Keep or Cut Decisions for New York Giants' 2015 Free Agents
The New York Giants have many decisions to make over the coming weeks regarding their existing roster.
With 18 unrestricted free agents, the full list of which you can find at Pro Football Focus' free site, and not much in the way of salary-cap money at this point ($16.9 million, per Over the Cap, based on a $140 million cap figure), it’s not surprising that general manager Jerry Reese said that the club isn’t prepared to go on a wild spending spree, as it did last year.
It doesn’t really have to either, not this year.
Yes, the won-loss record was worse than last year, but as Reese noted in his season-ending press conference with reporters:
“[Last year] the roster was getting a little older, so we did have to turn the roster around… I do think that if we can get players back, we can have another good draft, we will definitely do some things in free agency, but we are always going to try to upgrade our roster at every position, every year.”
So let’s look at eight of the Giants scheduled to become unrestricted free agents and determine if they should be kept (assuming the price is right) or cut from the team’s plans moving forward.
Keep: DE Jason Pierre-Paul
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Say what you want about the competition faced and where the numbers came from, but defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul had a nice rebound season after two years of dealing mostly with back problems.
Even this year, Pierre-Paul’s slow start might have been due to a burner he suffered earlier in the season, according to Paul Dottino of WFAN. Regardless, once he got going, he really got going.
Pierre-Paul finished as the fourth-best overall 4-3 defensive end, according to grades by Pro Football Focus (subscription required) on players who took 75 percent or more of their team’s snaps on defense.
What makes Pierre-Paul such a keeper is that he excelled against both the run, where he was the second-best defensive end behind Michael Bennett of Seattle, and the pass rush, where his 12.5 sacks were the eighth-most by a defensive player this season.
That kind of production is more than enough for the Giants to justify slapping the franchise tag on the 26-year old in order to retain his rights while they try to arrange for a longer-term contract.
Diverse defensive ends who can excel in run defenses and in the pass rush don’t grow on trees, and the Giants seem to realize this.
“He certainly had a great finish to the season and showed the type of player that he can be and that he will be going forward,” team President and CEO John Mara told reporters during his year-end press conference. “I would be very surprised if he was not a Giant next year.”
Cut: S Quintin Demps
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When the Giants signed safety Quintin Demps last year, they initially envisioned him as a kickoff returner and a backup safety.
Demps started the season in those roles, but then the plan changed. First, safety Stevie Brown, the starting free safety, struggled and was benched early in the season, and the coaches called on Demps to be the new starter.
However, Demps also struggled, and soon he was removed from that role for—you guessed it—Stevie Brown.
Meanwhile, Demps, who had been removed from kickoff return duty when his role increased on defense, never got the job back after his demotion from the starting lineup.
Demps finished the season with a 21.3 average on kickoffs, while his replacement, receiver Preston Parker, finished with a 24.2 average.
So where does that leave Demps for 2015? Although he is one of three safeties set to be an unrestricted free agent (Antrel Rolle and Stevie Brown are the other two), the Giants will likely be looking at youngsters Nat Berhe and Cooper Taylor to fill at least two of the four projected spots on next year’s 53-man roster.
Keep: S Antrel Rolle
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Let’s make one things clear right off the bat: No, safety Antrel Rolle did not have a good year, not at least in comparison to previous years as a Giant.
First, despite playing 16 games, Rolle’s 87 tackles were his lowest mark as a Giant since 2010, his first in New York.
In his previous three seasons, Rolle came within spitting distance of cracking the 100-tackle mark, with last season being his best (98 tackles).
His passes defensed also declined from 12 last year to nine this year, as did his interceptions (six in 2013 and three in 2014).
So why should the Giants try to keep a player who just turned 32 years old and whose production dipped?
For the same reason why the Giants held on to Deon Grant an extra year: the intangibles.
One, Rolle is durable—he rarely misses a practice and has not missed a game as a Giant, despite going through the wear and tear and then some that the game subjects players to.
Two, he is a leader, a guy who holds his teammates accountable and who wear his emotions on his sleeve (think Antonio Pierce or Jessie Armstead here).
Every football team needs a fiery personality type that is not going to be afraid to get in the face of a young player who tries to coast, and in Rolle, they have that.
Three, Rolle is versatile. While he has strongly hinted in the past that he is not a fan of playing in the slot, he has the skills and the knowledge to do that as well as play in multiple roles. Guys like that don’t grow on trees and are very valuable to their coaching staffs.
With all that said, the Giants absolutely should not break the bank for Rolle, who made a $7 million base salary in 2014, according to Spotrac.
Rolle will likely look for a big payday on what should be his final NFL contract; however, if he is expecting to become the highest-paid safety in the NFL, then the Giants will look elsewhere.
If he is willing to be reasonable money-wise, return to a starting job and continue as a leader of this defense, then there should be no reason why he can’t retire as a Giant.
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Cut: LB Jacquian Williams
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Linebacker Jacquian Williams took a huge leap forward this season by showing the coaches that he could be an every-down linebacker. As a result, he finished with his best season statistically, which included 78 tackles.
