New York Giants Take Huge Risks on Day 1

The New York Giants came out swinging for the fences on the first day of NFL Free Agency, handing out multiple monster contracts.

On Day 1 of 2016 NFL free agency, the New York Giants improved their defense… but at what cost?

Let’s quickly recap the moves the Giants made on the first official day of free agency:

Re-signed DE Jason Pierre-Paul to 1 year/ $10.5M contract
Signed CB Janoris Jenkins to 5 year/ $62.5M contract
Signed DT Damon Harrison to 5 year/ $46.25M contract
Signed DE Olivier Vernon to 5 year/$85M contract
Restructured WR Victor Cruz‘s contract to $1.3M + incentives in 2016

The moves the Giants made on the first day of free agency dramatically improved their defense from 2015, and invested a boatload of money on players who have tremendous potential. They didn’t sign a superstar player, but rather, they took a big gamble by throwing money at players projected to enter their prime.

Pierre-Paul is coming off a year when he missed a large chunk of games. His contract is essentially him betting on himself and will be playing for a new contract this year. While he may not be able to reach his pre-July 4th self, he should be a capable pass rusher in 2016. Look for a very motivated JPP in 2016.

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The Jenkins signing is very curious because the Giants made Jenkins the seventh highest paid cornerback in the league based on average money per year. However, if you asked someone to name the top ten corners in the league, Jenkins’ name would not be mentioned. Jenkins is not a shutdown corner, but is a player who takes chances and trusts his instincts. While this may result in some pick-6’s, many times he can guess wrong and get burned by opposing receivers.

I do not think this type of player is worth top ten money, and the Giants did not have a pressing need to overpay for a CB. A much cheaper alternative (such as Leodis McKelvin @ $3M/year) or even re-signing Prince Amukamara to complement Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie would have allowed them to invest the money they save into other positions of need, such as the offensive line, linebacking corps, or safeties.

Signing free agent Harrison from the Jets is also curious, because he thrived as a run stopping nose tackle for his entire career. His production in the Giants’ 4-3 scheme remains questionable, and we will see whether he can complement Johnathan Hankins. I think he got overpaid a bit, but if he can solidify the run defense for the Giants, then it will be worth it. Regardless, Harrison is an upgrade over Markus Kuhn and the aging Cullen Jenkins.

Significantly overpaying for Olivier Vernon could tremendously backfire for the Giants in the long run. Vernon is coming off a year in which he recorded 7.5 sacks, and only has 29 career sacks. The Giants are taking an enormous gamble that Vernon is an ascending player and will play up to his contract. However, the $52.5M guaranteed money and $17M/year average could prove to be too much for the third-best pass rusher on the Dolphins. Vernon is a good player, but not a great player, which is what his contract makes him out to be.

Outside of the $200+ million the Giants spent on Day 1 of free agency, they managed to save a bit by reducing Cruz’s base 2016 salary from $7.9M to $1.3M. From the looks of it, this difference doesn’t really matter because they overpaid most of their free agent signings.

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Lost in the new additions is the fact that the Giants also struck out on many of their targets. They watched Charles Johnson decline their offer to remain with the Panthers, they saw Danny Trevathan go to Chicago, George Iloka stay in Cincinnati, Mario Williams go to Miami, Mitchell Schwartz go to Kansas City, Alex Boone go to Minnesota, and Malik Jackson go to Jacksonville. The Jackson signing was the domino, because once the Giants couldn’t attract him, they had no other choice but to overpay for the other young pass rusher in the market.

I don’t like the Vernon signing at all, especially because they could have given that to Jackson to get him to come here. Jackson is coming off a Super Bowl season, and got $16M/year. Vernon is earning $17M/year and is coming off a season in which he fared OK replacing the injured Cameron Wake, while his Dolphins underperformed and went nowhere. If you’d ask me, I would have given Jackson the $85M over five years because he is the better player in my mind. However, you can’t blame the players here because the cap went up and all salaries get inflated nowadays.

The Giants are still not done with their free agency spending, and still have plenty of holes to fill. They need to add a safety, add some offensive linemen (which can set the team ten steps back if they don’t), add good linebackers, add a No. 2-level receiver, add a tight end, and draft defense-heavy.

Of the players remaining, the Giants could conceivably still add Vernon Davis, Jared Cook, Eric Weddle, Russell Okung, Louis Vasquez, Kelvin Beachum, Brandon Marshall, and/or James Laurinaitis,

Right now, I’d grade the Giants’ free agency Day 1 a C-. I think they took too many uncalculated risks, and just threw money at defensive players hoping they reach their potential.

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In two years, fans could be complaining how these signings hamper their cap situation and that the players aren’t performing anywhere close to their contract value. The Giants must finish the offseason strong and address the other areas of need, whether if free agency or the draft.

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