We all knew the Giants would throw a truckload of money at left tackle Andrew Thomas. It was just a matter of when it’d happen. As it turns out, that time is right now.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Thomas and Big Blue agreed to a five-year, $117.5 million extension with $67 million coming in the form of guaranteed money. As you can imagine, that’s a new record for his position.
Left tackle Andrew Thomas and the Giants reached agreement on a 5-year, $117.5 million extension that includes an offensive-line record $67M fully guaranteed at signing, tying him to New York through the 2029 season.@JohnThornton of @RocNationSports confirmed the deal to ESPN. pic.twitter.com/FTHq1VFlfL
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 26, 2023
This deal comes just a few months after the Houston Texans and Laremy Tunsil agreed to a total of $60 million in guarantees for his three-year, $75 million deal.
The Giants were busy starting training camp on Tuesday. However, it’s quite obvious general manager Joe Schoen wanted to finish a couple of things first.
First, he somehow got running back Saquon Barkley to agree to a one-year deal worth up to $11 million, and now it’s this monster deal for the 24-year-old Thomas. This was a smart move by the Giants. Our own James Kratch said back in April that it’d be wise for New York to lock down Thomas to an extension now:
The Giants have two years of team control left with Thomas. So he has been an afterthought this offseason behind Daniel Jones, Saquon Barkley and Lawrence. Which makes sense; those players should be the focus. But then again, striking a deal with Thomas now could mean much more to the Giants in the long run than working things out with those players…
You cannot underestimate the importance of a left tackle. It would be unfair to heap all the blame on him, but it would be dishonest to not state the obvious: Ereck Flowers played a big part in getting a lot of people fired here. And Nate Solder did not do much better. The Giants finally have the guy in Thomas. They should pay him ASAP, even though they do not have to. Because it would be very good business.
And just like that, the Joe Schoen masterclass continues.
You can reach Matt Musico at matt.musico@xlmedia.com. You can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.
