New York Giants have big decisions to make with Nate Solder
By Ed Stein
One man is the key to Big Blue’s offseason. What the New York Giants do with LT Nate Solder impacts almost every potential personnel decision.
The New York Giants offensive line play in 2019 was awful. They couldn’t run block or pass block. Of particular concern was the tackles. Right tackle Mike Remmers is a free agent and won’t be resigned. Left tackle Nate Solder is a different story. Due to the four-year, $62M contract he signed two seasons ago, making decisions about his future with the team is difficult.
Left tackle is the second most important position on a football team. He protects the quarterback’s blindside. It’s why good LTs can command big money contracts like the one Solder received from the New York Giants in March of 2018. So far he hasn’t even come close to proving he was worth it.
For last season Solder was very sub-par. He allowed 11 sacks, second highest in the NFL. Very undesirable with a young fumble-prone quarterback. The New York Giants need someone to watch their quarterback’s back (literally) and Solder let them down. Pro Football Focus gave him a season grade of 64.7 which on their scale puts him in the middle of the backup category. There is no way that type of poor production justifies an average salary of $15.5M
What the G-Men do with him will have a great impact on where the team goes in both free agency and the 2020 draft. They have a few options to choose from, but none are very appealing from either a production or budgetary standpoint.