The New York Giants haven’t gotten much out of the center position in recent years, despite spending early draft capital trying to fix it, which is why they’re presumably circling the Tyler Linderbaum sweepstakes this offseason.
Unfortunately, Drew Dalman of the Chicago Bears just announced his shocking retirement at age 27, throwing a massive wrench into New York’s plans. It was already going to be a tall task, but with the sudden opening in Chicago, it might've just gotten even harder for the G-Men to land the Ravens' 25-year-old, three-time Pro Bowler.
The same goes for Tyler Biadasz, who was recently released by the Washington Commanders and, according to NFL insider Ian Rapoport, is already meeting with the Bears.
Talk about raining on Big Blue’s parade. First their dream signing gets murkier, and now even the fallback plan does too. All signs are pointing to New York running it back with John Michael Schmitz in the middle, which is less than ideal.
Giants may have no choice but to trust John Michael Schmitz one more time
When the Giants selected John Michael Schmitz 57th overall in the 2023 Draft out of Minnesota, general manager Joe Schoen and then-head coach Brian Daboll believed they were finally ridding themselves of the inconsistent line play that's seemingly plagued this organization for decades.
He was widely regarded as the best center in the class and, at the time, was also viewed as a potential steal of the draft. Well, three years in, and the only thing that's been stolen is Giants fans' patience.
The reality is the Giants don’t have to replace him. They can sell themselves on internal development one more time and hope Year 4 is when it finally clicks. But three seasons in, there’s no statistical leap to point to. He hasn’t cracked the top 28 at his position (per Pro Football Focus), and the $3.9 million in potential cap savings by cutting him isn’t significant enough for a team trying to patch multiple holes.
At some point, the “he was the best center in his class” label stops mattering.
That’s why this Bears development stings. Linderbaum was always the pipe dream, and Biadasz felt like the practical Plan B. Now both paths look a lot cloudier, which leaves the Giants staring at the same question they’ve been avoiding for three years: are they comfortable hitching the wagon to JMS again?
Chicago’s news may have just boxed the Giants into running it back. And if that’s the case, here's to hoping head coach John Harbaugh can instill a little bit of that Linderbaum magic into Schmitz. He certainly could use it.