Time for Giants to assess offseason moves
Giants head coach Brian Daboll speaks during the NFC head coaches availability at the NFL football meetings, Tuesday, March 28, 2023, in Phoenix. Credit: AP/Matt York
For however long Brian Daboll is head coach of the Giants, he likely will be remembered, at least in part, by these words: “Got smoked in the playoffs.”
That was the comeback by Daboll at the recent league meetings in Arizona when a reporter suggested he had set the bar particularly high during his first season as coach.
Yes, Daboll was named the Associated Press 2022 NFL Coach of the Year.
The educated guess here? That he thinks about losing to the Eagles in the divisional round of the of the playoffs far more often than he does about that trophy.
So, where does that leave the Giants now?
Free agency has passed its apex. The Giants are left with $3.5 million in salary cap space, for now, according to Spotrac. (Putting that in context: new Giants linebacker Bobby Okereke will have a cap hit of $5 million this season.)
Generally speaking, general manager Joe Schoen has proven to be a shrewd negotiator. If Saquon Barkley and his camp and safety Julian Love and his camp had taken Schoen’s offers during last year’s bye week, you could argue both players would be better off. Barkley would have more than a one-year, $10.1 million franchise tag commitment, and Love would still be a Giant, which is believed to have been his preference. Love signed for two years and $12 million in Seattle.
The Giants' offseason conditioning, which is voluntary and includes no on-field work, begins April 17. Not until the third week in May will the Giants be on the field.
In other words, watching Darren Waller work his magic — or at least run routes — will have to wait. For fans, it may very well be worth the wait. Waller should be the team’s best tight end since Jeremy Shockey.
And if you think Daboll and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka were resourceful last season, just imagine how Waller, acquired in a trade with the Raiders, could be utilized. (Hint: As a weapon.) Waller surely will help the Giants in terms of manufacturing explosive plays (defined as gains of at least 20 yards). In that category, the Giants ranked last in 2022.
Yes, last.
“I’m excited to be the best teammate, the best player I can be for the Giants to help them be as successful as possible,” Waller said. “Looking at everything that this offense is trying to do [I’m saying], I can do that. I can do that for this team. I can do whatever they’re going to ask of me.”
Among the items on the to-do list for Schoen and the Giants remains the contract status of nose tackle Dexter Lawrence, who has said that he considers himself “unblockable,” and he might not be wrong.
In 2022, he also proved indefatigable.
Lawrence logged a hefty 864 snaps last season, according to pro-football-reference.com. He had 7.5 sacks and forced two fumbles. On several occasions during the season, defensive coordinator Wink Martindale mentioned Lawrence’s heavy workload.
Lawrence is due a payday, which Schoen has acknowledged. It will not come cheaply.
One comparison: Washington’s Daron Payne, who was on the field for 908 snaps and registered 11.5 sacks in 2022. In March, Payne signed a four-year, $90-million contract with Washington, including a $28 million signing bonus, $59 million in guarantees and an average salary of $22.5 million.
(If you are wondering about Leonard Williams’ contract situation — he said after the season that he would be willing to take a paycut — that situation remained unchanged as of Wednesday, according to a source.)
That the Giants supplemented the depth on the defensive line by signing defensive tackle Rakeem Nunez-Roches from Tampa Bay should help, particularly in stopping the run. And, if he remains in character, in loosening up the locker room. Nunez-Roches was animated on his introductory zoom call with the Giants media. One nugget: He prefers to go by his nickname, which is Nacho.
Kimberly Jones covers the Giants for Newsday, a beat she first worked in the early 2000s before joining the YES Network to cover the Yankees. She worked for the NFL Network for more than a decade and has been heard semi-regularly on WFAN.
