What happens in the coming weeks will indicate more about what the Giants really think about their offensive line than any comment made before the start of the NFL free agency.
Until last season, they left Kevin Zeitler, their initial right guard the last two seasons, to earn $ 12 million in the much-needed salary cap, and negotiated the contract of Nate Solder, their first initial left attack , to gain even more room limit. Exactly the amount has not been revealed, but hopefully so, well below the $ 16.5 million limit that Solder was projected to have for 2021.
On Monday, teams can start conversations with free agents without restrictions, the so-called legal manipulation period. Offers cannot be made official until Wednesday, which is the start of the new league year, but many offers will be agreed and filtered before the official opening of the signing period.
The Giants, of course, can give up paying big, or even moderate, money in free agency and wait until the NFL draft in late April to strengthen the depth, and maybe add a starting player to the his offensive line. Is this a smart action? With Andrew Thomas, Shane Lemieux, Nick Gates and possibly Matt Peart, the Giants are already young enough and adding a rookie would only reduce the level of experience.
“We all want things to happen quickly,” CEO Dave Gettleman said. “Only for what it’s worth, in terms of our offensive line, they are young and talented. Things take time. We believe in these guys, they all came, we finished the season pretty strong. One of the things I would tell you is that we were 4-2 in our division and if we look at our division, all these defensive lines we play, all these fronts are big, powerful, athletic defensive lines and our guys held up. So, we get there. It’s the old saying you have to make the ball run and obviously you have to be able to protect the pin. We are young and we are getting better. “
The Giants only had about $ 4 million below the $ 182.5 million salary cap before Solder’s restructuring savings hit the books. They may not be able to afford the best offensive line teams on the market (they come up with Trent Williams and Joe Thuney), but they could be in play for the next level of players. Riley Reiff has 119 starts in the last eight years, mostly on the left, and could be a right choice. Veteran attacks Alejandro Villanueva and Kelvin Beachum are also available.
It will be interesting to see how the market treats Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz, the Chiefs ’two initial attacks, both released last week. Fisher comes out of a broken Achilles tendon in January and Schwartz had back surgery in February. Would the Giants play for the health of one of those players in a one-year deal?
Solder will turn 33 next month and will be competing for a job again. It will not be on the left, where Andrew Thomas resides, number 4 in the 2020 draft. be in a competition with Peart for the starting role. Solder, who chose not to participate last season, could appear as a security tool at both locations. His body was able to heal after a year out of play, but it remains to be seen how much he lost, if any, while sitting.