After an incredible season in which the NY Giants went 9-7-1 and went to the playoffs for the first time since 2016, the team enters the offseason with an incredible amount of room to improve. Not only will the team have $50+ million in cap space, but they also have 11 draft picks to work with.
While this year’s free agency class may not be the most exciting in terms of the Giants needs, they could still make a splash or two while retaining some key players to the roster. This could be a very fun and surprising offseason in which we see some new faces in New York, while simultaneously bringing back key members of the team back on big-time contracts.
Some moves could be made that no one sees coming too. With that said, here are five bold predictions for the NY Giants 2023 offseason:
5. The front office lets Julian Love walk in favor of Dane Belton
Following his best season yet, Julian Love is set to hit the market as a free agent this offseason and the Giants are tasked with attempting to bring him back. However, there’s a chance we don’t see that happen and instead Love is allowed to walk in order to both save money and give more snaps to Dane Belton.
Love likely won’t make a ton of money even if the Giants do decide to bring him back, but with players like Daniel Jones, Saquon Barkley, Dexter Lawrence, and Andrew Thomas needing extensions soon, the front office is going to have to save as much money as possible.
Belton on the other hand, had a pretty solid rookie season for a fourth-round pick. While he wasn’t all that great against the run, he showed a good amount of potential in coverage, which when put next to Xavier McKinney, could become an intriguing duo in the future.
In 238 coverage snaps, Belton allowed 16 receptions on 24 targets for 194 yards and zero touchdowns while snagging two interceptions and allowing a passer rating of just 56.6. While this could have something to do with the limited snaps he received, it is certainly exciting to see a good amount of success in coverage.
As for Love, he had a pretty good season considering how poorly he had played in the past, racking up a team-leading 104 tackles, while also snagging two interceptions and three pass breakups. However, Love still wasn’t the best in coverage aside for his interceptions, in 581 coverage snaps, Love allowed 34 catches on 48 targets for 373 yards and three touchdowns. His future in NY is up in the air.
4. Either Mike Kafka or Wink Martindale doesn’t return
While several jobs have been filled up, both Wink Martinale and Mike Kafka remain in contention to be hired by both the Indianapolis Colts and Arizona Cardinals, respectively. Will one of them leave East Rutherford? It could happen.
While Martindale would be the most likely to go, as he has more experience, and a Super Bowl victory from his time with the Ravens, opposing teams could be interested in Kafka due to the potential he showed as a first-year play-caller.
If this happens, the Giants need to have a plan of action, something head coach Brian Daboll stressed during a recent presser. Whether the Giants find replacements from within the organization or outside, we have confidence in the front office to find the right guys to potentially replace these two.
Kafka and Martindale may not have been perfect, but they certainly played an important role in the success the Giants had this season, and losing them could hurt the team based off of the chemistry they have formed with these players. Martindale seriously helped improve the defense, while Kafka played a big role in helping Jones show major improvements.
3. Joe Schoen steals Tremaine Edmunds from his former team
This is easily the boldest prediction so far, but in all reality it’s more possible than you might think. Entering the offseason, the Bills are set to be $5 million under the cap, and with key players such as Jordan Poyer, Roger Saffold, Jordan Phillips and Shaq Lawson all being on expiring contracts, there’s a chance they may not be able to offer Tremaine Edmunds the contract he wants.
If this becomes the case, the Giants should do all they can to get their hands on Edmunds, who just came off a season in which he racked up 101 tackles, one interception and six pass deflections. Alongside this, Edmunds also posted the second best coverage grade in the NFL among linebackers according to PFF, allowing 40 receptions on 56 targets for 296 yards and one touchdown.
The NY Giants have been without a linebacker of this caliber for so long now, so if they manage to sign the 24 year old, the defense would benefit greatly. We have seen what has happened with other defenses in the league once they acquire an elite linebacker such as the Ravens, who made a huge splash in bringing in Roquan Smith.
Edmunds would likely cost a lot, but considering how bad the linebacker position has been for the Giants over the last five years or so, they are in desperate need of an upgrade. At the end of the day, the Giants can’t enter another season with a linebacker core as awful as it was this past year. Fans would love to see Edmunds with Big Blue.
2. Joe Schoen signs Saquon Barkley to a four-year deal
While it originally seemed as if the Giants would place the franchise tag on Saquon Barkley this offseason, it is beginning to seem more and more likely that the front office would rather work with Barkley towards a pretty big extension – one that’s fair for both sides, of course.
Barkley knows that he can’t reset the market, as he recently mentioned his injury history and how that would have an impact on his negotiations. The Giants previously offered Barkley a deal worth around $12 million a year, which he turned down. Would a four-year contract worth $13-$14 million a campaign work for Saquon?
In 16 regular season games, Barkley ran the ball 295 times for 1,312 yards and 10 touchdowns, while catching 57 passes for 338 yards. While he started the season off looking like one of the best running backs in the league, some minor injuries slowed down his production as the season progressed.
Regardless, Barkley is one of the few running backs in the league that would be worth getting signed to a big-time contract. His value to this team can’t be overstated. Schoen said at the Senior Bowl that he’s in contact with Barkley’s reps. Let’s see if the two sides can finally get on the same page.
1. The Giants will trade their first-round pick for a star receiver
Throughout the year, Giants fans have seen more and more why this team desperately needs a bonafide WR1. The offense was pretty solid at times without one, so imagine how good it could be if they add a player like Tee Higgins or Brandon Aiyuk?
The Giants are currently set to pick 25th overall in the 2023 NFL Draft, so while they could certainly take a swing on drafting a receiver like Quentin Johnson, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Jordan Addison or others, it may be wiser to trade that pick for an established stud instead.
Either Higgins or Aiyuk would be well worth the price of a first-round pick and they would be massive game-changers for the NY Giants heading into next season. It could take more than a first-rounder, though, but Schoen could package something else.
Jones has already proven he can be an incredibly solid and consistent QB without much help from his receivers, so if the Giants front office can manage to add a top-tier receiver, we could possibly see Jones put the doubts surrounding whether or not he is a franchise QB to rest.
During last year’s draft cycle, we saw some very good receivers in the form of Marquise Brown and A.J Brown both be traded during the first round, so there’s a chance we see it again in 2023. This time around, we’d love for the Giants to be involved. The WRs room needs a makeover and Schoen needs to make it happen.
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