NY Giants add solid veteran backup quarterback in free agency
The NY Giants added a veteran backup quarterback on day four of NFL free agency.
While the name ‘Colt McCoy‘ might not excite most NY Giants fans, it should. McCoy has carved out a nitch as a solid backup quarterback in this league for a decade now, but even better, him signing with Big Blue dramatically lowers the chances of eternal journeyman Alex Tanney being on the 53-man roster in 2020.
According to Jordan Raanan of ESPN, the terms of the deal are very affordable and this actually makes a lot of sense for the NY Giants.
QB Colt McCoy has agreed to terms with the Giants on a one-year deal that includes $1.5 million guaranteed, per source. He joins a QB room with Daniel Jones and veteran Alex Tanney. McCoy spent the past six years in Washington.
— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) March 19, 2020
(@MikeGarafolo first with the move)
For just $1.5M guaranteed, this is a very low-risk move for the NY Giants. While there were surely other more attractive options to be had on the backup quarterback market, there’s little chance that any of those guys would have signed for such a small guaranteed investment. It’s been reported that the total value of this one-year contract is $2.5M should McCoy end up making the roster.
Coly McCoy hasn’t lit the world on fire during his stinks as a starting quarterback in this league with Cleveland and Washington, but he’s been serviceable and shown he can lead a team for a couple of games which is all the NY Giants really need at this juncture.
Somehow, Alex Tanney has survived two-plus seasons with the Giants despite not offering any possibility of actually being able to play the position. With Daniel Jones heading into year two, it appears the team is favoring a quarterback that can actually play over one that only brings mentorship.
There will be a legitimate backup competition between the two, but it’s hard to imagine Tanney being out McCoy while Tanney also doesn’t carry any guaranteed money with him on his contract. It was also hard to imagine Tanney being on the roster the last two seasons two, though, so we’ll see how this plays out over the Summer.
Next. Remaining free agent options that make sense for NYG. dark
Big Blue will more than likely bring in a young quarterback or two to compete in training camp for a potential third quarterback spot that would probably be a practice squad role.