New York Giants: Grading all the free agent signings
By Matt Clark
QB Coly McCoy
When Eli Manning officially retired from football on January 24th of this year, the Giants were left with Daniel Jones as the starting quarterback and Alex Tanney, whom the Giants picked up the second-year option on earlier this month.
While the Giants are clearly enamored by Tanney’s intelligence and ability to breakdown opposing defenses and work with Daniel Jones, he is an option as a future coach in the league and not as a viable backup quarterback. Tanney had appeared in just two games in his eight-year NFL career, one in 2015 with the Titans and one last year with the Giants where he went 1 for 1 passing with one yard.
As a result, New York needed a more logical option at backup quarterback. On March 19th, they filled that need by agreeing to a one-year contract with former Washington Redskins quarterback Colt McCoy worth $1.15 million.
After an excellent collegiate career at Texas, the Cleveland Browns would select McCoy in the 3rd round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He would play from 2010-2012 with the Browns before playing one year with the San Francisco 49ers in 2013. He would sign with the Redskins in 2014, where he played through last season.
McCoy has started 28 career games in his ten-year career and has 6,080 career passing yards with 29 touchdowns, 27 interceptions and a career passer rating of 78.4. While the Giants clearly hope that Daniel Jones is able to start every game, McCoy is a veteran backup who can effectively step in if needed.