Moves New York Giants Will Regret Not Making This Offseason
Wouldn’t it be nice if the NFL could go back to a simpler time in its history—a time when free agency was less complex, when a salary cap didn’t really exist, and the annual draft lasted 12 rounds?
Those were simpler times in which NFL general managers had a little more leeway in terms of taking risks.
Unfortunately, those days are gone, and the pressure is on general managers more now than ever before to make the right decisions for the short- and long-term well-being of their clubs.
It is not easy, as New York Giants general manager Jerry Reese has found out since being promoted to the position in 2007.
For every Odell Beckham Jr., Reese, thanks to different circumstances, has had a Martellus Bennett get away or a David Wilson not evolve into the contributor the team expected.
While Reese and the Giants shouldn’t spend too much time lamenting over the ones that got away, there are always going to be moves they either made or didn’t make that will come back to haunt the team in some way.
Here is a look at five such moves that the Giants are probably hoping will not come back to haunt them.
Not Signing a Veteran Starting Offensive Lineman
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At the start of free agency, many people, including yours truly, thought the Giants would address their offensive line, which is still very much a work-in-progress.
The theory made sense on many levels, but perhaps none more so than the fact that team co-owner John Mara, at his 2014 season wrap-up presser, agreed with a reporter’s conclusion that 2015 is a “win or else” year for the football operations part of the house.
Certainly spending some money on a seasoned veteran offensive lineman would be in the cards, right?
Well, it was in the cards, but just not in the way many anticipated it would be. The Giants re-signed guard/tackle John Jerry, last year’s starting right guard.
They also added veteran offensive tackle Marshall Newhouse, but neither he nor Jerry is widely considered as anything more than depth at this point.
Meanwhile, whether it was because of money, fit or a combination of factors, they passed on free-agent veterans such as guard/tackle Orlando Franklin, who signed with San Diego, and right tackle Bryan Bulaga, who re-upped with the Green Bay Packers.
With limited salary-cap space to work with following the franchising of defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, the Giants instead spent most of their available cap space on addressing holes on the defensive side of the ball, with four of their seven free agents added from other teams being defensive players.
It’s no secret that the Giants' decision to pass over adding a veteran offensive-line starter in free agency likely means that they will be looking in the draft for that missing piece.
If the plan is to draft an offensive lineman in the first round, they should get a quality prospect who will make an impact for them.
While a young prospect on the offensive line would bode well for the future, it’s not hard to wonder if a seasoned veteran would have made more sense, even if for a year or two, for a team facing a "win now" edict from ownership.
Not Re-Signing S Antrel Rolle
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The New England Patriots under head coach Bill Belichick have made it an art of knowing when to move on from a veteran player, taking the approach that it’s better to let one go a year too soon than a year too late.
The Giants? Their decision to let safety Antrel Rolle leave via free agency in what appears to be a case of letting a guy go a year too soon was a bit of a head-scratcher.
For the five years, Rolle was with the Giants, he was a voice, a guy who had his finger squarely on the pulse of the team and a guy who never missed a game and rarely missed a practice.
With a new defensive coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo, coming in this year, Rolle would have been a perfect voice to help Spagnuolo with the transition among the players.
That role will now likely fall on the shoulders of linebacker Jon Beason, who, like Rolle, is perfectly capable of being a voice on that defense.
The problem with Beason is his injury history—if he has to end up missing any time starting this spring when Spagnuolo begins installing his defense, or if he ends up on injured reserve again, who then becomes the voice on defense?
Is it defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, who’s not yet locked up long term? Is it linebacker Devon Kennard, who is entering his second year? Is it linebacker Jameel McClain, who is entering the last year of his contract?
Considering Rolle ended up signing a three-year contract that, per Over the Cap, substituted annual roster bonuses in lieu of signing bonuses, the decision to let Rolle walk away this year is even more baffling.
Had the Giants offered a similar deal, they could have cut Rolle after this year with zero dead money hitting their 2016 salary cap.
As for Nat Berhe, who is projected to succeed Rolle as the strong safety, he probably would have been in line for an increase in his snaps on defense, albeit as a role player in the sub-packages.
Not Signing a Veteran Free Safety
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To no one’s surprise, the Giants made a competitive offer to free safety Devin McCourty, one of Pro Football Focus’ top-ranked free-agent safeties this year.
How competitive was the Giants' offer as compared to what McCourty signed with the Patriots?
In a conversation with Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald during last month’s NFL owners meeting, Giants co-owner John Mara revealed that the Giants’ offer was similar to what McCourty ultimately ended up accepting from the Patriots.
McCourty’s spurning of the Giants, combined with the actions of other safeties such as Darian Stewart, Rahim Moore and Sergio Brown, has left New York’s cupboard at that position bare.
Although head coach Tom Coughlin admitted to reporters at the NFC coaches breakfast that the team’s current safety situation is indeed an issue, the coaching staff has a backup plan in the event the personnel department comes up empty in the draft.
That plan includes converting cornerbacks Bennett Jackson and Chykie Brown to safeties. It also could include playing second-year man Nat Berhe, who is more widely believed to be a strong safety, as the deep center fielder.
