Giants news, 2/27: Combine week schedule, Saquon Barkley, Joe Schoen, more headlines

New York Giants news for Tuesday

Good morning, New York Giants fans!

NFL Scouting Combine: How to watch, workout schedule, player list, more

Before the players workout, Giants’ general manager Joe Schoen will speak to media in Indianapolis Tuesday, Feb. 27 at 10 a.m. Big Blue View will be in attendance and provide full coverage. Head coach Brian Daboll is not scheduled to speak to media.

NFL Scouting Combine live drills begin Thursday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Watch exclusively on NFL Network. The workout schedule is Thursday, Feb. 29, 3 p.m. ET for defensive linemen and linebackers; Friday, March 1, 3 p.m. for defensive backs, and tight ends;

Saturday, March 2, 1 p.m. for quarterbacks, wide receivers, and running backs and Sunday, March 3, 1 p.m. for offensive linemen.

More from Big Blue View

• Giants won’t tag Saquon Barkley, per report
• Jayden Daniels to the Giants in a pre-Combine mock from PFF
• Giants favorites to land Jaylen Waddle in trade … if he’s available
• Is Joe Schoen a good general manager?
• 2024 NFL Draft prospect profile: Jalen McMillan, WR, Washington
• 2024 NFL Draft prospect profiles: Who will be Giants?

Other Giant observations

Giants NFL combine preview: Most pressing issues facing Big Blue | New York Post

All the general managers converge in Indy for the week and there will be all sorts of in-the-shadows dialogue as the seeds of future transactions are planted. It is a bit early in the process to actually make draft-related trades. A month from now, at the NFL Owners Meeting in Orlando the last week of March, things really get cooking, as far as trade discussions.

This week, Schoen will chat with agents about what some of the Giants’ own impending free agents might be thinking. The Giants have 24 soon-to-be unrestricted free agents and they want to bring some — but not most — of them back, at the right price.

The retiring Peter King hasn’t ‘trusted’ New York Giants office until now

NFL Scouting Combine: What we’re following for all 32 teams in Indianapolis | The Athletic

There’s a lot riding on this next period of the Giants offseason after an already noisy start to the business side of things with coaching changes aplenty. But the spotlight will be tuned to Saquon Barkley’s future at the combine as the front office and the running back’s representatives are expected to meet again. Will they be able to hammer out a deal? Will he get tagged again for $12.1 million or will he finally test the open market and venture into the interesting running back market? We’ll get a clearer picture by week’s end of where the two sides stand.

NFL salary cap explodes to $255M: what it means for Giants, Jets | New York Post

From a team perspective, contracts like the early extension signed by Giants All-Pro left tackle Andrew Thomas through 2029 only should become a bigger bargain as the cap grows and contracts for comparable players get larger.

And swallowing dead-cap charges, like Giants quarterback Daniel Jones’ $22.2 million if traded or released in 2025, is more manageable when it is a smaller percentage of the overall cap.

NFL free agency: Time for Giants to sign Evan Neal’s replacement? Who are best options? | NJ.com

NFL free agency effectively starts this week, at the Scouting Combine.

The official negotiating window opens in two weeks, on March 11. But plenty of conversations between players’ agents and team executives happen this week in Indianapolis, as the groundwork for free agent contracts is laid.

Highest-graded tight ends from the 2023 NFL season: George Kittle paces the group | PFF

14. Darren Waller, New York Giants, PFF Grade: 69.4. Injuries have cost Waller 23 games over the past three seasons, including four in 2023. He still finished second on the team in catches, yards and explosive gains (12). Most of Waller’s yardage came from the short area of the field (328), and he led the Giants with 15 conversions on third and fourth downs.

Giants eyeing trade up to 1?

New York Giants QB Daniel Jones Needs to Play Like How He’s Getting Paid, Says Retired Giants Defender | Sports Illustrated

Osi Umenyiora says its time for Daniel Jones to play up to his contract:

“If you’re watching, you’re like, ‘Okay, this guy can play, you know, he is good with his feet, you know, accurate passer who can do a lot of things.’ But then you look at what happened last year, and, you know, once you get paid that amount of money as a quarterback or as a player, you can’t blame things on everybody else. You, you understand what I mean? So if you’re getting paid at the higher echelon of, of the quarterbacks—$40 million a year is a lot of money, (Jones) has to perform better than he performed last year, and he has to play the way he played in 2022.”

Giants made Patriots ‘throw up and cry’ after Super Bowl upset, new doc reveals | NJ.com

Patriots president Jonathan Kraft described the emotional reaction in the postgame locker room.

“I’m watching guys throw up and cry on the floor,” Kraft said. “I’ve never seen that. I’ve never, ever, seen that.”

Mock Drafts

NY Giants Mock Draft 2024: Our picks and predictions | The Record

In Art Stapleton’s first mock of the year, Jayden Daniels was there at No. 6. It’s a no-brainer for me. I think the Giants would view Daniels, North Carolina’s Drake Maye and Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy all as fits here.

