NY Giants: Fact or Fiction Ahead of the Start of Free Agency
The start of the NFL free-agency period is still a few days away, but that hasn’t stopped the rumor mill from kicking into overdrive ahead of the March 10 date designated as the start of the 2015 league year.
The New York Giants have kept their plans for free agency and future roster moves close to the vest, but there have already been a few rumors that have begun to surface about decisions the Giants might be planning to make.
Here is a look at some of those rumors involving potential free-agent acquisitions and subtractions and whether they’re fact or fiction.
Fact: S Antrel Rolle Won't Be Re-Signed
1 of 7
Safety Antrel Rolle might not have had his best season last year, but he’s still in a very good position to cash in as he enters free agency for the first time since 2010.
That’s because the veteran free-agency class and the upcoming draft class at safety are not considered to be deep.
With the Giants having salary-cap restrictions this year, they’re probably not going to be able to give Rolle a contract paying him anywhere close to the $7.42 million per-year average he received under his last contract.
So does that mean Rolle’s time is done here in New York? The 32-year-old safety took to Twitter to shoot down a report by Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News that talks have commenced with the Giants.
"All of these allegations regarding my contract negotiations are entirely false. I haven't had discussions with any teams including NYG
— Antrel Rolle (@antrelrolle26) March 5, 2015"
That Rolle hadn’t had conversations with the Giants when he issued that tweet on Wednesday night isn’t too surprising considering there is still time yet. However, that also doesn’t mean Rolle is a lock to return.
In a Thursday radio interview on ESPN NY98, Rolle, according to Vacchiano, declined to say if he’d give the Giants a hometown discount. He also declined to attach a percentage to his chances of returning to the Giants.
"Antrel Rolle on @ESPNNY98_7FM: "Whether I’m with the Giants or not with the Giants, I’m always going to be a Giant at heart."
— Ralph Vacchiano (@RVacchianoNYDN) March 5, 2015"
If Rolle, who all along has insisted that he’s going to approach free agency as a business, follows through on that promise, that means he’s going to think with his head and not his heart—and seek what he is worth, a dollar amount that is unlikely to come from the Giants.
Fiction: LB Jon Beason Will Be Cut
2 of 7
Yes, middle linebacker Jon Beason has a high cap figure—$6,691,666 million, per Over the Cap—considering his injury history over the last four seasons.
And yes, that number has to be reworked, which is something he acknowledged during a radio interview with SiriusXM earlier this week was being done.
However, the notion of New York sending Beason packing never really made any sense, injury history or otherwise.
The Giants currently have three linebackers who will be unrestricted free agents—Mark Herzlich, Jacquian Williams and Spencer Paysinger.
Of those, Herzlich has the best chance of returning, and while he can play the middle, it was his play at that position in 2013 that helped push the Giants toward making the rare in-season trade to get Beason to begin with.
Veteran Jameel McClain is an option for the middle—he filled in for Beason at that spot last year. However, despite recording a career-high 116 tackles, McClain finished as Pro Football Focus’ 17th-best 4-3 inside linebacker out of the 23 who took at least 75 percent of their team’s snaps.
In an ideal scenario, Beason makes it through a 16-game schedule while the Giants look to maybe groom a younger prospect to take over that position perhaps as soon as 2016.
It’s a gamble given his history over the last four seasons, but if the Giants really had no further use for Beason, they probably would have cut him right from the get-go and not even bothered to try to renegotiate his contract.
Fact: The Giants Will Add Another Defensive End
3 of 7
The Giants' defensive end situation doesn’t look very healthy right now—and yes, pun intended.
To recap, the team has franchised Jason Pierre-Paul, which is a step in the right direction, and seems to want to work out a long-term deal with the 26-year-old defensive end, which would reduce his 2015 cap figure.
Of course, with Pierre-Paul’s signature not on an active contract, he’s technically not required to show up for any team activities, be they organized or mandatory, until he signs.
While the hope is to get him signed before the start of free agency on March 10, Pierre-Paul is probably going to wait and see how the market goes for defensive linemen before jumping into the pool headfirst.
The Giants cut Mathias Kiwanuka from the roster, a move that came as no surprise given how he struggled in his final two seasons, both production-wise and with injuries.
Here, though, is where it becomes a little sticky. Last month, Jordan Raanan of NJ Advance Media reported that Robert Ayers Jr., who ended his season on injured reserve with a pectoral injury (one for which he didn’t have surgery) didn’t have a return date as far as weightlifting was concerned.
This week, Charean Williams of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram spotted Damontre Moore at the Texas A&M pro day, his right arm in a sling for an undisclosed issue.
Regardless of what Moore had done or when it actually took place, with most of the Giants already working out on their own in advance of the April 20 start date to the offseason program, Moore’s arm being in a sling isn’t good news.
So to recap, the Giants have one known healthy defensive end under contract: second-year man Kerry Wynn.
That’s going to change, especially if Pierre-Paul doesn’t sign a contract until the summer and if Moore and Ayers are sidelined indefinitely. Don’t be surprised if the Giants add a veteran defensive end on the back end of the free-agency period to help bolster that unit’s depth.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Fiction: WR Victor Cruz Will Be Ready by Training Camp
4 of 7
Stop me if you’ve heard this story before.
A player suffers a significant injury that ends his season. He throws himself headfirst into rehabbing the injury, and when asked what his timetable is for a full return, his response is training camp.
That’s the story receiver Victor Cruz, who is rehabbing from a torn patellar tendon suffered in October, is hoping to write this year.
In an interview this week on SiriusXM radio, Cruz said he is hoping to begin running routes as soon as June, which would put him roughly eight months out from the injury.
