Is this the year Dave Gettleman, for the first time in his nine years as NFL general manager, is negotiating in an NFL draft?
It could make sense, for several reasons.
- The Giants have the No. 11 general election, a place in the first round where they will likely have a group of three or four players with similar qualifications, which will allow them to go down a few places and get a player they want, while also adding draft capital, in the form of coveted option of additional second day.
- There may not be any defensive players in the top 10 selections, which means the Giants can step back a few places and get their top runner, certainly a position of need.
- Given the free agency expenses at a time when the salary cap experienced an unprecedented decline, it makes financial sense to win an additional selection on the second day of the project, adding value and cheap labor to that list. season and also of 2022, a year in which the giants could be distressed by the wage cap.
“Everything we do has an immediate horizon and one, two, three years and we are always aware of how things affect us today and how it impacts us next year and beyond,” Kevin Abrams said on Tuesday. deputy general manager of the Giants. “We are very aware of all these variables.”
Abrams, also the Giants ’chief contract negotiator, admitted he did“ probably some limit practices we normally try to avoid ”during this free agency cycle, charging back and adding void years to contracts over a period of expenses designed to immediately update the talent level on the list. The results were striking. Abrams worked on mega-bids for wide receiver Kenny Golladay (four years, $ 72 million) and cornerback Adoree ‘Jackson (three years, $ 39 million), while adding Kyle Rudolph and runner Devontae Booker. Not to forget, the Giants also opened the lap with a three-year, $ 63 million extension for defensive lineman Leonard Williams.
“I think our roster is much better now than at the end of the season and the low season isn’t over yet, so we’ll have more opportunities to add players,” Abrams said. “I think we are happy with what we have done. I think we are a deeper and more talented team.
Gettleman said he is confident the first part of the player buying process has delivered the desired products.
“It won’t be quantified until the fall and we start playing in September, but we feel really good about what we’ve done, we feel really good about the direction the team has taken,” Gettleman said. “We really feel like we’re building a solid football team that fans can be proud of.”
Next up: the 2021 NFL Draft. Currently, the Giants only have six selections: one in the first four rounds, toward the fifth, two into the sixth, and toward the seventh. They would like to add at least one selection and making a downward change is the way to go. Of course, they have to locate a couple. Would the Patriots be willing to move from No. 15 to No. 11, perhaps to get a quarterback? In 2018, the Raiders went from 15 to 10 in the first round and gave the Cardinals two additional selections, one in the third round and another in the fifth.
As it stands now, the Giants own general election number 116 in the fourth round and then have no other selection until number 196 in the sixth round. It’s a long time to see how the players get off the board.
An additional selection gives the Giants an additional novelty contract, good for four years at a price suitable for the team. As a result of the global pandemic, the 2021 limit is $ 182.5 million, a drop of $ 16 million from 2020. Gettleman and Abrams, with the blessing of the property, were able to spend freely on free agency . The salary cap in 2022 may not exceed $ 200 million, but with the incorporation of new money for television, it could rise to $ 230 million in 2023.
“I think 2022 could be a bit of a challenge, depending on where the cap goes,” Abrams said. “Beyond that, I am more optimistic than anything we have done last year, this year puts us in any precarious position. See me.
“It could depend on state sciences and legislatures and fans in the stands and many other variables that we’ll see how it goes. But I don’t think we’re at a bad point, but next year may be a little harder than probably the years later “.