In the first part of this series, we examined the positives the Giants have at their disposal heading into the offseason with a focus on draft position and quarterback contracts. With decisions looming in free agency, the draft, and potential trades, Joe Schoen and the front office must be strategic in maximizing the team’s potential.
This time, let’s take a closer look at the team’s overall cap situation, pending free agents, and a promising 2024 draft class.
Giants Offseason Blueprint: Cap Space and a Strong Draft Class
Foundational Work
Per Over The Cap, the Giants are projected to have about 43.3 million dollars to spend this offseason. That number is fluid and can change with restructures, surprise cuts, and contract-laden language for specific players. General Manager Joe Schoen, amidst the recent criticism, has certainly put the team in a healthy cap situation after inheriting a roster filled with back-loaded and overpaid contracts issued by Dave Gettleman.
Now, with Daniel Jones’ cap hit off the books, he will only carry about 22 million in dead cap- which isn’t great but it won’t stop the Giants from spending this free-agency period. However, the Giants won’t have any financial ties to Jones after 2025.
The question regarding the Giants during this free-agency period is going to be how cautious will they be with their spending. The reason Gettleman put the Giants in a bad cap situation heading into 2021 is that there was internal pressure for him to win that season. His predecessor Jerry Reese was under the same pressure heading into 2016. He handed out nearly 200 million dollars in free agency to fix a 32-ranked defense.
Now, after John Mara’s recent press conference, there is pressure on Schoen to put together a competitive roster in 2025. That’s all tall-ask for a team coming off a three-win season and only one pro-bowl starter. The Giants’ offseason is setting up to be a crucial one.
Will Schoen give into the pressure and go into “apocalypse mode” and hand out overpaid contracts for stop-gap solutions this offseason? If so, this positive can very quickly turn into a negative for the team before the NFL draft even begins.
Current Contracts
The Giants’ only major contract they signed in the 2024 offseason was the Brian Burns extension for 5 years and $150 million. The deal put him in the top five for edge rushers in terms of AAV, but beyond that, the team isn’t tied down to many heavy contracts.
These are the Giants’ most expensive contracts heading into 2025 free agency:
- Brian Burns (Outside Linebacker):
- 2025 Cap Hit: $29.75 million (10.8% of $275M cap)
- Andrew Thomas (Left Tackle):
- 2025 Cap Hit: $16.4 million (6.0% of $275M cap)
- Dexter Lawrence (Defensive Tackle):
- 2025 Cap Hit: $24.13 million (8.8% of $275M cap)
- Bobby Okereke (Linebacker):
- 2025 Cap Hit: $14.46 million (5.3% of $275M cap)
- Total Cap Hit for the Four Players in 2025:
- $84.74 million (30.8% of $275M cap)
Pending Free-Agents: Stay or Go?
Additionally, the team doesn’t have any internal free agents who might garner market-altering deals. While that’s a double-edged sword because the team isn’t drafting players worthy of large, second contracts, it’s also going to give them the flexibility to bring in immediate impact players for 2025. The only notable pending agents are wide receiver Darius Slayton and edge rusher Azeez Ojulari.
Slayton, who would be tied with Dexter Lawrence as the team’s longest-tenured player if retained, has been a steady presence in the Giants’ receiver room. Fans are split on Slayton’s tenure in New York. But the truth is he’s a leader, he’s respected, and with legitimate quarterback play, he can produce at a WR2 level. A steady veteran presence like Slayton would help a young quarterback’s development. Slayton’s market value this offseason is $15.9 million in AAV, per Sportrac. He will most likely get a similar deal as Darnel Mooney’s deal with Atlanta last offseason.
The incentive to keep Slayton is clear. The question will be if he wants to move on with his career elsewhere.
However, the incentive to keep Azeez Ojulari is a bit murkier. The former second-rounder from Georgia has shown flashes of being a quality pass-rusher, but the flashes come in between injuries. In just four seasons, Ojulari has missed 22 out of 58 games; an average of 5.5 games a season.
Predicting the market value of an edge rusher with an injury history but clear flashes of talent is challenging because teams must weigh his potential impact when healthy against the risk of inconsistent availability.
The Giants may have a difficult time determining a fair contract that balances upside and durability concerns.
Free-Agents the Giants could pursue
- CB D.J. Reed, New York Jets
- QB Justin Fields, Pittsburgh Steelers
- CB Charvarius Ward, San Francisco 49ers
- CB Rasul Douglas, Buffalo Bills
- C Drew Dalman, Atlanta Falcons
- G Will Fries, Indianapolis Colts
- DI Osa Odighizuwa, Dallas Cowboys
Strong 2024 Draft Class
Draft classes often get overrated, for better or worse, in their rookie seasons. In most scenarios, it’s best practice to wait 2-3 years before truly evaluating a draft class’ impact on the roster. There have been cases with players like Dexter Lawrence who took large developmental steps in the back half of their contracts and cases like Azeez Ojulari where development stagnated after their first few seasons.
However, Joe Schoen’s 2024 class showed promise this season. All six of them were starters at some point in the season. Furthermore, Nabers, Nubin, Phillips, Johnson, and Tracy were all starters for significant parts of the season. Nabers and Tracy were the first pair of Giants rookies to both have 1,000 scrimmage yards in their rookie seasons. Given he averaged 70.9 yards per game in 11 starts, Tracy was on pace to rush for 1,000 yards if he started the season in front of Devin Singletary.
As for Nabers, he ranked 9th out of 98 receivers with an 86.7 grade. Additionally, he was the first Giants receiver to have a 1,000-yard season since Odell Beckham Jr in 2018.
Here’s the entire 2024 entire draft class:
- 1 (6): WR Malik Nabers, LSU
- 2 (47): S Tyler Nubin, Minnesota
- 3 (70): CB Andru Phillips, Kentucky
- 4 (107): TE Theo Johnson, Penn State
- 5 (166): RB Tyrone Tracy, Purdue
- 6 (183): LB Darius Muasau, UCLA
Pro Football Focus ranked them fourth in the league in their post-regular season rankings. This draft class has the potential to lay a strong foundation for the team’s future. If their early-round picks develop as expected—especially Nabers, Tyler Nubin, Adnru Phillips, and Tyrone Tracy Jr.—they could form a new core for a successful future.
Looking Ahead
Unfortunately, there’s not much optimism in Giants land right now, but this class offers the building blocks for sustained improvement. If Schoen’s using his financial assets and this draft class continues to develop, the Giants could take a step closer to competing. This Giants offseason will determine if the Giants can finally crawl from the NFC’s basement.
Main Photo: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
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