5 Free Agents Who Won't Be Signing with the New York Giants

Remember the good ol’ days when the salary cap didn’t exist in the NFL?

Those were the days, my friends. Unfortunately, those days are long, long gone, replaced by the cap, which encourages parity within the league.

But what if the cap didn’t exist these days? Whom would the New York Giants sign to help make their team better?

While general manager Jerry Reese always likes to say, "Never say never" when it comes to personnel, here is a look at five top-shelf free agents who could help the Giants, but who will probably have cap-busting price tags that are likely to cause New York to do nothing more than kick the tires in passing. 

DT Ndamukong Suh

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High atop the wish-list of most New York Giants fans is a boy named Suh—Ndamukong Suh, the powerful defensive tackle drafted by the Detroit Lions in the first round of 2010 who is about to hit free agency on March 10 after having the final year of his rookie deal voided.

Suh’s prowess on the football field—he was the third-best interior defensive lineman according to Pro Football Focus, and ranked in the top-10 at his position in several major statistical categories such as tackles (53), sacks (8.5) and passes defensed (three)—is enough to make Giants fans dream of a defensive line that would see Suh and Johnathan Hankins in the interior and Jason Pierre-Paul and either Damontre Moore or Robert Ayers as the starting ends.

Adding more fuel to the fire is that per ESPN’s Adam Schefter (h/t Pro football Talk), New York is one of the destinations where Suh wouldn’t mind relocating.

The problem is that Suh, PFF’s top-rated free-agent interior defensive lineman, is going to command a monster contract. James Walker of ESPN reports that Suh’s forthcoming megadeal is expected to fall somewhere in the $90-$100 million range.  

While there’s no questioning the impact Suh has on a defense, the Giants aren’t exactly in tip-top cap shape to be able to splurge on one player. Pierre-Paul is also set to hit free agency and is likely to get the estimated $15 million franchise tag.

New York would  have to cut its roster to the bone to be able to afford Suh AND Pierre-Paul AND extensions for quarterback Eli Manning and cornerback Prince Amukamara, just to name a few.

Unless Suh is willing to sacrifice money in order to land in the city where he reportedly wants to play, the Giants are unlikely to enter the sweepstakes for the 28-year-old defensive tackle.

ILB Rolando McClain

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Inside linebacker Rolando McClain, a first-round bust for the Oakland Raiders, who selected him eighth overall in 2010, not only resurrected his career this past season in Dallas, he emerged as one of the top inside linebackers in the league.

Per Pro Football Focus, McClain tied with Cleveland’s Karlos Dansby as the eighth-highest-graded inside linebacker.

Once set to retire, the 25-year-old McClain came out of retirement when the Cowboys offered to take a flier on him following the season-ending loss of middle linebacker Sean Lee.

Per ESPN, acquiring McClain, who was packaged with the Ravens’ seventh-round pick in this year’s draft, cost Dallas its 2015 sixth-round draft pick.

That’s not bad for a guy who, per Pro Football Reference, finished second on the Cowboys in total tackles with 67, behind safety Barry Church’s 87.

These days, McClain, who, per Over the Cap played on a one-year, $700,000 contract in 2014, is PFF’s top-rated free-agent inside linebacker.

Given McClain’s success, he is likely to command a big chunk of change on the open market. The Giants, however, are unlikely to get involved in bidding for McClain for two reasons.

One, they still believe that 30-year-old Jon Beason, who is coming off a season-ending toe injury, still has something left to give on the field.

Second, the Giants linebacker unit might not be as big of a need as initially thought. Devon Kennard, last year’s fifth-round pick, figured to become the strong-side starter, where his blitzing ability should be put to good use.

Beason, if healthy, will man the middle while Jameel McClain, who can back up at middle linebacker, figures to move into a reserve role, where he could figure in prominently in certain packages.

Of the three pending free agents—Jacquian Williams, Mark Herzlich and Spencer Paysinger—Herzlich has the best chance of returning as a reserve. Herzlich can play all three positions and could be an emergency stopgap in the middle if necessary. 

New York may look to replace Williams, whose season ended early thanks to a significant concussion suffered in the second half of last season.

