Five questions facing the Giants this offseason
Saquon Barkley in the third quarter against the Philadelphia Eagles during the NFC Divisional Playoff game at Lincoln Financial Field last Saturday. Credit: Getty Images/Tim Nwachukwu
1. Now that we know Daniel Jones will be back, what will happen with Saquon Barkley?
Well, as deemed by Newsday during the season, they are Batman and Robin, with Barkley good-naturedly accepting the role of Robin. The two are close friends and Barkley surely sees them as a package deal, saying during the season that he wanted to remain a Giant — as long as Jones was his quarterback. Every indication is that Jones also wants them to be teammates for the foreseeable future. But money talks. The Barkley camp met with Giants GM Joe Schoen over the bye week; the Giants' offer was in the $12 million range and was not accepted. Schoen did not gush over Barkley on Monday, as he did with Jones. He referred to the running back as “a good player, a great teammate.” Schoen also said, “I loved getting to know him this season. He’s a guy we would like to have back. It’s just, again, we haven’t had our end-of-season meetings yet . . . Everybody is going to step back, take the emotion out of it, evaluate the roster and then we’ve got to operate under the salary cap. How are you going to divvy up? How are we going to create the roster? What are the priority positions, and how are we going to move forward? We would like to have Saquon back if it works out.”
Barkley said Sunday he couldn’t imagine that he’d worn a Giants uniform for the last time. The guess here is that it does work out.
2. Playmakers, anyone?
The Giants have the need for speed and for playmakers. The return of rookie Wan’Dale Robinson will help; he was finding his footing, with a 100-yard receiving game against the Lions, before he tore his ACL in that game in Week 11. The draft will provide additional options; with changes in the college game, there are always receivers available.
The trick, obviously, is to pick the right one(s) for the Giants. See: Kadarius Toney and Isaiah Hodgins. There are easily perceptible reasons why one is a Giant and the other is not. Expect Hodgins to be back, when the Giants reconvene for offseason conditioning in April.
3. Will Dexter Lawrence get paid?
He better. Lawrence was a human wrecking ball this season, particularly in the Wild Card game at Minnesota. Just ask defensive coordinator Wink Martindale.
Lawrence dominated in that game, finishing with six tackles, a tackle for loss and four quarterback hits.
"I was amazed at that game," Martindale told Newsday. "That's the best I've ever seen a defensive tackle play."
Martindale said the Eagles triple-teamed Lawrence at times during the teams’ first meeting this season. Lawrence plays an enormous number of snaps for a big man. He’s been durable. And he is a problem for offensive lines. Lawrence is likely to receive a new contract this offseason. He’s earned it.
4. How do they catch the Eagles?
Even in the cyclical world of the NFL and the salary cap, this won’t be easy. The Eagles have built an outstanding roster, especially in the trenches. Their quarterback revels in disproving doubters. Their pass rush is special. Consider, in November, the Eagles added Ndamukong Suh and Linval Joseph to an already stout defensive front. Why? Because they could.
In the cyclical nature of the NFL, they will have holes to fill after this season, but it’s hard to believe they will fall off dramatically.
“Each year’s a different year," coach Brian Daboll said. "It’s different than it was 30 years ago,” relating to roster turnover.
One key for the Giants will be the development of right tackle Evan Neal, who had rookie growing pains. Having a season under his belt likely will help.
“We’re going to try to do the best we can," Schoen said. We’re always going to try to build a better roster, players, whatever it may be . . . around here. Anything that we can do that’s in the best interest of the franchise that’s going to make us better, we’re going to do. You can’t put a time frame on that, but we’re going to be relentless in the pursuit of building a championship team here.”
5. What is the overall philosophy of the Schoen/Daboll partnership?
One of Schoen’s more interesting — and perhaps telling — answers was when he was asked about having a “walkaway number” when it comes to negotiations. He said that's something the staff talks about all the time: “What’s the walkaway?” He added they will have to be comfortable with the walkaway because “if you shop hungry, you overpay. It’s a bad deal, and then you get buyer’s remorse. It’s important in free agency to come up with the proper value — where you see them as a staff and the value and where it fits into your salary cap and your team. And then, I think it’s smart to have a walkaway number.”
File that answer away, folks.
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.
