The New York Giants had themselves a day on Monday. It was the unofficial first day of free agency -- the legal tampering window, if you will. All it really means is deals can be agreed to, but no one actually signs anything until the new league year begins Wednesday... the official first day of free agency.
It’s an NFL quirk that doesn’t exactly make a ton of sense, but here we are.
Check out our Giants free agency hub for more info and news.
The Giants were anything but quiet. In total, the G-Men committed a whopping $128,702,500 to free agents, ranking third behind the Tennessee Titans and Washington Commanders. And with that kind of money flying around, there are bound to be some winners and some losers, so let’s just get to it.
4 winners and 3 losers from the Giants' first day of free agency
Winner No. 1: John Harbaugh's influence
When the Giants hired John Harbaugh to be their head coach back in January, the expectation was he'd build the G-Men in his image. Two months later, and he's done exactly that. It started with the coaching staff, and then, when free agency opened, he was quick to use his familiarity and influence with his former players to help upgrade the roster at multiple spots.
Tight end Isaiah Likely was the biggest former Raven to agree to terms. Not an hour later, All-Pro punter Jordan Stout reset the market with a three-year, $12.3 million deal to also join Harby. Later in the night, safety Ar’Darius Washington didn’t want to miss out on the fun, signing a one-year deal of his own.
And while he never played under Harbs before, Tremaine Edmunds looks like the type of green-dot linebacker the 63-year-old has found tons of success with, practically making him a Raven by association.
Loser No. 1: Brian Daboll's Giants obsession
Whether he's listed as Loser No. 1 or Public Enemy No.1, former head coach Brian Daboll really took the wind out of Big Blue's sails on Monday. What started off with a cute Wan'Dale Robinson agreement quickly turned into a Daniel Bellinger deal. At that point, the writing should have been on the wall for what was to come next, but stealing Cor'Dale Flott away was super uncool.
It was reported the Giants were just about to come to terms with the 24-year-old before Daboll got him on the phone and had him talk to Titans' HC Robert Saleh. Apparently, he gave Flott his best cult following message and convinced him at the last minute to spurn the Giants and join Tennessee.
Dabs still wasn't done, wrapping the day with his fourth former Giant deal, signing veteran center Austin Schlottmann to a one-year deal. Go away, Brian. Pick a new thing.
Winner No. 2: Not overspending on unnecessary free agents
New York dodged not one, but two major contracts on Monday during the legal tampering window. First it was Kenneth Walker III agreeing to a gangbusters three-year, $45 million deal with the Kansas City Chiefs. That's what we call the Super Bowl LX MVP tax. The Giants were floated around as a potential suitor, but not for that kind of money.
Second, it was Harbaugh's former center, 25-year-old three-time Pro-Bowler Tyler Linderbaum, whose market-resetting deal with the Las Vegas Raiders was borderline incomprehensible. Chiefs Creed Humphrey was the leader at $18M annually, but Linderbaum's $27M per year blew that out of the water. He agreed to a three-year, $81 million deal, which is tough to wrap my mind around.
Regardless, that's $42 million per year the G-Men didn't overpay for by playing it smart and letting the market come to them. Both players were also widely considered luxury gets anyway, so good job, team!
Loser No. 2: Jamie Gillan's Giants career
Now that Stout is in, Gillan is out. After the 27-year-old agreed to his market-resetting deal, the Giants cut the Scottish Hammer.
Gillan is a great person and an awesome locker room guy to have around, but this is a one-punter league so it was inevitable that he'd be gone if Harbaugh -- a known special teams guy -- decided to upgrade the position, which he did, with the best punter on the market and possibly in the league.
Winner No. 3: Jaxson Dart's Year 2 breakout
I can already feel the "what's Matt smoking?" vibes coming from the readers as they try to draw the map from signing Isaiah Likely, Isaiah Hodgins, and Jermaine Eluemunor to "Jaxson Dart is due for a breakout in Year 2." And I get that. But these won't be the only moves they make all offseason, setting them up really nicely to flesh out the rest of the roster with another lineman or two and another receiver or two.
The Giants were calculated on Monday, which is a refreshing change of pace from the "let's throw mud at the wall and see what sticks" technique they've been following under Schoen the past four offseasons. They didn't go big buck hunting. Instead, they focused on quality additions all over the roster, which will help Dart feel more confident in his ability in Year 2.
The chain is only as strong as its weakest link, so by raising the floor of the roster, they inadvertently raised the 22-year-old's ceiling in the process. And that's the only way this thing is going to work.
Loser No. 3: Giants' linebacker woes
Edmunds isn't going to solve all of New York's run-defense issues on his own, but he's about as perfect a starting point as general manager Joe Schoen and Co. are going to get. The 6-foot-5, 249-pound off-ball linebacker is still somehow only 27 despite playing for eight years.
Through his eight seasons in the league, he's amassed 900 tackles, 43 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks, 14 interceptions, and two Pro Bowls. It's no secret Harbaugh needs a dominant force of nature in the middle of his defense. After all, this is a guy who has coached Ray Lewis, C.J. Mosley, and Roquan Smith.
You might think Edmunds' deal takes them out of the running for Ohio State LB Sonny Styles in the upcoming draft, but think again. A dynamic duo of Edmunds and Styles could get this Giants defense back to playing the old-school bully style that helped it win its previous two Super Bowls.
Winner No. 4: Giants fans
No matter how granular you want to get, the day was an overall success. Whether you thought it was the best first day of free agency or not, it's hard to come away with anything but a positive reflection on Day 1 of the legal tampering period.
Sure, Flott didn't re-sign, which might end up being the only thing that didn't necessarily go right for the Giants all day, but if another team comes in at the last minute and sways his mind, there isn't much Big Blue can do about that. You can only control what you control.
Coming away with Isaiah Likely, Jordan Stout, Tremaine Edmunds, Jermaine Eluemunor, Isaiah Hodgins, Chris Manhertz, and Ar'Darius Washington is quite the day. There are still many more moves to be made, but fans can feel the narrative around this team starting to shift for the better, and it's been a minute since that hope was actually tethered to legitimate potential instead of something fabricated to hold on to.