#1 – Nate Solder & Patrick Omameh
The Giants may have missed out on Andrew Norwell in free agency, but it may work out for the franchise in the long run.
Gettleman instead inked this year’s top free agent left tackle Nate Solder. The G-Men broke the bank for the two-time Super Bowl winner, signing the seven-year veteran to a reported four-year, $62 million contract, which includes $35 million guaranteed.
Some would say Big Blue overpaid for Solder, but the Giants couldn’t afford to miss out on the 6-foot-8, 325-pound tackle. Solder hit free agency at the perfect time. He was by far the best offensive tackle on the market, and this year’s draft class has superior interior offensive line talent.
There may be only a handful of prospects in this year’s class that will play left tackle at the next level, making the addition of Solder only more valuable. Signing Solder was clearly Gettleman’s big fish, but he also added another Hog Molly that’s likely to have an impact for the G-Men in 2018.
Veteran offensive lineman Patrick Omameh signed a three-year deal with Big Blue. His contract is worth $15 million and includes $5.5 million guaranteed, according to ESPN’s Jordan Raanan.
Omameh started 16 games for the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2017, including all three of their playoff outings. The 6-foot-4, 327-pound guard entered the league as an undrafted free agent out of Michigan. He has started 45 games for three different franchises.
Pro Football Focus gave Omameh the worst grade (53.6) of his five-year career this past season, but he still earned a higher grade than most of New York’s offensive linemen. He will likely compete for New York’s starting left and right guard positions and could prove to be an important addition in 2018.
At the very least, Omameh gives New York depth with starting experience at the guard position.