The calendar has turned to the month of April, meaning the bulk of NFL free agency has concluded. Joe Schoen's New York Giants had an active and productive free agency period.
Big Blue locked Daniel Jones up long-term, franchise-tagged Saquon Barkley, pulled off a stunning trade for Darren Waller, and signed Bobby Okereke to stabilize the inside linebacker core. Additionally, Schoen added significant depth to the receiver room by re-signing Darius Slayton, adding veteran Jamison Crowder, speedster Parris Campbell Jr., and ex-Jet Jeff Smith.
New York's front office also made several other additions to bolster the Giants depth, something Schoen stated was a priority. The Giants roster still needs work. Most of that will come through the draft. Here are the 3 biggest Giants roster needs after free agency.
3. Secondary help
The Giants have two secondary starting slots currently open. Julian Love signed a 2-year, $12 million deal with the Seattle Seahawks last month, creating an opening at safety. Fabian Moreau, who received the bulk of the CB2 work in 2022, is still a free agent.
The Giants will look internally to replace Love. leading up to Week 1, 2022 fourth-rounder Dane Belton and youngster Jason Pinnock will both get the chance in training camp to win the job, as will recent signing Bobby McCain. McCain, Belton, and Pinnock were all ranked in the bottom third of all safeties by PFF in 2022, so Schoen should look to draft a safety, or at least sign another veteran to add more competition this spring.
Cornerback is a dire need. The CBs room is currently comprised of Adoree' Jackson, Cordale Flott, Leonard Johnson, Darnay Holmes, Aaron Robinson, Amani Oruwariye, Zyon Gilbert, Rodarius Williams, and Nick McCloud.
Jackson is entrenched as CB1 for 2023. Flott is the likely slot corner, after a strong second half in 2022. The rest of the group leaves a ton to be desired. None of them profile as an NFL starting cornerback.
The Giants need to find a cornerback partner for Jackson. Cornerbacks Cam Smith, Joey Porter Jr., Julius Brents, Emmanuel Forbes, and Deonte Banks could realistically be available for the Giants to select in either round one or two of the NFL draft.
2. A star wide receiver is still needed
The Giants had the most expensive wide receiver room in football in 2022. it is currently the 20th most expensive, but it is significantly better. The Giants made the wide receiver room a priority this offseason, adding a ton of speed and some serious depth.
The Giants wideout room is now comprised of Darius Slayton, Parris Campbell Jr., Sterling Shepard, Jamison Crowder, Wan’Dale Robinson, Isaiah Hodgins, Collin Johnson, Jamison Crowder, Jeff Smith, David Sills IV, Kalil Pimpleton, Makai Polk, and Jayden Mickens.
That is a deep group, but it lacks an alpha. Shepard, Slayton, Robinson, and Hodgins all profile as solid WR2\WR3 types but not as the lead dog. Similar to when Schoen and Daboll were in Buffalo and helped acquire Stefon Diggs from Minnesota to give Josh Allen a true alpha, they need to do that for Daniel Jones.
Schoen did get Waller from Las Vegas this offseason, which significantly upgrades their tight end group. Quite frankly, Waller was probably the best catcher the Giants could have gotten for their quarterback this offseason.
But you can never have enough weapons. Jordan Addison, Zay Flowers, Quentin Johnston, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba are all likely first-round picks who profile as WR1. If the Giants add one of those four players, they will finally have a deep and potent group of weapons for Danny Dimes.
1. Interior Offensive Line
The Giants have their two tackles of the future on the roster in Evan Neal and Andrew Thomas, but they badly need to improve the interior of their offensive line. Center Nick Gates signed with the Commanders this offseason, and interior offensive lineman Jon Feliciano signed with the San Fransisco 49ers, creating two big openings.
Mark Glowinski returns in 2023 and will likely play right guard. Glowinski wasn’t great last year, but did do an adequate job. PFF graded Glowinski as the 29th best guard in football. Outside of Glowinski, the Giants roster the oft-injured Shane Lemieux, inconsistent Ben Bredeson, and a bunch of unknown young players in Josh Ezeudu, Marcus McKethan, Wyatt Davis and Solomon Kindley.
That group just isn’t good enough. The Giants must find upgrades this spring to ensure their franchise quarterback has time to operate the offense. In the free agent market, proven veteran guards Roger Saffold and ex-Giant Justin Pugh remain, as do veteran centers Connor McGovern and Ben Jones. The longer those four players sit on the open market, the cheaper their contracts will be.
The Giants could also target some interior offensive lineman in the first/second round of the draft like Steve Avila, John Micheal Schmitz, O’Cyrus Torrence, and Luke Wypler. The best course of action to fix the group: draft one and sign one. The likelihood of hitting a bullseye is a lot higher if you throw multiple darts at the board.
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