Here are the five biggest questions, including the state of the offensive line, for the New York Giants heading into the 2017 offseason.
With the thrilling comeback victory by the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI, the 2016 season has come to a close. And while it did not end the way the New York Giants would have hoped, for all intents and purposes, the Giants had a successful season.Coming off of two straight 6-10 campaigns and the resignation of one of the greatest head coaches in the organization’s storied history, change was necessary in order to revitalize the ailing franchise.
Through the promotion of former offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo to head coach and a revamped player training program focused on limiting player injuries, as well as several key offseason acquisitions each of whom performed beyond any reasonable expectations, the Giants were able to return to the postseason for the first time since 2011.
Despite making great strides in 2016, the front office has several difficult decisions to make this offseason. From running back to the offensive line to the front seven, these are the biggest questions heading into the offseason for the New York Giants:
1. What do the Giants decide to do with Jason Pierre-Paul?
Last season, the Giants defense went from one of the worst units in the league to one of the best — allowing the fourth-fewest points in the league (18.9 PPG). The offseason additions of Olivier Vernon, Damon Harrison and Janoris Jenkins (all of whom were NFL All-Pro selections) undoubtedly sparked this turnaround.
But an underrated element of the defensive success was the impressive comeback of Jason Pierre-Paul.
In limited action in 2015, Pierre-Paul struggled. After returning midway through the season after recovering from the fireworks incident that permanently damaged his right hand, there were questions whether Pierre-Paul could ever come close to returning to the player he was before the accident. However, after hand surgery allowed him to ditch the bulky club he was forced to play with during 2015, he had a very strong season before suffering a season-ending groin injury in early December.
In 12 games, JPP recorded 53 tackles, seven sacks, three forced fumbles and a fumble return for a touchdown. He was superb against the run and was a force rushing the passer — as he ranked 15th in the NFL in quarterback hurries (24) despite missing the final four games of the regular season. The decision to re-sign him seems like a no-brainer, but it is not as easy as it seems.
With the mega-contract that teammate Olivier Vernon received last offseason for $85 million, Pierre-Paul is likely going to command an expensive long-term deal on the open market. And to further complicate matters, JPP has publically stated that he will not settle for less than a multi-year deal, removing the franchise tag option for the team that could have prevented him from hitting the open market.
Even with the huge spending spree last offseason, the Giants seem to be in a good financial position to re-sign Pierre-Paul, as the salary cap is projected to increase by $13 million from 2016. However, it is to be seen if they believe the 28-year-old defensive end is worth the large contract he is likely to receive on the open market, or if the additions of second team All-Pro Olivier Vernon and first team All-Pro Damon Harrison to the defensive line make him replaceable on the edge.
However, the lack of an established pass rusher behind Pierre-Paul on the roster further complicates this difficult decision, as players such as Owa Odighizuwa and have failed to emerge as key contributors. This lack of depth on the defensive line also complicates the decision to resign fellow defensive lineman Jonathan Hankins — who is also slated to become an unrestricted free agent as his rookie contract is set to expire.
2. Is Ereck Flowers the left tackle moving forward?
When the Giants selected Ereck Flowers with the ninth overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, general manager Jerry Reese envisioned the mammoth 6-foot-6 inch tackle as the left tackle of the future. With outstanding size and strength, the Giants believed that with proper coaching he could overcome his apparent technique flaws and develop into a dominant NFL left tackle.
However, he not shown the improvement that the Giants had believed would take place by the end of his sophomore season. In a turbulent 2016, Flowers led all offensive players in penalties (13), continued to struggle mightily in pass protection and showed a lack of maturity after an altercation occurred with an ESPN reporter after a poor performance in week five.
Now, heading into this offseason, Reese and the entire coaching staff have to reevaluate the state of the offensive line. They have to ask themselves if they still believe if Ereck Flowers is still their left tackle moving forward, or if a move to his more natural right tackle position is necessary in order to better both the offensive line and the player himself.
In order to entertain a potential move to right tackle, the Giants would need a capable replacement that they believe would be an upgrade over a two-year starter in Flowers. As this player is likely not on the current roster, the Giants would have free agency and the draft to search for their replacement tackle.
This year’s free agency pool is very thin at tackle, with veterans Andrew Whitworth and Matt Kalil as the only seemingly viable options for the Giants to target. And with the 23rd overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft, there are questions if there will be any tackles still on the board who can step in and start right away at left tackle.
There is no question Ereck Flowers has not played up to the expectations placed upon him by the organization when they selected him as a top-ten overall pick. The organization has to seriously consider moving Flowers to the right tackle position this offseason.
