New York Giants: Grading the returning free agent contracts
By Matt Clark
Conclusion
In essence, the New York Giants allocated a whole lot of money to return a kicker, a special teams ace, an underperforming defensive lineman, a backup linebacker, a fullback, and a third-string quarterback. In total, those deals will count for over $28.35 million against the 2020 salary cap and none of these moves seem like they had to be done in order for the Giants to succeed next season.
While it is likely that Williams and Rosas are extended for lesser annual amounts, the fact is that these signings took the Giants out of play for some of the biggest name free agents on the market. After signing these players plus James Bradberry, Blake Martinez, Colt McCoy, Kyler Fackrell, Nate Ebner, Cam Fleming, and Levine Toilolo, the Giants have failed to make any significant upgrade to their pass rush, which was arguably the biggest hole on their roster.
While it is possible that they add a pass rusher or two in the draft, the only elite pass-rushing option is Chase Young, who is likely to be gone when the Giants step to the podium with the fourth overall selection in the draft. The Giants would have been more prudent to have saved the money they spent on a number of these players to go after a pass rusher such as Jadeveon Clowney, Vic Beasley, Dante Fowler, Robert Quinn, Leonard Floyd or any number of available options.
Even backing out the money that the Giants are scheduled to pay to Williams and Rosas and keeping the Cody Core deal in place if the Giants had opted to fill the third-string quarterback, fullback and backup linebacker roles with late-round draft picks or undrafted free agents, they could have saved over $6.7 million next year which would have allowed them to sign a more impactful player.
Next. 5 remaining FA's that make sense for the Giants. dark
While Dave Gettleman has been very successful with his two drafts as the general manager of the Giants and looks to have won the Olivier Vernon and Odell Beckham Jr. trades, his track record in free agency continues to be abysmal. Unfortunately, his willingness to overpay for backups and sparsely used players who have been long-time practice squad players looks to have ultimately cost the Giants an opportunity to land the impactful free agent signings that the team desperately needed this offseason.