The bottom line is that the Giants have many more pressing needs to where making a significant financial commitment to McClain based on one solid season of production makes little sense.

TE Jordan Cameron

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Last season, the Giants tight ends—Larry Donnell, Daniel Fells and Adrien Robinson—did OK.

Not great; not poor. Just OK.

In the passing game, the trio combined to catch 84 out of 114 targets for 861 yards and 11 touchdowns, which isn’t poor production.

Run blocking was another story. Donnell, the starting tight end, finished with a team-worst minus-9.4 grade at his position, according to Pro Football Focus, and a minus-1.6 mark as a pass receiver despite leading the Giants tight ends in receptions (63) and yards (623).

Might the Giants look to “upgrade” the tight end spot?

Probably not. Fells, who was out of football in 2013, is actually PFF’s highest-graded free agent in this year’s tight end class. He has probably done enough to earn another contract from the Giants.

Regardless, there are some who might want a younger option such as Jordan Cameron of the Cleveland Browns, who according to CBS insider Jason LaCanfora, is not interested in returning to the Browns.

The problem with Cameron, who by the way is the third-lowest graded free agent tight end on PFF’s list, isn’t his production, which was no doubt affected by the mess Cleveland had at its quarterback position.

Rather, it’s the former USC star’s injury history. Per KFFL, Cameron has struggled through groin and concussion issues since 2012, missing six games this season due to concussion and shoulder issues.

While the 26-year-old Cameron, who made NFL.com’s Chris Wesseling’s top-25 free agent list, might come at a reasonable price as compared to what Denver’s Julius Thomas might end up with, Cameron’s injury history is enough of a concern for a Giants team that can’t seem to shake the injury bug of late. 

S Devin McCourty

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New England Patriots safety Devin McCourty, who is just one-tenth of a grade point below 34-year-old Mike Adams of the Colts on Pro Football Focus’ top free-agent safeties, sure would look good in Giants blue, right?

Only one problem. McCourty could draw the franchise tag from the Patriots, according to Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald, who adds that the 2015 franchise tag for safeties estimated to cost a mere $9 million.

If McCourty, who finished with a 62.6 NFL Rating according to PFF, does draw the franchise tag, don’t expect the Giants, who are in need of veteran safety depth, to pursue him.  

WR Randall Cobb

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For the second year in a row, the Giants are in a wait-and-see situation regarding one of their key players’ recovery from a significant season-ending injury.

This year, it’s receiver Victor Cruz, who tore his patellar tendon in Week 6 against the Eagles. Cruz has been making rapid progress in his recovery from surgery. Cruz is already off his crutches and told reporters in December that he is hoping to begin running when he’s about six to seven months out from surgery, adding that he didn’t want to rush things.

Still general manager Jerry Reese, in his year-end press briefing with reporters, expressed his concern.

“We are hoping that he is definitely going to come back and be the Victor Cruz that we know,” he said. “You never know with the significant injury he had.  

The bottom line is that the Giants will need to protect themselves in the event Cruz is not able to return at 100 percent by the time the season starts.  They could do so by adding receivers in both free agency and the draft.

Randall Cobb is listed as Pro Football Focus’ third-highest graded free-agent receiver, behind Dez Bryant of Dallas and Demaryius Thomas of Denver.

However, one thing that Cobb has in his favor, besides strong production that included career highs in receptions (91), yards (1,287) and touchdowns (12), is he’s just 25 years old with a lot of football left if he stays healthy.

ESPN’s Rob Demovski opines that there is “little chance” that Cobb hits the open market, though he does expect that a deal between the Packers and Cobb might not get done until the 11th hour. 

However contract negotiations are always fluid and if a deal isn’t done, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Giants kick the tires on Cobb.  

Still, with more pressing needs on the offensive and defensive lines and at safety, as well as Reese’s pledge to be judicious this year as far as free-agency spending is concerned, Cobb seems like a long shot to land in Giants blue.

 Patricia Traina covers the Giants for Inside Football, the Journal Inquirer and Sports Xchange. All quotes and information obtained firsthand unless otherwise sourced. Follow me on Twitter @Patricia_Traina.