Giants' Team Needs to Fill in 2023 NFL Free Agency
It's going to be an interesting offseason for the New York Giants. The franchise is coming off of its first playoff appearance in a half-decade, but it has a few key needs to address and a couple of noteworthy players it would prefer to retain.
New York is projected to have $43.2 million in cap space, but that number should shrink significantly when, and if, the Giants get quarterback Daniel Jones and running back Saquon Barkley under contract.
With both men due new deals—and headed to free agency otherwise—New York will likely look to fill as many holes as possible with draft picks and rookie contracts. But it can still afford to target a few critical positions in free agency, which, in turn, should narrow down its draft needs.
With this in mind, let's dive into three areas the Giants should try boosting with veteran talent ahead of April's draft.
Wide Receiver
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New York would undoubtedly love to have Barkley back, but retaining Jones for at least another season will be the priority—and the Giants might do it with the non-exclusive franchise tag, as ESPN's Jeff Darlington told Get Up (h/t Bleacher Report's Adam Wells):
"I think that every GM looks at their quarterback scenario from a game of leverage. Who's going to come after him? Who's going to pay him more? If we ultimately franchise tag him and put the non-exclusive of $32 million, is anybody going to be willing to give up two first-round picks?
Getting another year with which to evaluate Jones before locking him up would be far from a disaster. However, New York should hope to see what the quarterback can do with an improved receiving corps.
The 2022 group was underwhelming—Darius Slayton led the Giants with a mere 724 receiving yards in 2022—and it could lose Slayton, Richie James and Sterling Shepard in free agency.
The problem is that there isn't a true No. 1 receiver headed to market, and New York should be thinking about the position early in the 2023 draft. But a few quality options are set to become available, including JuJu Smith-Schuster, Jakobi Meyers, Parris Campbell and former Giant Odell Beckham Jr., who is already available but didn't play in 2022 because of a torn ACL.
This is a position on which New York should double down, grabbing new pass-catchers in both free agency and the draft.
Tight End
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While the free-agent receiver pool isn't overly impressive, the tight end market could be loaded with top talent. Dalton Schultz, Mike Gesicki and former Giant Evan Engram headline the market, and any one of them would make sense for New York.
The Giants saw some flashes from rookie Daniel Bellinger in 2022, but he led the position group with a mere 268 yards and two touchdowns.
Adding another quality pass-catching tight end to the lineup would be great for Jones, who showed a lot of growth this past season but remains an unfinished product as a passer. Bringing back Engram or plucking Schultz from the rival Dallas Cowboys would give the quarterback that all-important security blanket at tight end.
Even if New York doesn't go chasing one of the top TEs in free agency, several serviceable starters should also be available. Players like Austin Hooper, Hayden Hurst and Robert Tonyan Jr. could serve as a quality complement to Bellinger and still boost the passing game.
The NFL draft will feature some intriguing tight end prospects too, such as Notre Dame's Michael Mayer and Utah's Dalton Kincaid. However, the Giants may not be inclined to select a TE early just a year after taking Bellinger in Round 4.
Linebacker
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Defensively, the Giants need to upgrade their linebacker corps. Despite having a fairly stout defensive front, they ranked a dismal 31st in yards per rush allowed (5.2) this past season.
Even if New York plans to target a prospect like Clemson's Trenton Simpson or Arkansas' Drew Sanders early in the draft, adding a proven starter in free agency would be logical.
The caveat is that the team should probably avoid older veterans such as Lavonte David (33) and Denzel Perryman (30). New York is a relatively young team that should be building for the future and not going all-in for the 2023 season.
Younger linebackers like Tremaine Edmunds (24) and Anthony Walker Jr. (27) would be much more logical for the franchise.
Grabbing a linebacker on the under side of 30 and pairing him with a rookie draft pick would potentially boost New York's second-level defense for the next three to four years. That would be ideal, as some of the best teams in the conference—including the rival Philadelphia Eagles—feature offenses that are predicated on the run.
If the Giants can substantially improve their run defense, they'll stand a much better chance of getting deeper into the postseason than they did in 2022.
*Cap information via Spotrac.
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