The NY Giants released the financial details of new running back Devonta Freeman, and it looks like a team-friendly contract.
Finally, in his third year on the job as NY Giants’ general manager, Dave Gettleman has used some of his famous, and apparently much-needed ‘in-season emergency fund’ when he locked up veteran running back Devonta Freeman to a one-year contract on Tuesday.
Before the addition of Freeman, the NY Giants had about $9M in salary cap space to work with. Gettleman has chosen to use about 33% of that on his most recent addition according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.
Giants and RB Devonta Freeman now officially have agreed to a one-year deal worth up to $3 million. “Devonta turned down more money from other teams because he likes the opportunity with the Giants best,” per @Rosenhaussports.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 23, 2020
The key phrase in Sherry’s tweet is “worth up to”, as it implies Freeman will have to earn some type of incentive to reach the full $3M amount.
While I’m usually all in favor of rolling over as much salary cap as possible into the next season during rebuilding times, it’s hard to argue against making this move as the NY Giants rank dead-last in the NFL in rushing yards up to this point.
After not finding the contract he was looking for during the offseason, Devonta Freeman appeared to have valued the opportunity he’d be getting with Big Blue to be their potential lead back over other larger contract offers if you believe his agent Drew Rosenhaus (which is always tricky).
Freeman had previously worked out with the Philadelphia Eagles last week and it’s conceivable to believe that a number of other teams were going to look at bringing him in after the rash of injuries we saw around the NFL this past weekend, particularly at the running back position.
Will Devonta Freeman have a future with the NY Giants past this year?
The short answer to this question is likely no. Even though Saquon Barkley went down with a nasty torn ACL injury on Sunday – one that also took a toll on his meniscus – the injury happened early enough in the season that the former Pro Bowl tailback figures to be back at full strength for the 2021 season barring any major setbacks.
For now, it looks like Devonta Freeman and the NY Giants are just using each other to get what they want in the 2020 season — Freeman a chance to show he can still play while he looks for a longer-term solution, and the Giants looking to jumpstart their horrific run game.
And, there’s nothing wrong with that.
Big Blue should get a very motivated Devonta Freeman as he looks to bounce back from a couple of forgettable seasons and he should get every oppurtunity to do just that.
Offensive coordinator Jason Garrett has typically shied away from using a running back-by-committee approach which lends well towards Freeman getting to play a majority of the time.
Dion Lewis still figures to be a factor on offense, but Freeman has shown he is an every-down ‘back and will likely dominate the snap count once he’s back up and running at full speed.