However, Williams, who has excellent physical skills as a cover linebacker, often didn’t come up with the big play in keeping receivers and tight ends in front of him. Per Pro Football Focus (subscription required), he finished with a minus-5.7 grade in pass coverage that included two consecutive poor games in a row before a season-ending concussion put him on the shelf following Week 10.
Speaking of that concussion, it’s always concerning when a player experiences lingering effects of a head injury beyond a couple of weeks.
There haven’t been any updates regarding Williams and his recovery, so it’s impossible to know how this process is going to affect his football future.
Certainly the Giants, who have tried to do right by their injured players, will take this into consideration when evaluating whether Williams has a future here; however if they go strictly on his play, they’re probably better off letting him walk and starting Devon Kennard at the weak side instead.
Keep: LB Mark Herzlich
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For the longest time, it looked like linebacker Mark Herzlich was never going to amount to anything more than an inspirational story.
The former cancer patient, who signed as an undrafted free agent in 2011, was a good special teams player but not so much a good linebacker, despite his high tackle totals.
The problem with Herzlich is that most of his tackles came away from the line of scrimmage. He also at times was reckless with how he threw his body around in an effort to make plays.
He also remains a liability in coverage, a problem that was so noticeable at the start of 2013 that the Giants made a rare in-season trade to acquire Jon Beason to steady that starting middle linebacker spot that Herzlich would go on to twice lose to others.
So why should the Giants keep Herzlich, whose special teams play has been solid but not at an All-Pro level?
First, Herzlich had his best year as a pro, finishing with 52 tackles, one sack and two passes defensed, all career highs.
His move to outside linebacker had a lot to do with that, as when having to cover only a third of the field, Herzlich wasn’t as exposed in coverage as much as he was in the middle.
Along those lines, Herzlich now has an understanding and experience in playing all three linebacker positions much like Chase Blackburn, who tutored Herzlich when they were teammates, offered.
That’s valuable experience right there in the existing system that is hard to find without spending a ridiculous amount on a veteran backup, a role that Herzlich would fill just nicely if he returns.
Cut: OL James Brewer
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Offensive lineman James Brewer, a fourth-round pick in 2012, should have had it all by now.
A huge man at 6’6” and 330 pounds, Brewer was supposed to be a staple of the offensive line by now. However, in 2013, when given a chance to nail down a starting job at left guard, he just wasn’t anywhere near the consistent force he needed to be, with his technique sloppy and his effort, at times, lackadaisical.
Because of Brewer’s failure to develop, the team resorted to the veteran free-agency route. Geoff Schwartz was signed with the intent of moving him into Brewer’s left guard spot, at least until Schwartz ended up missing much of his first season due to toe and then ankle injuries.
Brewer, meanwhile, appeared in just 26 games over four seasons (eight starts), including two in 2014 when injuries to the offensive line forced the coaches to activate him.
Then there is a matter of his health. Brewer missed the first four games of the season because of a back problem only to continue on the inactive list, this time as a healthy scratch for the next six games.
With his “scholarship” ending this year, it’s clear that the team will be looking in another direction regarding depth on the offensive line.
Keep: CB Walter Thurmond III
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The 2014 season was a lost year for cornerback Walter Thurmond III, who per Spotrac, signed a one-year, $3 million deal last season only to land on injured reserve after just two regular-season games.
Why should the Giants bother to re-sign Thurmond, who told me as the Giants packed up their belongings at the end of the season that he would be open to remaining with New York, to another contract?
Because in 2013, Thurmond, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required), was a solid slot cornerback with a 69.5 NFL rating and who despite allowing 6.7 percent of the targets thrown at him to be completed, allowed just an average of 8.7 yards per reception.
A healthy defensive backfield that has starting cornerbacks Prince Amukamara and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie to complement Thurmond as the slot is still very much an attractive thought for a defense that appears to be putting more of an emphasis on playing tighter coverage of the receivers in order to force the opposing quarterback to hold the ball longer.
While the Giants didn’t really get to see that plan come to fruition in 2014, if they can get Thurmond back on board, his presence could go a long way toward helping the Giants realize that initial vision.
Cut: OL John Jerry
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Offensive lineman John Jerry turned out to be a serviceable addition this year, a player who stepped in and battled hard.
However, the Giants need more than just “serviceable” when it comes to the offensive line. They need a road grader at guard, which Jerry, based on his tape and his minus-16.4 run-blocking grade from Pro Football Focus (subscription required), is not.
Jerry could ultimately be back with the Giants later in the free agency period, as he is familiar with the offense and still has value as a backup at guard and tackle.
However, the Giants need to continue focusing on the long-term rebuild of the starting offensive line, and it’s unlikely Jerry is a part of that plan.
Patricia Traina covers the New York Giants for Inside Football, the Journal Inquirer and The Sports Xchange. All quotes and information obtained firsthand unless otherwise sourced. Follow me on Twitter @Patricia_Traina.
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