Much, but not all, of what the Giants did in free service was specifically designed to provide assistance and support to Daniel Jones. There is no doubt that the front office now believes the still-young quarterback, entering his third NFL season, is in a more favorable position than ever before.
“Sure, I’ve always believed that you draft the guy you think will be your franchise quarterback, the first thing you need to do is get people around him to keep him going and then you have to get him playmakers,” general manager Dave Gettleman said Tuesday. “You help him by doing different things. ”
The things the Giants did this off-season to make Jones’ football life easier started with the signing of sky-high receiver Kenny Golladay. They also added veteran tight-end Kyle Rudolph, coming back to Devontae Booker and speed receiver John Ross.
“We thought we would like a bigger wide receiver, Kenny was available and we made the deal,” said Gettleman. “That’s clearly going to help Daniel. Kyle Rudolph is a professional tight end. He’s been in the league for 10 years,” said Gettleman. he knows all the ins and outs, he is still a good player, of course that helps Daniel, but it also helps our running game, it helps Saquon [Barkley]. It is quite a picture. ”
Booker’s signing to a two-year $ 5.5 million deal yielded some offbeat looks. When Barkley recovers fully from reconstructive knee surgery, Booker’s role is strictly as a backup.
“One of the reasons we prioritized Devontae is that you can never have too many good players in a position,” said Gettleman. “One of the things that made Devontae so attractive was the fact that we felt he was a legit three-quarter show. We think he could be a good part of our solution to run back. ”
After agreeing a two-year $ 12 million contract with Rudolph, the Giants found out that Rudolph had a problem with his foot that required surgery to repair. They could have gone back on the deal or lowered the guaranteed money ($ 4.5 million) by adding incentives based on play time. Ronnie Barnes, the senior vice president of medical services, and Dr. Scott Rodeo, the chief team doctor, signed off that Rudolph would eventually return to health and the contract remained unchanged.
“We’re the Giants,” Gettleman said. “We’re going to do everything with the class and we had an agreement, Ronnie signed it and Doctor Rodeo signed it, so it went well.”
The Giants knew that putting out a lot of money (three years, $ 63 million) for Leonard Williams meant his defensive linemate, Dalvin Tomlinson, wouldn’t return. Tomlinson signed a two-year $ 21 million deal with the Vikings.
“Dalvin is a great young man, and he was a captain,” said Gettleman. Clearly there is regret. But in the end you only have so much money and you have to make decisions. That’s just the way it is. We will absolutely miss Dalvin, and I am very happy that he got what he wanted and that Minnesota is a great organization. ”