michael strahan giants
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Michael Strahan has accomplished a lot. He’s a Super Bowl champion, a Giants legend, and a Pro Football Hall of Famer. His post-football life has been just as good. He recently earned himself a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Despite everything he has his hands in now, there’s one constant — following and rooting for the Giants. That’ll happen when you play your entire 15-year career with the same organization. We even saw him expose the Blue in his veins throughout this past season while working on the FOX NFL Sunday crew.

I mean, you know how the saying goes… Once a Giant, Always a Giant, Only a Giant.

With that in mind, you know he’s got some thoughts on how Big Blue should approach a critical offseason after their first playoff berth since 2016. Unlike the last offseason, the front office and head coach are set. However, there are decisions to be made regarding two of the more important positions on offense: quarterback and running back.

New York has plenty of work to do in the coming weeks and months. However, Strahan recently shared his thoughts on three things the Giants need to do:

  1. Re-sign Saquon Barkley
  2. Re-sign Daniel Jones
  3. Go get some wide receivers

Here’s what he said about Barkley (all quotes via New York Post):

You gotta keep Saquon. You can see that Daniel Jones is better with him in there, the team is better with him in there, he’s a leader in every single way. I think Saquon Barkley is one of the players that you have to keep on this team in order to build off what they did last year.

We know general manager Joe Schoen would like to retain Barkley. But it sounds like he’ll only want to do so if the price is right. They opened negotiations during the Giants’ bye week, and those talks have continued. Barkley has been open about wanting to be a Giant for life. According to a report from Tony Pauline of Pro Football Network, an agreement before free agency opens is likely.

The Giants have been more direct about their intentions with Jones. Obviously, Strahan agrees with that:

I think you have to keep Daniel Jones. You have to pay Daniel Jones. That’s just the way football works right now. And the hardest position to fill is quarterback. So, if you don’t keep him, somebody else will get him and then what’s your next move? There’s no guarantee anyone else is gonna be great. So I think that Daniel did enough to earn himself a great contract there in New York. I think he has the right temperament. I didn’t think I’d meet anybody or see anybody who’s more quiet than Eli Manning when they played, and Daniel Jones has accomplished that. He’s done that.

Whether it’s a multi-year deal or a franchise tag to maintain exclusive negotiating rights, Jones won’t be going anywhere for at least 2023. He’s going to get a hefty pay raise, too.

Strahan also said how it’d be great to have Mike Kafka back as offensive coordinator for the sake of continuity, but that remains to be seen. Last, but most certainly not least, Strahan said the following about helping out New York’s wide-receiver room:

Wide receiver’s probably the biggest position where they probably go look for a home-run hitter. They need some playmakers, some big playmakers.

Well, yea — that’s the understatement of the century. We can assume wide receiver will be a focus for the Giants early on in April’s NFL Draft. Or, maybe they find an established threat to join forces with Jones.

Time will tell how things turn out for Big Blue. The decisions made this offseason will lay the foundation for the foreseeable future, so many will be keeping a watchful eye. Strahan is definitely a part of that group.

Matt Musico can be reached at [email protected] and you can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.

Matt Musico is an editor for ESNY. He’s been writing about baseball and the Mets for the past decade. His work has been featured on numberFire, MetsMerized Online, Bleacher Report, and Yahoo! Sports.