Ranking NY Giants’ 5 biggest risks taken in 2021

The NY Giants took some expensive risks signing injury-prone Free Agents.

There’s no question the Giants spent some pretty big coin this offseason. The Giants went out and were extremely aggressive in free agency, spending top-of-the-market contracts with guys like Kenny Golladay, Adoree’ Jackson, Kyle Rudolph, and resigning their own in Leonard Williams.

These four players all got multi-year deals in excess of $10 million dollars. The quartet is full of four talented players, but they have had injury (or performance) issues that hindered their performances on the field.

Starting with Kenny Golladay, his talents have never been in question. Golladay led the NFL in receiving touchdowns in 2019 along with a 1,000-yard season. He had back-to-back 1,000-yard years sandwiched in between two seasons missing 11 games in four years. In total, Golladay has played four NFL seasons, two consisting of dominant 1,000-yard seasons, and two consisting of missing over half the season. Which player the NY Giants get is anyone’s guess. Clearly, they are quite literally banking on the healthy Golladay who can lead the league in touchdowns again.

Adoree’ Jackson is a multidimensional and talented athlete. He is fluid in his motions and has the ability to blanket any NFL receiver on his best day. Adoree’s talent isn’t an issue; him staying healthy is. The former 1st rounder has struggled to stay on the field and has missed 18 games the past two seasons. Adoree’ only played in three games in 2020 before ending the season with a knee injury. He must stay healthy to live up to his average $13 million per year contract.

Kye Rudolph and Leonard Williams both haven’t had many injury issues of their own until Rudolph’s foot injury occurred in 2020. Both players were able to stay healthy for 4+ seasons before that. The concerns over their new contracts with the Giants are more about their performance issues.

Leonard Williams has only put together two truly dominant campaigns, with one coming in distant 2016 and an elite season in 2020 anchoring the Giants’ defense. Williams re-signed for over $20 million per year, he must reciprocate last season’s success.

Kyle Rudolph needs to get back to full health from offseason surgery. After that, he needs to get back to his 2016-2019 form. Rudolph has to be more than just a blocking tight end. He needs to be a reliable red zone target and a safety blanket for the giants’ offense to consistently move the chains.

Signing four players with serious injury and performance issues is a legit concern. These players will make up some of the core identity and DNA of this team in 2021. The foursome needs to stay healthy and put together strong seasons at their respective positions to justify their hefty contracts from an unusually busy offseason for the New York Giants.