It’s tough to get a real sense of where the New York Giants are.
Before the season, if you had told a Giants fan their team would make to the divisional round of the playoffs, they probably would’ve taken it. But the drubbing New York took at the hands of the Eagles shows it is well behind the class of the NFC East, and the Cowboys are ahead too.
Who knows if this season will prove to be an anomaly, but that won’t be determined until later, and in the interim, there’s reason to be optimistic. Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll already look like the best GM/coach combo the team has had in a while, and Daniel Jones, though a pending free agent, seems like he could be the quarterback of the future.
A big offseason awaits the Giants, and Boomer Esiason detailed where they go now Monday on "Boomer & Gio."
“They had a little bit of success, they outkicked their coverage if you will,” Esiason said. “They got some breaks along the way, they may have found their long-term solution at quarterback, they have a lot of contracts to decide whether or not they’re going to pick guys back up or let guys walk. There are going to be some compensatory picks if they let some players walk, but at the end of the day they are still in a cash-strapped situation.
“The salary cap should go up to about $225 million, that’s what most people are estimating for 2023 to be up to. So that will give them some room to sign Daniel Jones to a contract, and I still believe they are close to getting him done in a reasonable way. And I think that reasonable way is going to be somewhere between four years and somewhere between probably $130 and $150 million. Somewhere around there, because you have to start with the franchise tag, which is over $32 million right now.”
In addition to Jones, Saquon Barkley and Julian Love are among the other free agents the Giants have to map out a plan with this offseason.
Between the notable free agents and holes elsewhere on the roster that need addressing (such as wide receiver), it should be a busy few months for the Giants. At this point, there’s reason to be optimistic that the right moves could position New York to at least remain competitive in 2023.
“So, for the Giant fan, the hope is alive now,” Esiason said. “The hope is that you have a coach that you believe in and that you like and that he got the most out of this team. He kind of fixed your quarterback and got him right and made him more of a positive than he was a net negative.
“And the other thing too is that there is just a general feeling of positivity around the – and you can't look at Saturday night and say this same thing, but I think it’s prior to Saturday night – there is a level of competitiveness that we haven’t seen here for about four or five years now.”
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