However, with no viable replacements on the roster, a thin free agent crop of left tackles, and a late first-round draft selection, is there a player available to them who would be an improvement?
3. What do the Giants do with veterans Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Rashad Jennings?
With the youth movement the organization has undertaken under the Ben McAdoo regime, the Giants have difficult decisions to make this offseason regarding veteran players with large cap hits. Notably, what will the Giants do with expensive veterans Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Rashad Jennings?
Unlike Jennings, who saw a drop off in performance, Rodgers-Cromartie had a fantastic 2016. With the selection of Eli Apple in the first round — whose playing style is better suited for the outside — the Giants delegated the ever-important role of slot cornerback to DRC, who had limited experience in the slot prior to 2016. And in this position, while also rotating outside when needed, he had the best season of his nine-year career. The 30-year-old cornerback recorded 49 tackles, 6 interceptions, a sack, a forced fumble, and 21 passes defended. He played so well that he was honored with his first career All-Pro selection, and was rated the second-best cornerback in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus.
The 30-year-old cornerback recorded 49 tackles, six interceptions, a sack, a forced fumble and 21 passes defended. He played so well that he was honored with his first career All-Pro selection, and was rated the second-best cornerback in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus.
With a large cap hit of $9 million in 2017, the Giants will have to consider cutting him despite his success last season. If they were to cut him, they would free up $5 million in cap space for the team to use.
The arguments could be made that by drafting Eli Apple the Giants were essentially drafting Rodgers-Cromartie’s successor and that his yearly salary is too much to pay for a cornerback matching up against the opponent’s weaker receivers. However, his success in 2016, his emergence as a team leader and mentor to the young players on the defense and the importance of cornerback depth in today’s NFL make it very hard to justify his release. With the team in decent financial shape, a contract restructure seems entirely possible for DRC—but his possible release is not out of the question.
In the case of Rashad Jennings, the decision is not as difficult. Jennings struggled mightily in 2016, compiling only 593 rushing yards in 13 games averaging a putrid 3.3 yards per carry. The Giants have given him every opportunity to thrive, but he has not performed the way they would have hoped.
The poor play of the offensive line may account for some of the failure, but Jennings deserves a lion’s share of the blame. He is no longer an every-down back with his declining quickness and does not add anything out of the backfield as a receiver. His saving grace was his proficiency in pass protection, but this may not be enough to save him from becoming a cap casualty.
While Jennings may not be part of the Giants’ future, last year’s seventh-round selection Paul Perkins likely is. In limited playing time last season, Perkins showed a ton of promise. His quickness and elusiveness were evident, and his pass protection improved as the season went on. As his playing time increased, so did his play. All signs point to Perkins emerging as the starting running back in 2017, which does not bode well for Jennings.
If the Giants were to cut Jennings, they would save $2.5 million, which is noticeably large given his $3.062 million cap number in 2017. If the Giants see Perkins as the running back of the future, it would likely mean the end of Jennings’ tenure in New York. However, if they believe that Perkins is not ready for that role yet, then they may decide to retain Jennings to take on a lesser role next season.
4. Will Victor Cruz be a New York Giant next season?
One of the most intriguing storylines this offseason is what the Giants decide to with veteran wide receiver Victor Cruz. It also happens to be arguably the most difficult decision of them all. Do the Giants see the 30-year-old Cruz as a part of their future, or do they wish to go in another direction at the wide receiver position?
Before I get into the specifics of this difficult decision, I would be remiss if I did not mention that Victor Cruz is an incredible person, an incredible teammate, and an incredible leader. He has done so much for the Giants’ organization, and it would not have four Super Bowls without him. His passion for the sport is undeniable, and his will to win is greater than most in the game today. That being said, it seems unlikely that Cruz will return to the Giants in 2017 under his current contract.
In 2014, Cruz signed a five-year, $43 million contract with over $15.6 million in guaranteed money. At the time, he had just come off of a three-year span from 2011-13 where he recorded 241 receptions for 3,626 yards and 23 touchdowns. He was as good as any player at the slot wide receiver position and deserved of every penny of the contract. However, Cruz’s career was derailed on the fateful October night in Philadelphia in 2014 when he tore the patellar tendon in his knee — causing him to miss the rest of the 2014 season and eventually all of 2015 after he suffered a torn hamstring due to overcompensation on the healthy leg.
While he did return to play 16 of the 17 games this season (including the postseason loss), he is not the player he was before the injury. He did not show the same burst, ability to gain yards after the catch, or elite ability to separate from defensive backs in which he demonstrated before the injury.
