New York Giants: Post-draft defensive backs breakdown

Letting Landon Collins walk in free agency and sign with an NFC East rival was a huge decision that hopefully will not come back to haunt the Giants.

A leader such as the departed Landon Collins is hard to replace. On top of being one of the best players on the team, he also appeared to be one of the most liked amongst his teammates. A big chunk of Big Blue Nation would call him the heart and soul of the Giants defensive unit over the past few seasons.

The way the current defense is designed, all of the Giants defensive backs need to be versatile playmakers who can cover a multitude of roles all over the field. Many fans believe Collins was a solid run-stopper but struggled mightily in pass coverage.

Game films showed Collins was vulnerable to giving up a big play when covering deep downfield. The team made a business decision to move on from Collins and the almost $12M a franchise tag would have earned him for the 2019 season.

To replace their leader, general manager Dave Gettleman brought in 14-year veteran Antoine Bethea who is no stranger to James Bettcher’s defense. The two worked together in Arizona and Bethea is coming off of a strong season. In 2017, he had a career-high five interceptions in Bettcher’s defensive scheme. Additionally, the veteran safety had a career-high three sacks last season, something the Giants will love and definitely use in their many exotic defensive blitzes.

For the franchise tag price the team would have used on Collins, they were able to get both Bethea and Jabrill Peppers on to their roster and under the salary cap.