Giants Free Agency: What The Hell Just Happened?

Technically, the 2024 NFL free agency starts Wednesday, March 13. On Monday however, the legal tampering began which means deals in principle are announced. For the New York Giants it has been a wild experience so far. Let's take a pause and review the good, the bad, and the surprising of what has happened so far.

Let's start with the biggest media news.

Technically, he may not be leaving New Jersey. As we now know, the face of the franchise will be joining the rival Philadelphia Eagles. It's easy and fair to point the finger at #26 and wonder, how can he go to enemy territory? We'll see Barkley twice a year, but as an Eagle? Wow.

However, here's the most important fact. The Giants were not in the running: they were not willing to offer such a contract. So Barkley was not left with much of a choice when it came to leaving or staying. Sure, he could have gone more out of sight to -- let's say -- the Houston Texans. Barkley has been asking for a contract similar to the one he got. Three years and $37.75 million.

This is a tough pill to swallow. The Giants were simply not willing to spend on Barkley. The Eagles were. What would you do?

So, let the post-Barkley era begin. General Manager Joe Schoen has had a tall order since day one: getting the team out of contract and salary cap hell. Furthermore, the team's foundation was a mess. This was still true last year after years of line rebuilding.

Non-flashy, but important steps were made to change this yesterday. No, none of these guys will wear #26 or be on your kid's posters, but every Giants Super Bowl team dominated the line of scrimmage. Early yesterday, the team signed guard Jon Runyan Jr. Then, tackle Jermaine Eluemunor was also signed.

Running back Devin Singletary was signed by yesterday afternoon. I'd expect another back to be brought in to split time in the backfield. The draft (maybe Michigan's Blake Corum) could also provide stability here.

Understandably, the Barkley news is the biggest part of the "What just happened with the Giants?" story. Shortly after the news broke of Barkley trading his blue jersey in for green, we started to hear rumblings that the Giants were rumored to be interested in trading for star defender Brian Burns. The next thing you know, the draft picks the team scored by trading Leonard Williams to Seattle last fall were shipped to Carolina, and Burns was a Giant.

Here is some perspective. In his five years, Burns has 46 sacks (8 last year). He's just 25 years old. Burns will join a D-Line that already has Kayvon Thibodeaux and the Giants' only Pro Bowler, Dexter Lawrence.

Here's the point. The Giants' line of scrimmage just got a whole lot better. The team saved $32 million a year by not resigning Saquon Barkley or safety Xavier McKinney. Instead, they reallocated their resources and put their money upfront in the trenches.

Now, defensively, their stars are all under the age of 27. Bobby Okereke 27, Lawrence 26, Burns 25, Thibodeaux 23, and last year's first-round pick, Deonte Banks is also 23.

The biggest question still remains: what's going on at quarterback? We still don't know. Often-injured Daniel Jones is heavily on the books still. After that, the next few weeks will answer the question: will they draft someone at #6? Will they trade for Justin Fields? Or will they do nothing? It's a crucial decision in terms of the future of the franchise.

Regardless of who is taking snaps, there is hope now that some of the pieces are in place to actually block for the guy.

This is the time of year when sports talk starts to get dominated by NFL draft talk. Speculation and theories galore factor into analysts' suggestions on who each time will or should take. Here, we will "redraft" all of the Giants first round picks of the past five years. The team is an important spot this year, with high hopes that they will get it right and set the franchise up for future success.

Let's face it: it's been a tumultuous ride since the GMen last won the Super Bowl in 2012. It has been a roller coaster of sorts, where certain players have unexpectedly succeeded, and many have not met expectations. What's unique about analyzing the top picks since 2019 is that it covers different front office staffs. Dave Gettleman was the team's General Manager from 2018 to 2021. Joe Schoen then took over in 2022. In addition, the past five years have seen three different head coaches. Pat Shurmur and Joe Judge each had less-than-successful two-year runs before Brian Daboll came in.

Of course, much of the draft discussion revolves around quarterbacks. The Giants are no exception to this. In fact, what to do with often-injured Daniel Jones is one of the two primary topics this off-season (the other being Saquon Barkley).

As acting GM from 2019 on, this exercise considers the success players have had in the NFL over the past five seasons. It's important to note that each player listed below that we are saying the Giants should have selected was drafted after the choice they actually made. In other words, the Giants passed on each of these players.

Now, with the NFL combine underway, pro days coming up, and prospective meetings, there is a ton of due diligence that goes into each team's draft process. While no team bats a thousand each year, the preparation the organization does pre-draft is essential to creating a plan that is best for the team. Furthermore, the GM and player personnel departments need to be ready to adjust and make quick decisions based on what happened in the current draft before their pick. This is where the Giants fell short (mostly in the Gettleman days) in years past, and had to make a panic move.

Nonetheless, as we wait for this year's big draft day in Detroit, here are our Giants 1st round redraft picks from the five previous years. Imagine this: the Giants could have had Justin Herbert passing to Garrett Wilson, with Micah Parson patrolling the defense.

To be fair, every other team passed on LaPorta as well. In addition, the Giants first round selection last year, CB Deonte Banks (picked 24th) had a very good rookie season. Nonetheless, it's hard to look at the lack of production by the tight end position last year, the numerous Darren Waller injuries, and the horrific overall offense, and not long for a guy like LaPorta. He had 86 receptions and 10 touchdowns and was selected to the Pro Bowl in his first year with the Lions. LaPorta was drafted 34th last year.

There's an asterisk here because the Giants had two picks in the top ten this year. They nailed it by taking Kayvon Thibodeaux at number five. However, although fans were excited about taking Evan Neal two picks later, this has not lived up to the hype yet. The offensive line continues to be a ten-year problem. Our MetLife neighbors in the Jets took WR Garrett Wilson at number 10. Without a top threat at receiver, you can't help but wish Wilson was in the blue locker room instead of green.

Oh boy, this is the worst of them all. Perhaps it was also the beginning of the end for Dave Gettleman, who terribly fumbled this draft. As a refresher, the Giants held pick #11. Everything had been falling into place nicely with WR DeVonta Smith still on the board and falling right into their hands. That is until the Eagles made a last minute trade, jumped the Giants and took Smith. Gettleman was caught unprepared and traded the 11th pick to the Bears who ended up taking Justin Fields. Right after that at 12, the player many compare to Lawrence Taylor was taken in Micah Parsons. The net of this is, the Giants could have stayed at the 11th pick and had Micah Parsons. Instead they ended up with Kadarius Toney, who was traded to the Chiefs (who benched him).

This is the most intriguing redraft selection, as it changes the franchise the most. Andrew Thomas was selected by the Giants with the fourth pick. Thomas is fantastic and the strong point of the often battered line. However, two picks later, Justin Herbert went to the Chargers. The GMen would not be in the predicament they are in now if they had a franchise talent like Herbert. However, this was not an option at the time because of what happened in the 2019 draft.

Daniel Jones was the choice with the sixth pick in 2019. Eli Manning was still on the team. If it wasn't for all the injuries, Jones would be a solid choice and the player the team continues to build around. They still may do that. However, if we're going to take Herbert in 2020 instead of Andrew Thomas, offensive lineman Chris Lindstrom would have been a nice choice here. This OG has been a two-time Pro Bowler for the Falcons. He's been reliable, durable, and quietly one of the most productive lineman in the league the past five seasons.