Giants news, 2/20: Saquon Barkley, J.J. McCarthy, Malik Nabers, more headlines

New York Giants news for Tuesday

Good morning, New York Giants fans!

Saquon Barkley, Giants face a different landscape this time as negotiations prepare to heat up

Tuesday is the first day NFL teams can place a franchise or transition tag on prospective free agents, keeping them off the open market. Let’s not expect the New York Giants to rush to tag running back Saquon Barkley, at a cost of $12.1 million, for a second straight year.

The Holy Grail of contracts for Barkley would likely be the three-year, $42 million deal ($19.347 million guaranteed) that Jonathan Taylor received from the Indianapolis Colts last season. It seems unlikely the Giants, or perhaps anyone, would give Barkley that deal now. Age and workload matter at the running back position.

The real number to watch, though, is likely to be the $12.1 million franchise tag value. Can Barkley find a deal with an average annual value reaching that number? BBV’s Ed Valentine sees the Giants’ best offer to Barkley next week coming in somewhere around two years and $20-22 million, with about $15 million guaranteed. Perhaps that would include a void year to lower the immediate cap hit.

Business is about to pick up on the Barkley front. Let’s see where it goes this time.

More from Big Blue View

• Can the Giants’ blocking become less offensive in 2024?
• 2024 NFL Draft quarterback deep dive: J.J. McCarthy, Michigan
• 2024 NFL Draft prospect profiles: Who will be Giants?

Other Giant observations

The Giants should let Saquon Barkley hit free agency and play for a winning team | New YoYork Daily News

It’s obvious both sides wouldn’t mind a change. And it’s clear at least one of them, if not both, would benefit.

Giants 10-step offseason plan: Put an end to Daniel Jones era, fix offensive line | The Athletic

Dan Duggan plays GM for the New York Football Giants:

The Giants are caught in a tricky spot. They can’t go all-in to win now, but two years into a rebuild isn’t the time to blow things up. They need to make calculated moves that improve the roster while making their biggest investments in pieces that will help the team long term.

My plan is an attempt at threading that needle. Everything is geared toward trading up for a quarterback and hoping Maye or Daniels eventually lead the Giants back to Super Bowl contention. If it’s impossible to trade up for a quarterback, the other steps to this plan still apply, but the long-term outlook is less promising.

Giants’ Biggest Keys To Having Successful NFL Offseason | Bleacher Report

The biggest keys to the Giants having a successful offseason in 2024 are generate more cap space, find a Plan B at quarterback and have a No. 1 Receiver when this season starts.

Report: NFL Salary Cap Could Be as High as $243 Million Per Team | Sports Illustrated

The NFL salary cap is expected to be set within the next couple of weeks, potentially as soon as next week when the scouting combine gets underway in Indianapolis. Reports have the cap projected to land somewhere between $242 million and $243 million—if not higher.

Assuming that the cap ends up on the higher end of the scale, that would give the Giants a projected 2024 cap ceiling of $245,501,777 with an estimated $12.629 million in effective space (the space under the Top 51 rule, which begins on March 13), and approximately $20.462 million in total space.

Rick Pitino, a Daniel Jones stan

NFL Draft 2024: Malik Nabers or Rome Odunze for Giants? Weighing pros and cons | NJ.com

Let’s assume the Giants don’t draft a quarterback sixth overall this year — and also that they don’t trade up for one.

That would leave wide receiver as their likeliest position to target. And since Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr. surely will be gone by No. 6, that means the Giants could have their pick between Washington’s Rome Odunze and LSU’s Malik Nabers.

NFL Mock Draft 2.0: Caleb Williams goes first with Justin Fields trade | New York Post

6. New York Giants: Malik Nabers, WR, LSU. The kind of weapon Daniel Jones has never had. Joe Schoen’s need for speed hasn’t stopped. Antonio Brown with his head on straight? A better prospect than Zay Flowers. Brian Daboll and Mike Kafka can battle over calling plays for this game-breaker.

2024 NFL Mock Draft: Raiders land QB as 5 go in Round 1 | CBSSports.com

6. New York Giants. Malik Nabers, WR, LSU. For Daniel Jones to have a chance to reprove himself as the Giants franchise QB coming back from a torn ACL, he needs a legitimate No. 1 pass-catcher. Malik Nabers is the latest LSU wideout who should star at the next level.

2024 NFL Mock Draft: Latest Two-Round Predictions As Combine Nears | The 33rd Team

6. New York Giants. In most drafts, Malik Nabers would be the clear-cut No. 1 WR and a lock to be a top-five pick. But in this draft, he’s not even the second pass-catcher off the board. But the New York Giants get a steal at No. 6 with Nabers, who isn’t that far off from Marvin Harrison Jr. in the class. Nabers can be a bonafide No. 1 receiver for New York, which it has been missing since trading away Odell Beckham Jr.

Pick 39, New York Giants: Bo Nix, QB, Oregon

Pick 47, New York Giants: Patrick Paul, OT, Houston

2024 NFL free agency rankings: Brian Burns, Saquon Barkley, Kirk Cousins lead top 150 | The Athletic

The Giants in this ranking include Saquon Barkley at 5, Xavier McKinney at 14, A’Shawn Robinson at 54, and Adoree’ Jackson at 142.

2024 NFL free agency: One player each team should want to sign | USAToday.com

The Giants have an abundance of needs entering free agency but perhaps none greater than along the offensive line. As a unit, New York surrendered 85 sacks in 2023, the second-most in NFL history, and continuously struggled on the inside. They’ll have to find two new starting guards before training camp and Kevin Dotson is the best of what’s available. After being traded to the Rams last season, he helped stabilize their ground game and would fill a similar role for the Giants. Even as an average pass protector, it’s better than anything the team has currently.

Around the league

Steve Spagnuolo: I want to be a head coach again, but I’m blessed either way -| Pro Football Talk

Antonio Pierce: Raiders have the Mahomes rules like the Pistons had the Jordan rules | Pro Football Talk

Micah Parsons hopes Cowboys get ‘nasty interior’ lineman, would give Tony Pollard ‘another shot’ | NFL.com

Imagining Eagles’ future with and without Jason Kelce along the O-line | The Athletic

Buccaneers’ Mike Evans set to hit free agency after reportedly not reaching a contract extension at deadline | CBSSports.com

Chiefs pick up Chris Jones’ contract option, retain right to franchise tag DT | NFL.com

Steelers not interested in pursuing big-name QB despite internal division over Kenny Pickett, per report | CBSSports.com

Falcons GM Terry Fontenot: Quarterback ‘a top priority for us this offseason’ | NFL.com

Report: Vikings aren’t willing to give Kirk Cousins a fully-guaranteed contract | Pro Football Talk

NFL teams inquired about trade for Bears’ Justin Fields during 2024 Senior Bowl, per report | CBSSports.com

Report: Deshaun Watson set to start throwing again in March | Pro Football Talk

WR Nelson Agholor returning to Ravens on 1-year extension | ESPN.com

2024 NFL draft rankings: Mel Kiper’s Big Board, best prospects | ESPN.com

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