The head coach of the New York Giants, Brian Daboll, and general manager Joe Schoen have some tough choices to make for the second straight offseason. But unlike last year, the Giants aren’t celebrating an unexpected postseason spot.
It’s reasonable to argue that New York could use more talent added to the squad after the team struggled to a 6-11 record in 2023. The Giants have projected cap space of $35.3 million, which means they can and probably will be aggressive in free agency.
But before Schoen and Daboll can consider fresh signings, they have to make decisions about their own upcoming free agents.
We’ll examine three of the Giants’ most important players below, who are expected to become unrestricted free agents on March 13. We’ll evaluate their importance to the team as well as the expected terms of their free-agent contracts.
Age, positional value, predicted role, player health, and recent output were all taken into account. Spotrac has a complete list of New York’s upcoming free agents.
After failing to get a long-term agreement, the Giants gave star running back Saquon Barkley the franchise tag in the summer. Barkley responded with yet another season marred by injuries, but when fit, he remained New York’s most reliable offensive player.
According to reports, Barley may now be tagged for a second season in a row. One insider believes that Barkley being tagged by the Giants is a “realistic possibility,” as reported by Dan Duggan of The Athletic.
Barkley, though, would probably prefer greater long-term security after being tagged during the previous season—though, of course, he has no power over the tag decision. If he manages to get away from the tag, he’ll probably find it from New York or another team.
Barkley racked up 1,242 scrimmage yards and 10 touchdowns in 2023 despite missing three games and averaging only 3.9 yards per carry.
Barkley’s market value is estimated by Spotrac to be $9.9 million a year, which is a reasonable amount but might be a little high. Barkley faces a challenge because of the depth of the 2024 free-agent RB class. Teams may choose to switch to running backs like Derrick Henry, Josh Jacobs, D’Andre Swift, and Tony Pollard if they are hesitant to give him around $10 million annually.
Barkley should still get that long-term security, but this should prevent his contract from taking off.