The other picks were: Darius Robinson, Edge, Missouri and Ja’Lynn Polk, WR, Washington in the second round, Kris Jenkins, DT, Michigan, in the third, Christian Mahogany, OG, Boston College, in the fourth, Dillon Johnson, RB, Washington, in the fifth and Andru Phillips, DB, Kentucky in the sixth.

Giants NFL Draft big board: 25 players to watch in first round for positions of need | The Athletic

1. Rome Odunze, WR, Washington, 6-3, 217. Brugler’s big board ranking: No. 7 overall, third WR

The Odunze pick worked for the Giants in The Athletic beat writer mock draft, and that’s because he’s a natural pairing for the franchise thanks to his size and skill. He can secure catches in crowded areas or create explosive plays downfield — just think of what he could do alongside Darius Slayton and Jalin Hyatt while opening up space over the middle for Darren Waller and Wan’Dale Robinson. Brugler wrote that Odunze has the pass-catching instincts and competitive focus to be a high-end NFL starter, which is exactly what the Giants’ receiving corps needs.

3 draft targets Giants should watch at NFL Combine, including Malik Nabers | SNY.tv

Malik Nabers: WR, LSU

There is a real chance quarterbacks go with the first three picks in the draft. That’s not ideal for the quarterback-needy Giants, but the positive is any run on passers pushes quality players further down the draft.

It’s highly unlikely Marvin Harrison Jr. is there, but Nabers is far from a poor consolation prize. He’s 6-0, 200 pounds and caught 89 passes for 1,569 yards and 14 touchdowns last season. Nabers excels after the catch, too — an important attribute in Brian Daboll’s offense.

2024 NFL Draft: Ideal first-round picks for NFC East teams | FOX Sports

The Giants need a true No. 1 — the kind of impact receiver they haven’t had since they traded away Odell Beckham. And they can get that in this latest LSU product. The 6-foot-1, 188-pound Malik Nabers had 89 catches, 1,569 yards and 14 touchdowns in 13 games last season. He’s a game breaker, and he’s done it against some of the best defenses in the college ranks. One NFL scout told FOX Sports he might be the second or third-best player in the entire draft. He’s the kind of pick the Giants need to make if they plan to compete for the playoffs next season.

2024 NFL Mock Draft: Latest Pre-Combine Predictions For First 3 Rounds | The 33rd Team

1st Round: Malik Nabers, WR, LSU. Needing help at wide receiver and having a talent like Malik Nabers fall in your lap would be a huge boost to a Giants offense that has lacked top-end wide receiver play for years. Nabers, the most explosive receiver in this draft class, is in the same tier as Marvin Harrison Jr.

Pick 39, New York Giants: Chris Braswell, EDGE, Alabama

Pick 47, New York Giants: Bo Nix, QB, Oregon

Pick 70, New York Giants: Jeremiah Trotter Jr., LB, Clemson

Around the league

FMIA: It’s Time. Who’s Complaining? Not Me. | Peter King Announces Retirement

2024 NFL Combine: Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Marvin Harrison Jr. won’t work out this week | CBSSports.com

No franchise tags coming for running backs | Pro Football Talk

Eagles WR A.J. Brown on rumors of unhappiness in Philly: ‘I want to be here, it’s simple as that’ | NFL.com

Bengals place franchise tag on WR Tee Higgins | ESPN.com

What did NFL learn about S2 test after C.J. Stroud? ‘People in our league can’t help themselves’ | The Athletic

Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson wants to win two more Super Bowls, hopes ‘it’s in Denver’ | NFL.com

Sources – Eric Bieniemy set to be UCLA’s offensive coordinator | ESPN.com

Andy Reid contract: Chiefs expected to make 3-time Super Bowl champion highest-paid coach in NFL, per report | CBSSports.com

Recovering from torn Achilles, Vikings’ Kirk Cousins throws | ESPN.com

Chargers’ Joey Bosa says ‘expectation’ is for Jim Harbaugh to turn team around | CBSSports.com

Pittsburgh Steelers CB Patrick Peterson blasts Matt Canada | Behind the Steel Curtain

Bills’ Sean McDermott on his team winning a Super Bowl: ‘Not a matter of if, it’s just a matter of when’ | CBSSports.com

NFL appears unlikely to change rule on fumbles through the end zone | Pro Football Talk

Three underrated 2024 NFL free agents | PFF

NFL says injury rate on hip-drop tackles is 20-25 times that of other tackles | Pro Football Talk

BBV mailbag

Have a Giants-related question? E-mail it to bigblueview@gmail.com and it might be featured in our weekly mailbag.

BBV podcast

You can find and subscribe to Big Blue View radio from the show’s home page

BBV YouTube

You can find and subscribe to Big Blue View YouTube from the show’s home page

Follow BBV

BBV on Twitter: Follow @BigBlueView

Ed Valentine: Follow @Valentine_Ed

BBV on Facebook: Click here to like the Big Blue View Facebook page

BBV on YouTube: Subscribe to the Big Blue View YouTube channel

BBV on Instagram: Click here to follow our Instagram page

BBV podcasts: Click here to subscribe to BBV Radio