During the 2016 offseason, the New York Giants filled many of their holes from the year before, but the team shouldn’t stop there.
Say what you will about general manager Jerry Reese, but on paper he manufactured a stellar offseason for the front office this year.
Sure, there are places to knit pick. Eli Apple may have been a reach, Janoris Jenkins may be overpaid, Reese should have pushed harder to sign Jerrell Freeman, and maybe he team should have offered Geoff Schwartz a pay cut before out right releasing him.
Yet, all in all Reese brought in talented players at positions of need, making this an already incredibly improved team from last year’s squad.
However, Reese shouldn’t stop adding some new players to the mix as the team moves into training camp. Championship teams (namely the 2007 and 2011 title-winning squads for Big Blue) are built on depth, something the Giants are thin at in a couple of areas.
Nobody on this list is will be the difference maker between New York being in or out of the playoffs, but all would be great depth or rotational guys capable of providing solid contributions to the Giants when called upon.
Jake Long, OT
If the Giants sign Jake Long it would be on a cheap, one-year deal, with the expectation he would compete to be the team’s backup right tackle behind Marshall Newhouse.
New York missed out on Russell Okung and Eugene Monroe after neither were interested in playing the right tackle position. Long, on the other hand does not have anywhere close to that kind of leverage to deny moving over. The 31-year old played just 10 snaps for the Atlanta Falcons last season and has had to battle back from two ACL tears during his career. he’s not the solution to the Giants’ offensive line conundrum by any means, yet it might be worth seeing what he has left in the tank during training camp.
As a free agent last year, Long visited New York twice, but left both times without a deal and eventually signed with Atlanta. It’s likely the front office has a pretty good idea of what Long is capable of already. Therefore, the fact that it seems the Giants have shown zero interest to date in bringing him aboard this time around should be a pretty clear indicator that even a tryout at the very least is far from imminent.
Still, Long recently told ESPN he felt 100% healthy and is knee is no longer bothering him. Should Reese really start to feel concerned about his offensive line as the season inches closer he may be worth a look.
Anquan Boldin, WR
Lots of good things have been said coming out of OTAs about the New York Giants receiving core being one of the deepest positions on the team.
Well, before we get to far ahead of ourselves on that one, let’s remember a few things here:
- This is all based on work done on air, or against defenders who can’t hit the receivers.
- The receivers that make up this depth (aside from Odell Beckham Jr. and Dwayne Harris who have already proved themselves as contributors in an NFL passing game) are undrafted free agents, Geremy Davis who produced two catches last year, Myles White who produced seven catches last season, an albeit impressive but still rookie Sterling Shepard, and Victor Cruz still fresh off knee and calf injuries
- Say the Giants end up without Beckham for a game or two like last season. We all saw what the Giants offense looks like without OBJ and it’s not pretty.
While Boldin is 35 years of age and fresh off his lowest receiving yards total since 2004, he would still rank among the 2016 Giants top three in every major receiving statistical category. Last year Boldin grabbed 69 passes for 789 yards and four touchdowns, all while Colin Kapernick and Blaine Gabbert were the ones trying to deliver him the football.
Boldin can still play, and at a pretty high level too. Although youth is always better, an experienced veteran who is a locker room leader, upstanding person (he was 2015’s Walter Payton Man of the Year award winner), and clearly still has the ability to be legit top three receiver on an NFL team is a must for these win-now Giants.
Chris Culliver, CB
Though Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Janoris Jenkins, and Eli Apple are a pretty good starting trio, the talent at the cornerback position drops off pretty steeply after that.
Culliver has been an off the field headache throughout the duration of his six-year NFL career. He’s made publicly offensive comments against both gay people and women and was arrested in 2014 for misdemeanor hit and run, misdemeanor driving on a suspended license, and felony possession of brass knuckles after allegedly hitting a bicyclist with his car for which he was suspended one game in 2015. Throw in his two ACL tears (occurring in 2013 and 2015), and it’s a wonder he’s stayed in the league for as long as he has.
Well, the reason for his sticking around is a narrative we’ve seen all too often among NFL players who do bad things only to get second and third chances from teams. When on the field Culliver is a very talented football player.
Limited to six games by injuries and during his one year stint with the Washington Redskins last season, Culliver was an outstanding defensive playmaker for the San Francisco 49ers in 2014. He made 38 tackles, picked off four passes, returning them for 61 yards, while defending 15 passes. He missed all of 2013 after his first ACL tear, but in 2012 put forth a similarly strong seasonal outing with 40 tackles, two interceptions, and 14 passes defended.
Culliver carries a lot of baggage with him to whatever team he may land with next, but he’ll also come at a heavily discounted price. The Redskins cut him this offseason after he signed a four-year deal the year before, anticipating him to not be the same player after his second ACL tear, no longer making it worth dealing with his off the field antics.
The Giants have been known to stay away from players like Culliver, so it would come as a surprise if any real interest in him developed from the team. However, if Culliver battles back from this latest injury, giving him a shot in training camp and the preseason to prove he can still play and keep his nose clean might be worth it for New York.
Kroy Biermann, DE
Similar to the cornerback position, the Giants defensive end group is one headlined by a couple of marquee stars (Jason Pierre-Paul and Olivier Vernon) with a decent sized talent drop off after that.
Enter Kroy Bierman, a career-long pass rushing specialist who is on the wrong side of 30, still on the open market. Biermann to the Giants on the veteran minimum would be an excellent late season grab for Reese to throw into the mix with Kerry Wynn and Owa Obdighizuwa.
Last season Biermann had 2.5 sacks, one forced fumble, and 54 tackles for the Atlanta Falcons. They’re not eye-popping number by any means, but when he’s allowed to simply pin his ears back and get after the passer Biermann is at his best and that’s exactly where Big Blue would use him and get value out of him.
Louis Vasquez, OG
While it’s been rumored that current projected starting guard John Jerry has been having himself an excellent offseason workout routine, the former All-Pro Louis Vasquez is well worth kicking the tires on.
Ranked 45th among guards by Pro Football Focus in 2015, the Denver Broncos cut Vasquez to save the $6.75 million cap hit he would come with. Vasquez tweeted out he would work out with the Tennessee Titans in March, but no deal materialized from that.
Vasquez is only 28-years-old and has 101 career starts under his belt, making him experienced but still not way past his athletic prime by any means. He’s coming off a sub-par season, yet there is still plenty of talent to salvage within the former Super Bowl champion. If he did land with the Giants’ he would immediately project to be their starting right guard.