bad.

The Giants best bet is to let Williams walk and only bid on him if his price starts to drop to where it would be a bargain. I don’t foresee Williams getting signed for a while in free agency as he and his reps appear to be looking for a huge payday.

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Giants fall to Packers: Winners, losers and those in between

The New York Giants fell to 2-10 with a 31-13 loss to the Packers in Week 13, and here’s a look at the winners and losers from that game.

The New York Giants fell to the Green Bay Packers, 31-13, on a snowy Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium, extending their losing streak to eight consecutive games and officially eliminating them from the playoffs.

The game itself wasn’t as lopsided as many anticipated initially, but it got a little out of hand later on in the fourth quarter. And while that does represent some progress, as head coach Pat Shurmur would say, you don’t get any prizes for trying hard.

Here’s a look at some winners and losers from Week 13:

Winners

Sterling Shepard: Because of the weather, Shepard wasn’t targeted as many times as he would have been under sunny skies, but he made sure to remind Giants Nation how valuable he can be when he’s on the field. He hauled in three receptions for 40 yards and one beautiful touchdown, and was open several other times throughout the game, but the Giants were simply unable to get him the ball. He did have one drop, but that shouldn’t define his performance.

Darius Slayton: Slayton is rapidly becoming a consistent weekly force and Sunday was no different. Ironically, he actually played better than his stats would indicate as one of his long receptions was called back due to a penalty. He finished the game with six receptions for 44 yards.

Janoris Jenkins: Jenkins entered the Week 13 game feeling quite confident and all but guaranteeing he wouldn’t give up a touchdown, and true to his word, he did not. In fact, Jenkins didn’t give up a single reception to a receiver in which he was covering one-on-one, and even had a pass defensed that prevented a score.

Others: Buck Allen, Aldrick Rosas, Kaden Smith

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Giants’ Leonard Williams doesn’t care about the Jets’ sudden success

New York Giants DE Leonard Williams isn’t at all interested in discussing the sudden success of the New York Jets.

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The New York Jets are 2-0 since trading defensive lineman Leonard Williams to the New York Giants ahead of the 2019 NFL trading deadline, with one of those victories coming over Williams’ new team.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Giants are 0-2 since acquiring Williams, meaning he’s experienced just a single win this season — a Jets victory over the Dallas Cowboys in Week 6.

That’s a tough pill for Williams to swallow and not something he’s really interested in thinking about or talking about.

“The Jets? Yeah, I watched them. I tried to watch a bunch of the games [on Sunday],” Williams told reporters when asked about Gang Green’s latest win. “I mean, that’s good for them. I mean, that’s good for every team that won yesterday. I’m not a part of them, just like any other team that played yesterday. I’m part of the Giants now and focused on what we have to do.”

Ultimately, Williams said, he’s got tunnel vision when it comes to the Giants and getting his first win in blue — something the entire team desperately needs.

“I think it’s important that we get a win as quickly as possible,” Williams said. “As important as it is to get a win as quickly as possible, I think it’s important to stack a win as well, like getting two wins back-to-back would be really important and it would be good for the team’s morale and going forward for the rest of the season.”

Williams isn’t the only Giant desperate to get that first win, and it’s certainly not going to come about magically if he or anyone else is worried about the New York Jets.

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There’s no rhyme or reason to Giants’ defense

The New York Giants have the worst defense in football and there appears to be no rhyme or reason to their approach.

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The New York Giants have surrendered 289 points in 10 games this season, the most in the NFL. There are a ton of reasons and theories behind the huge step back they’ve taken in Year 2 under defensive coordinator James Bettcher.

Many say the scheme is at fault. Others point to the dearth of talent while some blame the organization for stocking the roster with too many rookies and inexperienced players.

No matter which of those are the culprit — and all three are salient points — there isn’t much the team can do about it 10 weeks into the season. To install a new scheme would take as many weeks as they have left in the season.

Adding players isn’t a real option mid-season (although they’ve been doing that where they can) and as for gaining experience, we all know there’s only one way to accomplish that — by playing the rookies.

There have been some interesting nuances this season and a few moves that had fans and pundits questioning the team’s direction.

Defensive snaps: BJ Hill clearly the odd man out on the DL. He has played 28% and 25% of the snaps since the Williams trade. Loading up on DL in a 3-4 that mostly plays 2 DL was always a head-scratching move. Ximines' playing time has been reduced greatly. Bucannon a non-factor pic.twitter.com/Z2UJkrnvaT

— Dan Duggan (@DDuggan21) November 11, 2019

Last year as a rookie, B.J. Hill was a budding star, playing in all 16 games (starting 12), racking up 5.5 sacks, eight QB hits, six tackles for a loss and two passes defensed.

This year, Hill has been invisible, especially on the stat sheet. Through 10 games, he has no sacks, no QB hits and no tackles for a loss.

When the Giants traded for Leonard Williams two weeks ago, we suggested that Williams was not going to be added to the defensive line rotation along with Hill and the others, but rather as a replacement for Hill. So far we are right about that. Hill’s snaps are way down since the trade.

Duggan also points out the decreasing usage of the Giants’ prized third-round pick, linebacker Oshane Ximines, and the fact that they continue to play packages that favor speed over bulk.

Deone Buccanon was picked up because he is a Bettcher disciple from their days in Arizona, but he hasn’t made any type of impact. He was released by Tampa Bay for a reason and now we know why. He doesn’t appear to be the same player he was a few seasons ago.

The scheme might be too complicated for some of the young players. Most defenders are trained to attack. The Giants haven’t shown much aggression on defense. Instead, they are usually on their heels, conceding way too much yardage underneath in fear of surrendering big plays, which they’ve ended up doing anyway. More than any team in the league in fact.

No doubt, there will be more changes to this defense in the offseason. A bona fide pass rusher would go a long way, as would a solid addition at each level of this defense. Granted, doesn’t every team need that?

A return to the “get after it” style would benefit this group rather than having a slew of young players standing around wondering what their assignments are.

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