This is The Gridiron Review’s New York Giants 2023 Offseason Team Breakdown. We provide you with all things you need to know about the Giants heading into FA and the draft. We also provide our thoughts on the needs of the team and how we think they can be addressed!
New York Giants 2022 Record: 9-7-1
New York Giants Giants Salary Cap(According to Spotrac): $43,151,832
Notable Free Agents(According to Spotrac):
- Daniel Jones, QB
- Saquon Barkley, RB
- Matt Breida, RB
- Darius Slayton, WR
- Sterling Shepard, WR
- Richie James, WR
- Jon Feliciano, C
- Nick Gates, C
- Jihad Ward, DL
- Oshane Ximines, OLB
- Fabian Moreau, CB
- Julian Love, S
Team Needs: QB, RB, WR, C, DL(Depth), Edge(Depth), CB, S(Depth)
3 Free Agent Targets(In No Order):
- DJ Chark, WR
- Marcus Davenport, EDGE
- Marcus Peters, CB
New York Giants First Round Pick(s): Pick 25
3 Draft Prospect Fits/Targets:
- Bijan Robinson, RB, Texas
- Zay Flowers, WR, Boston College
- Kelee Ringo, CB, Georgia
Our Giants Ideal Offseason Plans/Thoughts:
- Thanks to an easy S.O.S and the rest of the NFC being a disappointment, the Giants found a way to sneak themselves into the playoffs and even took out the Vikings with a practice squad WR room. Then the Eagles absolutely dismantled them, and exposed all their flaws. Luckily they have a good amount of cap because they have a lot of work to do, particularly on the offensive side of the ball.
- The QB predicament continues to get more and more complicated as time goes on. By the time the season ended, Daniel Jones had absolutely earned himself a second contract with the team. He showed a ton of growth under Daboll and Kafka despite having no supporting cast. However, Jones is now saying he wants $45 million/year. For context, $45 million/year would have Jones making the same AAV as Mahomes and higher than Allen. There’s absolutely no way you should pay him that much. If you want to pay Jones in the $30-35 million range that’s fine, but you should not go over that. If Jones wants to prove he’s worth what he’s asking for, he should play on the tag. He has more to prove and could do that with an improved supporting cast and could end up getting more if he continues to improve. Jones is coming off the best year of his young career after people wanted him out, he can’t ask for that type of money after one year, it’s unrealistic.
- With everything being said at the combine it sounds like Jones will get the tag if a deal isn’t reached and Barkley will test the market. It’s not often a superstar RB of Barkley’s caliber (when healthy) hits the market, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens there. In our first mock draft we had the Giants taking Texas RB Bijan Robinson. As time goes on, the more and more likely it seems the Giants could just draft Barkley’s replacement this year with as strong a RB class as it is. Also, bring back Matt Breida, he had a bigger impact on the Giants backfield than most people think he did.
- Let’s start by saying that Darius Slayton, for all the cut/trade rumors there’s been over the past couple seasons, balled out this year. His contributions to the Giants offensive success is not talked about nearly enough. Does that mean Slayton is a WR1? In an ideal world, no. However, Slayton should absolutely be brought back to be WR3. If he had 46 receptions and 724 yards as WR1, imagine what he could do as WR3 with the pressure off of him. This room is going to have to be addressed more than once despite Hodgins being re-signed. In FA, DJ Chark would be a good fit in NY. He brings a slightly different skill set to the room that could help stretch the field. In the draft, if Boston College’s Zay Flowers somehow falls to pick 25, you absolutely have to jump the gun. Flowers would be a day one starter and big time impact player.
- The Giants offensive line is actually in pretty good shape for the first time in years. You would hope Evan Neal takes a huge year 2 jump, but he’s definitely starting again next season. Both of the Giants centers are FAs though. The G-Men should bring back at least one of these veterans in Gates or Feliciano. This is also a deep and pretty impressive Center class in the draft(Schmitz, Wypler, Scruggs, Oluwatimi, etc). If you re-sign one of your vets, you could draft one of these young guys and have a bridge for a year while they develop(depending who you take and when).
- Overall, the Giants defense is in a really good place under Wink Martindale. They could use some depth all around, but in terms of starters they are strong. On the defensive line, they should consider bringing in a starting caliber edge player. Azeez Ojulari looks good when he plays, but staying healthy has been a problem for him. The Giants could look to bring in Marcus Davenport off the FA market
- The only position on the defensive side of the ball that needs help is the CB room. Adoree Jackson has been playing his best football in NY, but he’s got no help around him. Martindale could reunite with an old friend and one of the best ball hawks in the league in Marcus Peters. Peters would immediately be an upgrade on anyone currently in the Giants CB room not named Adoree Jackson. If they want to go younger, Georgia’s Kelee Ringo could be an option for the Giants at pick 25. Ringo is a raw, athletically gifted CB who needs more development than people think. Martindale has a pretty strong history of developing those types of players, and his defensive system makes it pretty easy to plug and play CBs even if they wouldn’t be capable of starting anywhere else. Ringo could play day one for the Giants despite needing development in his game.
- UPDATE: The Giants have signed Daniel Jones to a 4 year, $160 million extension
- UPDATE: The Giants have assigned Saquon Barkley the Non-exclusive Franchise Tag