He struggled to separate in man coverage and was not a consistent target for Eli Manning — recording a career-low 54.2% catching percentage on targets. He finished the 2016 season with 39 receptions for 586 yards and a single touchdown—all of which are full-season career lows. Earlier in his career, he thrived on making big plays, especially in the vertical passing game. At this point in his career, he is no longer such a threat.
Is Cruz still an NFL caliber receiver? Yes. Is he a NFL caliber receiver worth a $6.4 million base salary with a colossal $9.4 million cap hit? Absolutely not. He did show this season that he could make a play when his number is called—as he made a few pivotal catches including the game-winner in week one. If Cruz is to return to the Giants, a contract restructure seems all but likely, as his declining production does not align with his large cap figure.
But while a restructure could take place, the Giants may look to go in another direction. Last season, the Giants selected wide receiver Sterling Shepard in the second round of the NFL Draft. Shepard was thrust into an immediate starting role and thrived — recording 65 receptions for 683 yards and 8 touchdowns. Starting all 16 games and playing 95 percent of the offensive snaps, he quickly became Manning’s second-favorite target behind Odell Beckham Jr. It was not Shepard’s production that does not bode well for Cruz’s future with the Giants, but rather it was where the production took place.
Shepard almost entirely lined up in the slot in 2016, which forced Cruz to split out wide for most offensive plays. While Cruz is much better suited to play in the slot than the outside, Shepard displayed a lot of the same separation ability that a young Cruz displayed as he ascended to become a top receiver in the league. In fact, Shepard ranked 10th among all slot receivers in slot receiver separation, according to NFL.com, and thrived against opposing nickel corners. It is evident that Shepard is the slot receiver of the present and future of the Giants, making Cruz all but expendable as the odd man out in the receiving corps due to his ineffectiveness while split out wide.
While all signs point to the end of Cruz’s tenure with the Giants, the decision goes beyond the football field. His intangibles not only as a leader on the team but also as a role model for the young receivers in Beckham Jr., Shepard, and Roger Lewis are invaluable. Despite his declining performance, this may be enough for the Giants to keep him. He brings much more than just his play on the field, and a contract restructure does make sense for both sides. While Cruz has adamantly stated that he wants to finish his career with the Giants, he has not yet heard from the team regarding his future, according to James Kratch of NJ.com. Only time will tell if Victor Cruz will be a New York Giant in 2017.
5. How will the Front Office Address the Tight End Position?
It was no secret that the Giants’ offense struggled last season. 7th worst in the league in points per game (19 PPG), this unit severely underperformed after high expectations heading into the season. There were several culprits of the offensive struggles—the predictable formations and play calling, the lack of execution, the poor offensive line play and the lack of an effective ground game all played a part in the futility. However, a major weakness on the offense that did not seem to receive much of the blame was the poor play of the tight ends. The Giants desperately lacked a big-bodied tight end to stretch the middle of the field.
The combination of Will Tye, rookie seventh-round pick Jerell Adams and Larry Donnell did not provide the Giants with any form of continuity in the passing game. Tye, the Giants’ starting tight end playing the majority of the snaps, only recorded 395 receiving yards and a single touchdown. With the production from the other two, the Giants only got a total of 609 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns from the entire unit. To put those numbers in perspective, there were 14 tight ends that recorded more yards and 19 tight ends that recorded more touchdowns than all three Giants’ tight ends combined. These three just did not provide enough in the passing game. As it relates to run blocking, the unit did not play well enough either.
Tye has good hands and speed but lacks the ideal size (6-foot-3) the Giants need in a vertical threat tight end. Donnell has great size (6-foot-6) but lacks the ball skills to emerge as a weapon and struggles in run blocking. As for Adams, he seems to be at least a season of development away from being a potential starting option despite possessing good size (6-foot-5) and ball skills.
Now, the front office is faced with the task of upgrading the position. In free agency, options such as Jared Cook or a potential reunion with Super Bowl champion Martellus Bennett seem feasible. However, the more likely route is upgrading the position through the draft, as it is believed that the Giants will prioritize the tight end position in May.
Luckily for the Giants, this draft class is rich in high-end talent. The top prospects in this year’s draft seem to be O.J. Howard (Alabama), David Njoku (Miami, Fla.), Bucky Hodges (Virginia Tech) and Jake Butt (Michigan). Most, if not all of these players will likely be available to them if they choose to address the tight end position in the first round.
No matter what route the front office takes, the Giants will look to find a big-bodied vertical threat tight who gives them something in run blocking this offseason.
By the end of free agency and the NFL Draft, do not be surprised if there is a new starting tight end on the roster whom the Giants hope will bring stability to a position that has been severely lacking on the offense for years.