3. Letting Julian Love walk
After easily the best season of his career, there is a rather solid chance that the Giants front office decides to let Julian Love walk in free agency. This is because Love could make up $8-$9 million a season with his next contract, and while this isn’t a crippling amount of money, Schoen could look to spend elsewhere.
According to Spotrac.com, Love has a market value of around $7.9 million, which would rank ninth among all free safeties in the league. Love certainly had a great season, but he also has his limitations, especially in coverage. This is where Dane Belton would step in. While he certainly had his struggles, he showed some incredible flashes in coverage during his rookie season.
In 16 games, Love tallied a team-leading 104 combined tackles, two interceptions and one sack. In terms of coverage, Love allowed 34 receptions on 48 targets for 373 yards and three touchdowns. Love may have had a career best season in terms of coverage, but it still left much to be desired. The good thing about this, though, is that Love is just 24 years old and has plenty of room to grow, so if the Giants do decide to bring him back, they could reap the benefits.
Regardless, Love’s contract may simply just be too much to take on considering all the other holes in the Giants roster, so Schoen may have to make an extremely difficult decision and let Love go in order to address other, more important positions.