New York Giants: 5 internal free agents to keep and 5 to let walk away
By Ed Stein
Before the New York Giants go big game hunting for impact free agents, they have to look at their own roster first. Here are five pending internal free agents who should stay, and five who they should let walk away.
Welcome to the NFL offseason. A better name for this time of year should be “business season.” This is when the money decisions are made and teams are put together. The NFL is known for its parity, every team allegedly has a shot to put together a winner. In the Salary cap era, organizations can’t freely spend on free agents or hoard players. Tough business decisions have to be made. The New York Giants are in the thick of it this spring with the sixth-highest amount of dollars available to sign players.
Tuesday the G-Men parted ways with linebackers Alec Ogletree and Kareem Martin. The moves increased Big Blue’s cap space by $12.59M. Certainly enough to land a quality player of two. But cap space may not be the only reason the pair were let go. New head coach Joe Judge wants players he thinks will help the team win. Having vets just to be mentors is not a concept he believes in. According to Ralph Vacchiano of SNY, Judge had the following to say at the combine, when asked about the veteran players who were cut:
"“Look, here’s the deal: You don’t sign older players to coach the younger players. … So you don’t sign older players thinking, ‘This guy’s going to teach the younger players how to be a pro.’ That’s not how it happens. …You don’t bring in older players thinking they’re the missing piece to the puzzle and now they put you over the hill. You don’t sign older players thinking they’re going to develop the culture of your team. That’s our job as coaches. OK? That’s our job.”"
This is a very refreshing philosophy and a departure from what Dave Gettleman has done since he became the New York Giants General Manager at the end of 2017. In recent years, GMDG has brought in veterans such as Ogletree, Martin, Antoine Bethea, Nate Solder, and Mike Remmers with varying success.
Before adding new players to mix, decisions have to be made about internal free agents. Granted on a 4-12 team, no one has a ton of job security. So who from last year can help the New York Giants win and who should they be content to let walk away?