Exploring 5 of the NY Giants Most Curious Decisions/Non-Decisions Made So Far
There’s an old saying that opinions are like noses—everyone has one.
Well, when it comes to some of the decisions or lack thereof the New York Giants management has made, there have been more opinions floated around the air than allergy-inducing pollen.
So grab the tissues if you have allergies because in the next five slides, I’ll look at some of the most interesting storylines of the Giants’ 2015 training camp and explore the decisions—or in some cases the non-decisions—that have been made.
DT Markus Kuhn Getting Snaps with the 1st Team Defense
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Defensive tackle Markus Kuhn is a likable, hardworking guy who gives the team everything he has. He’s also a guy who religiously showed up to work out in the weight room during the offseason and who did everything possible to get himself ready for 2015, including bulking up to 320 pounds so he could play back up at the 3-technique and as the plugger.
The problem with Kuhn is that he cannot consistently shed blocks; instead, he tends to absorb blocks and finds himself caught up in the wash.
So why does Kuhn continue to receive first-team defensive reps when guys such as Cullen Jenkins, Kenrick Ellis, Jay Bromley and Dominique Hamilton are champing at the bit to line up alongside Johnathan Hankins?
Perhaps it’s a reward by the coaches to see if he has taken that next step in his development. Or maybe the coaches see something in Kuhn's play that those of us on the outside do not.
Still, it's hard to argue with the tape. With the defensive tackle position loaded, Kuhn would appear to be the odd man out of the equation if the Giants stick with four, who right now project to be Ellis, Hankins, Bromley and Jenkins.
Signing S Brandon Meriweather
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Brandon Meriweather's history, the Giants’ newest safety, is well-documented.
A noted headhunter, Meriweather’s college moniker at the University of Miami, according to former college teammate and current Giants co-worker Jon Beason, was “Killer B.”
The name has certainly been fitting given Meriweather’s history, which, as George Willis of the New York Post chronicled, includes two league suspensions for illegal hits with his helmet and six violations for hitting defenseless opponents in the head.
At his introductory press briefing with the media, Meriweather, who seemed to have a chip on his shoulder, told reporters that he was going to “play my game the way I play my game,” adding that he would respect the very same rules that would seemingly contradict the way he has played his game in the past.
While it is not known what the penalty would be if Meriweather were to again violate the rules, what is ironic about this signing is that the Giants dumped the super-talented Will Hill for violating various league policies three years in a row.
The reason given, per head coach Tom Coughlin, was that they felt they could no longer rely on Hill.
“When you run a business, you have to be able to rely and depend on people to be there when you need them to perform their duties,” Coughlin said. “The whole organization is disappointed that it went that way, and unfortunately it was the right thing to do.”
Yet here the Giants are having picked up a player whose history would also seem to suggest that relying on him is as much of a gamble.
Granted they were desperate because of the injuries and performance at the position, but still, it’s hard to fathom why they panicked about the safety position but are willing to wait out the offensive line.
Not Addressing the Offensive Line
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Speaking of the offensive line, the simple fact that the Giants continue to shuffle different faces in and out of the lineup at right tackle strongly underscores that there is concern about whether projected starter Marshall Newhouse will be effective.
Earlier this week, the Giants ran Geoff Schwartz at right tackle after Newhouse had to leave practice early due to heat cramps. More recently, the Giants even tried John Jerry at right tackle.
While the Giants continue to fiddle with what they have on the roster—it’s actually a bit surprising that rookie Bobby Hart hasn’t had a look-see yet with the starters considering he’s actually shown some flashes at being able to handle the position—teams around the league are losing their offensive tackles to injury.
That’s why guys such as Gosder Cherilus, who signed with Tampa Bay, is no longer on the market.
Jake Long? Given the way offensive tackles are dropping like flies, one can only conclude that his knee is likely still an issue. However, if he does get healthy, there will probably be a lot of suitors for his services.
