Giants' 3 Biggest Priorities Entering the 2024 offseason

Number Two: A Star Wide Receiver

Ever since trading away Odell Beckham Jr., the New York Giants have lacked an explosive playmaker at wide receiver. The team still has several nice complementary wide receivers like Darius Slayton, Wan'Dale Robinson, and Jalin Hyatt, all of whom may be solid number two receivers on a good team. However, the offense desperately needs that true playmaker on the outside especially as it lacks a star quarterback.

The Giants can address this in a few different ways, although the lack of cap space will make this difficult. The team could look to sign Mike Evans in free agency, though his age and likely salary may make this unlikely. The Giants could look to trade for a disgruntled receiver with players like Stefon Diggs, Brandon Aiyuk and Davante Adams have all been named as players that may potentially leave.

However, the NFL Draft may end up being the place that the Giants look to land their next star receiver given the team's estimated timeline for winning. In our recent mock draft, we had the New York Giants taking Rome Odunze sixth overall out of Washington.

Along with Odunze, players like Malik Nabers, Brian Thomas Jr, and Keon Coleman may be players the Giants may land in the first round.

The Giants would be wise to land an elite playmaker on a rookie deal that can work alongside the team's next quarterback. This would make the most sense for the team as trading for a star receiver and then smashing the rebuild button at quarterback would make little to no sense in giving up draft capital.

Number One - Building Up the O-line

Nearly every year since the Giants' Super Bowl 46 victory, the recurring theme of the offseason has been rebuilding the offensive line. The team has drafted and signed abject failures like Nate Solder, Erick Flowers, Mark Glowinski, Matt Peart, and what seems like Evan Neal will end up on this list. The Giants will need to find a few long-term fixes on the offensive line after giving up 85 sacks in 2023.

This is further complicated by the issue of the Giants' lack of salary cap space heading into free agency. The $20 million in cap space makes it nearly impossible for the Giants to sign more than one offensive lineman even if they're on lower-cost deals. This means the Giants will have to do something they've struggled to do in recent years in landing quality offensive lineman in the NFL Draft.

The sixth overall pick could easily be spent on an offensive tackle as Joe Alt and Olu Fashanu will both be top ten picks in this year's draft. Drafting a tackle would mean Joe Schoen is admitting a failure in drafting Evan Neal who'd either have to accept a move to guard or would be moved in another move this off-season. The Giants then would have to look for guard options either from within or in the draft.

The team will have Ben Bredeson hitting unrestricted free agency while Mark Glowinski may be cut as a Salary Cap maneuver. Where the Giants will most likely have to address their offensive line needs is via the middle to late rounds of the NFL Draft. Selecting a tackle and giving up on Evan Neal feels too soon while the tackle options after the first round may be great given the top-end talent at the position.

If Joe Schoen isn't able to nail the offensive line this offseason, then the team will continue to struggle offensively, and his job will be in jeopardy.

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