What’s happening in the coming weeks will tell more about what the Giants really think about their offensive line than any comments made prior to the start of NFL Free Agency.
So far in this off-season they’ve jettisoned Kevin Zeitler, their starting right-wing guard from the past two seasons, to earn $ 12 million in much-needed salary limit space, and negotiated the contract of Nate Solder, their former starting left-wing tackle, to add even more get more limit. room. Exactly how much has not been revealed, but expect it to be a long way from the $ 16.5 million cap hit that Solder planned for 2021.
On Monday, teams can start conversations with unlimited free agents, the so-called legal sabotage period. No deals can be made official until Wednesday, the start of the new competition year, but many deals will be negotiated and leaked ahead of the official opening of the signing period.
The Giants can of course refrain from paying a lot or even moderate money in free agency and wait until the NFL draw in late April to bolster the depth and perhaps add a starting player to their line of attack. Is that a smart way to act? With Andrew Thomas, Shane Lemieux, Nick Gates and possibly Matt Peart, the Giants already have plenty of youth along their line and adding a rookie would only bring the experience level down.
“We all want things to happen quickly,” said CEO Dave Gettleman. “Just for what it’s worth, in terms of where our line of attack is, they are young and they are talented. Things take time. We believe in these guys, they all came along, we ended the season fairly strongly. One of the things I would say to you is we were 4-2 in our division and if you look at our division, all those lines of defense that we play, all those fronts are big, powerful, athletic lines of defense and our boys held up . So we’re coming. It’s the old saying, you have to run the ball and you clearly have to be able to protect the passer. We are young and we are getting better. ”
The Giants were only about $ 4 million below the $ 182.5 million salary ceiling before the savings from Solder’s restructuring went into the books. They probably won’t be able to afford the best offensive linemen on the market – Trent Williams, Joe Thuney come to mind – but they could be in the game for the next level of players. Riley Reiff has 119 starts in the past eight years, mostly with a left tackle, and he could be a good tackle option. Veteran tackles Alejandro Villanueva and Kelvin Beachum are also available.
It will be interesting to see how the market treats Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz, the two starting tackles for the Chiefs, both released last week. Fisher comes from a ruptured Achilles tendon in January and Schwartz underwent back surgery in February. Would the Giants bet on the health of any of these players with a one-year deal?
Solder turns 33 next month and returns to compete for a job. It won’t be on the left, where Andrew Thomas, the # 4 pick in the 2020 design, resides. Solder could swing to the right tackle – a spot he hasn’t played since his rookie season in 2011 – and find himself in a league with Peart for the starting role. Solder, who signed out last season, could appear as a backup in both places. His body was able to heal after a year out of the competition, but it remains to be seen how much he lost while sitting.