What about signing Evan Mathis to play guard and pushing Justin Pugh back out to right tackle? That probably won’t happen, not with the Giants having invested so much money in Schwartz and not with there apparently being a strong desire to leave Pugh at left guard, where so far he’s been the best of the starting offensive linemen.
If this unit is addressed—and it would be surprising if it isn’t—it will be a late pickup off the waiver wire.
The bad thing about going that route is that whoever that veteran is, he’s going to have to come up to speed on the Giants’ terminology lighting-quick, which leaves that offensive line open to even more hiccups that could prove costly to the running game or, worse yet, the quarterback.
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Not Extending QB Eli Manning Sooner
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The Giants want Eli Manning to be their leader on offense for the near future. Manning, meanwhile, wants to retire as a Giant.
So why haven’t the two sides hammered out a deal by now?
Money, honey.
According to a report by NFL insider Ian Rapoport on NFL Total Access (h/t NFL.com's Chris Wesseling), Manning desires to be the game’s highest-paid player.
According to Over the Cap, Manning’s average-per-year salary hit is $16.25 million, which puts him 17th on the quarterbacks list.
For Manning to become the highest-paid quarterback, he would need a bump in salary past Aaron Rodgers’ $22 million per season.
The Giants apparently have a price in mind for Manning, one that they haven’t discussed publicly, but it's one that is believed to be in the same neighborhood as the $21 million APY that Seattle’s Russell Wilson and Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger currently receive under their respective new contracts.
Right now, Manning and agent Tom Condon are in the driver’s seat, whereas for the Giants, it’s going to be a matter of paying Manning now or paying him later.
If the two sides don’t come to terms on a new deal and Manning goes on to have another strong year in Ben McAdoo’s offense, he is only going to strengthen his negotiating position.
If that happens and the two sides don’t get a deal done by the start of the next free-agency period, the Giants will almost certainly have to slap the exclusive franchise tag on Manning, a tag that might just end up paying him like the highest-paid player anyway.
With the Giants projected to have $51.9 million in cap space in 2016, according to Over the Cap, it probably wouldn’t be a great idea if one player ate up a large chunk of that space, not with other big decisions looming on the horizon.
The Jason Pierre-Paul Mystery
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Giants ownership has long had a reputation for taking care of its own, be they present or former Giants.
So it certainly was no surprise that they have yet to yank the $14.8 million franchise tag off defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, whose right hand is now minus its index finger, thanks to a July 4 fireworks accident.
The likely logic behind why the Giants haven’t rescinded the tag is two-fold. One, they don’t know the extent of the defensive end’s injuries and thus they don’t want to rush to judgement.
Second, they don’t yet need the money, plus they know that for each week that passes with Pierre-Paul not under contract, they will get a credit back on that $14.8 million.
In the beginning they no doubt respected his space, given the trauma of the events he underwent, but now that the ice has apparently thawed and the two sides have begun communicating again—Tom Coughlin told reporters that he had a phone conversation with Pierre-Paul back on August 7—it’s somewhat surprising that they are letting one player hold up business.
With very few exceptions of late—safety Chad Jones (car accident) and running back David Wilson (neck) both come to mind—the Giants usually move on from injured players instead of continuing to tie up money in guys who may or may not ever be contributors.
While an argument can be made that the past injured players weren’t of the same caliber as Pierre-Paul, the problem is that the Giants still don’t know whether they were going to get the dynamo they had in 2011 or just another ordinary Joe who excelled against weaker opponents, but struggled against higher competition, as was the case last season.
Therein lies the big head-scratcher over the Pierre-Paul situation—why the Giants haven’t been more insistent on tying up loose ends with Pierre-Paul, who has had time now to process what happened and to move forward with his healing.
Patricia Traina covers the Giants for Inside Football, the Journal Inquirer and Sports Xchange. All quotes and information were obtained firsthand unless otherwise sourced.
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