Giants' Biggest Keys to Having a Successful NFL Offseason
The New York Giants have their new front office in general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll. That's a good first step heading into 2022, but the incoming leadership group has a lot of work to do in the coming months.
The Giants have been arguably the NFL's worst franchise over the past five years. New York has a lowly 22-59 record since last making the playoffs in 2016. At no point in the last five years have the Giants been above .500.
To make matters more difficult, New York is projected to be $11.4 million over the salary cap.
The hope is that Schoen and Daboll can turn things around quickly. It's going to be a challenge, but a few offseason steps can help put the Giants on the path to success. Here are three keys to a successful 2022 Giants offseason.
Create Enough Cap Space to Be a Free-Agency Player
Schoen will be tasked with New York's first big challenge of the offseason. Not only do the Giants need to get under the salary cap, but they also need to create enough space to make some additions in free agency—the draft alone cannot fix this roster.
"We have to make some tough decisions here in the near future just to get in a place where we can sign draft picks and be below the cap," Schoen said, per Paul Schwartz of the New York Post. "There's a fine line, because you can’t purge."
The Giants cannot afford to get rid of their best players because of their contracts. However, they can look to cut some of the proverbial dead weight.
Releasing tight end Kyle Rudolph, for example, would trigger a dead-cap charge of $2.4 million but save $5 million against the cap. New York could also look at restructuring the contracts of players like Sterling Shepard and Blake Martinez.
Something has to give financially. While creating enough cap space to be free-agency players would be ideal, creating enough space to sign draft picks is a necessity.
Install an Offense Built to Daniel Jones' Strengths
Daboll's biggest challenge will be developing Daniel Jones into a franchise quarterback. The Giants likely hired Daboll because of his work with Buffalo Bills signal-caller Josh Allen—who has gone from being a talented but raw prospect to being one of the NFL's best.
Jones, who has a career passer rating of just 84.3, is still where Allen was early in his development.
"There's a lot of things to like about Daniel, and we'll just take it one day at a time, we'll work with him, we'll help him get better," Daboll said in his introductory press conference.
The first step for Daboll will be building an offense that plays to Jones' strengths. The Duke product remains unpolished, lacks ball security and frequently makes questionable decisions. However, he has loads of arm talent, athletic upside and scrambling ability.
Jones still has the potential to become a complete quarterback in the NFL. In the meantime, Daboll can design a scheme that highlights what he already does well.
Daboll can take a few pages out of his Buffalo playbook and use designed quarterback runs and play action to spark the offense. That should help make life easier on Jones as he continues to develop as a dropback passer.
It should also help the Giants improve an offense that ranked 31st in both yards and points in 2021.
Shore Up the Offensive Line
If the Giants are going to experience a quick offensive turnaround, they're going to have to improve their offensive line. Last year's unit struggled to open holes in the running game—New York ranked 24th in yards per carry—and to protect Jones.
Jones was sacked 38 times in 13 games and was under pressure on 23.3 percent of his dropbacks, according to Pro Football Reference.
Even with limited free-agent opportunities, New York can and must improve its line in the coming months. The Giants are armed with the fifth and seventh overall picks in the 2022 draft. It would be wise to use at least one of those selections on an offensive lineman.
The good news is that the Giants won't have to reach for a lineman if they take one early.
Two of the top three and four of the top 11 prospects on the Bleacher Report Scouting Department's big board are offensive linemen. There's a chance that one of the top two linemen—Alabama's Evan Neal and North Carolina's Ikem Ekwonu—is still available at No. 5.
Improving the offensive line is a must. Not only will it help make Jones' job easier, but it may also help running back Saquon Barkley to return to the Pro Bowl form he flashed early in his career.
Contract and cap information via Spotrac.