While it’s hard to blame Cruz for being positive and looking ahead, he and the Giants are entering some uncharted waters here in that there is no known NFL receiver who has ever experienced this kind of injury.
What’s more, the Giants medical staff, widely regarded as one of the most conservative in the NFL, is unlikely to let Cruz go from zero to 100 mph on Day 1 of training camp; instead, it'll likely continue to watch his progress and ensure he doesn’t have any setbacks.
While everyone is pulling for Cruz to make a complete comeback and be the player he was before the injury, general manager Jerry Reese is correct when he cautioned people in a press conference that until Cruz gets out there and starts running around “you can’t put all your eggs in his basket.”
Fact: The Giants Will Add 2 Safeties, 1 in Free Agency and 1 in the Draft
5 of 7
Oftentimes, football is all about the numbers. So let’s look at some numbers related as they currently relate to the Giants’ safety position.
Two: The number of Giants players currently under contract at safety, those being Cooper Taylor and Nat Berhe.
Zero: The number of combined NFL career starts Taylor and Berhe have.
Three: That’s how many unrestricted free agents the Giants have at the safety position (Antrel Rolle, Stevie Brown and Quintin Demps).
One: That’s how many of those three Giants unrestricted free agents have a realistic chance of re-signing with the team.
It all boils down to the Giants needing depth at safety. While both Taylor and Berhe will have an opportunity to compete for a starting job, both seem to be more of a box (strong) safety, meaning that, barring injury, only one of the two will probably be in play for significant snaps.
Of the three unrestricted free agents, Brown has the best chance of returning. Brown can play both free safety and strong safety, and barring the Giants landing a top free safety prospect in free agency such as Devin McCourty or Rahim Moore, if Brown re-signs, you can probably go ahead and pencil him in as the starting free safety.
What about the draft, you ask? Other than Alabama’s Landon Collins, the class doesn’t really seem to have a blue-chip, instant-starter type of prospect.
Even if Collins is on the board when the Giants pick at No. 9, they have so many other pressing needs that should it come down to a safety, defensive end or offensive lineman, chances are safety wouldn’t be the top pick.
The Giants will rebuild this unit; there is no question of that. If they re-sign Brown for depth, add Moore or McCourty to start and look to draft a young prospect to go along with Berhe and Taylor, they should be set at this position.
Fiction: The Giants Will Be in Play for Ndamukong Suh
6 of 7
When ESPN insider Adam Schefter speaks, people listen, as his information is gospel.
So it was not surprising to see Giants fans dreaming of a defensive line that includes Ndamukong Suh rejoice when Schefter, during a radio interview with The Michael Kay Show on ESPN New York radio, mentioned the Giants as a possible landing spot for the Detroit Lions defensive lineman (h/t Jordan Raanan of NJ Advance Media).
According to Raanan, Schefter said Suh’s likely destination was “all speculation at this point in time," though Schefter did name Washington, the Dallas Cowboys, "maybe the Giants" and the Jacksonville Jaguars as potential suitors for Suh.
While there is no question that Suh would have an immediate impact on the Giants defensive front, the reality is New York just doesn't have the money Suh is likely to get from a team with a better cap situation.
According to Marcus Thompson II of the San Jose Mercury News, Suh is reportedly looking for a contract similar to what the Houston Texans gave J.J. Watt.
Those numbers, according to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports, are expected to be huge.
"Look for Suh deal to be massive. I keep hearing $17M/year and $60M-plus guaranteed. If he doesn't land in Miami won't be for lack of effort
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) March 6, 2015
"
Unless the Giants are planning to purge half of their roster, they are not going to come close to being able to compete with a team that has that kind of cash to burn.
Nor should they. If the Giants were one player away from being a potential Super Bowl team, then it would make sense to go all in on a player like Suh, but that isn’t the case.
The Giants have too many needs—offensive line, safety and linebacker just to name a few—that need to be addressed.
Landing a player of Suh’s talents would be a wonderful dream, but unfortunately that looks to be all it is as far as the Giants are concerned.
Fact: QB Eli Manning Will Get a New Contract
7 of 7
When it comes to the Giants' signal-caller, who is entering the final year of his six-year, $97.5 million contract extension signed in August 2009, there are two schools of thought.
The first is to wait before extending him—the reason being that if the Giants' season goes down the tubes again, there is likely to be widespread change not just on the roster, but also with the coaching staff.
If there is such change, there is debate as to whether it’s a good idea to saddle a new head coach with a quarterback who might not necessarily fit what that coach is looking to run.
Then there is the other side of the coin that says the 34-year-old Manning still has a few good years left as far as being productive and that the team can still win with him calling out signals.
The biggest benefit to redoing Manning’s contract, though, would be a new deal would likely create some additional cap space for the Giants to accomplish more in free agency.
How much more room? Per Over the Cap, Manning currently has a $17 million base salary and a $2.25 million prorated bonus left over from the last time he restructured his contract.
Let’s say the Giants and Manning agree to shave off $6 million from that base salary and add two more years onto his existing contract while paying him the $6 million up front as bonus money.
Divide that $6 million over three years (2015 through 2017), and that is only another $2 million per year added onto his cap number, which would also include his base salaries, a workout bonus, incentives and possibly some additional new money to sign on the dotted line.
That’s only a basic estimate as to how the Giants might be able to lower Manning’s cap number for 2015, but the point is there are ways to get it done.
If the two sides want each other over the long term, regardless of what happens this season, a contract extension needs to happen—and it would be surprising if it doesn't.
All salary-cap and contract information is via Over the Cap unless otherwise noted. All stats via Pro Football Focus unless otherwise noted.
Patricia Traina covers the Giants for Inside Football, the Journal Inquirer and Sports Xchange. All quotes and information obtained firsthand unless otherwise sourced.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
.png?w=480)