Of course, the Giants could also re-sign Stevie Brown, who played the position for them last year, and it would be a move that Art Stapleton of The Record anticipates is going to happen.
There are two possible reasons for the delay in re-signing Brown. The first would be the offseason foot surgery that Pro Football Talk reported he had. Without knowing when Brown had the surgery, it’s possible that he might have not been able to pass a physical, which could explain why he is still unsigned.
Two other reasons also could include money if the two sides are apart, and/or the Giants are looking to see what they come up with in the draft later this month.
Whatever the reason, it probably wouldn’t be a bad idea to add a veteran to the position, even if that veteran is just for spot duty.
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Not Addressing QB Eli Manning's Contract Before the Start of Free Agency
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At his year-end press conference with reporters, team co-owner John Mara stood before reporters and reaffirmed his confidence in quarterback Eli Manning, whom he said he’d like to see retire as a Giant, leading this team back to the promised land.
“We still think we can win a championship with him, and he is playing at a high level,” Mara said.
If that’s the case, then why, especially after franchising defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul to the tune of $14.813 million, didn’t the Giants get Manning’s contract extension done before the start of free agency?
According to Over the Cap, Manning is set to count for $19.75 million against the 2015 salary cap in this, the final year of his contract.
If management was so convinced that Manning still has a few good years left in his 34-year-old right arm, why wait on the contract, especially when they might have been able to use the cap dollars freed up to maybe be more competitive with some other free agents in other areas of need?
One possible reason is something Mara said late last month, and that is the team’s personnel department viewed the 2015 free-agency class as “mediocre”, according to Paul Schwartz of the New York Post.
Regardless, if they are convinced that Manning is indeed the guy moving forward, why put off the inevitable?
Granted there is still a lot of time left before training camp to get the deal done, but if the Giants don’t reach a new agreement with Manning, Pierre-Paul or cornerback Prince Amukamara by the start of training camp, they’re potentially looking at having to sink a lot of money into those three players alone come next offseason.
Also if they clear money from Manning’s contract now, after the height of free agency, they can still carry over any cap savings into 2016, which would put them in even better shape cap-space-wise than the $60.44 million (based on a $150 million cap) that Over the Cap has them at.
If Manning plays out this year on his current deal and has another strong year, his next contract could very well top the five-year, $99 million contract that Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger received last month.
That is assuming that other quarterbacks such as Seattle’s Russell Wilson and San Diego’s Philip Rivers, both of whom will have their respective deals addressed at some point over the next year, don’t first end up with richer deals that might set a new benchmark for what Manning might want.
Not Replacing Special Teams Coordinator Tom Quinn
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According to Football Outsiders, the Giants special teams overall ranking rose from 28th in 2013 to 15th in 2014.
That apparently was good enough for head coach Tom Coughlin, who made the decision to retain special teams coordinator Tom Quinn.
Before taking a closer look at the Giants’ 15th-place ranking, it needs to be noted that under Quinn, who has been the coordinator since 2007, the Giants’ special teams unit as a whole has only finished four times in the top half of the league per FO’s rankings: 2008 (11th place), 2011 (15th place), 2012 (10th place), and 2014 (15th place).
For a team that looks for consistency, Quinn’s body of work has been all over the map. That lack of consistency is an issue.
Now let’s look at the different special teams units from last year and how a solid performance by one player helped mask deficiencies.
We’ll start with the kickoff return unit, where thanks to the spectacular showing by kicker Josh Brown, Giants’ opponents only returned 32 out of 82 kickoffs, or 39 percent last year, which tied New York for 10th place (with Buffalo) for fewest kickoffs allowed.
Brown, who by the way also booted 46 touchbacks, and the Giants' kickoff return unit allowed opponents an average of 18.3 yards per return, second-best last year in the league, behind Chicago.
Simply put, Brown single-handedly—or is that single-footedly?—kept the Giants' kickoff coverage team out of the doghouse.
The same couldn’t be said of the punt-coverage unit, which was more dependent on a group effort that, at times, was sloppy in its execution and really didn’t have a difference-maker.
That unit has given up four punt returns for touchdowns over the last two seasons, which ties the Giants with Washington for the league lead over that period.
Also within that two-year period, the Giants have allowed the most combined return yards (1,046) to opponents.
Quinn's problem is that when he loses players who are otherwise earmarked to participate on special teams, he hasn’t always been able to adjust.
For example, last season, linebacker Mark Herzlich, who has been a staple on special teams since 2011, received a career-high 319 defensive snaps, according to Pro Football Focus. Because of that increase, his contributions on special teams were reduced.
While part of the problem is personnel—special teams usually sees a lot of turnover during the course of a season—the bottom line is that a really good coach will find ways to overcome the challenges of his unit’s shortcomings.
The simple fact that Quinn’s units have seen their year-end ratings fluctuate from being at the bottom of the barrel to being in the upper half of the league is concerning and has one wondering if that kind of inconsistency and not knowing what to expect from the group this year is going to come back to haunt the Giants.
All quotes and information obtained firsthand unless otherwise sourced. Patricia Traina covers the Giants for Inside Football, the Journal Inquirer and Sports Xchange.
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