New York Giants: Grading all the free agent signings
By Matt Clark
Conclusion
The New York Giants fared much better with the additions they made in free agency than they did securing players who were on their roster last season. Dave Gettleman’s willingness to overpay for backup players, special team players and Leonard Williams likely caused the team to miss out on some of the top names in free agency.
When looking at these moves as a whole, it doesn’t seem like they added many big named players despite having one of the highest amounts of cap space in the NFL. However, upon deeper examination, it seems as though the team has plugged a number of vital holes on their roster.
The Giants managed to sign a lockdown cornerback with Bradberry, a defensive leader at middle linebacker in Martinez, a potential steal as a pass-rushing linebacker in Fackrell, an excellent blocking tight end and red zone target with Toilolo, a potential starting right tackle in Fleming, a special teams ace in Ebner, a viable veteran backup quarterback in McCoy and an excellent pass blocker and receiving option at backup running back in Lewis.
As critical of Dave Gettleman as I was for his handling of the Williams, Tanney, Mayo, and Penny deals, I feel that he and the Giants did an excellent job of filling a number of vital needs with these free agency additions.
A lot of the moves that the Giants made were not flashy moves but were solid additions that provided the team with significant upgrades over the roster from last season. In many ways, they seemed like moves that Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots would make, which makes me believe that perhaps Joe Judge had a strong voice in the construction of this team, which would bode well for the Giants.
Next. Grading the Giants returning free agent signings. dark
By all accounts the players that the team signed were highly intelligent, high character players who are grinders. Additionally, with the exception of Toilolo and McCoy, they have ties to Giants personnel who are extremely familiar with what they will bring to the table. The New York Giants did well with what money they had to work with after dishing out over $28 million to the returning players mentioned at the beginning of the article.