Will the Giants want to keep veteran blocking tight end?
On a team that went 3-14 you might need a magnifying glass to find valuable contributions from a 32-year-old blocking tight end who caught three passes in 342 offensive snaps. That is what Chris Manhertz did. Is Manhertz, an impending free agent, valuable enough for the Giants to keep him for another year?
Reasons to keep Manhertz
Manhertz is good at what he does. He does the dirty work as a sixth offensive lineman and as a special teams contributor. If you want to judge by Pro Football Focus grades, you could make the case that 2024 was his best season. His 69.3 overall 66.3 pass-blocking PFF grades were career bests, and his 63.8 as a run blocker was in line with what he has done throughout his career.
Manhertz is a durable player. He has never played less than 15 games in a season since 2017.
Finally, he is also one of those dependable “been through it all” veterans who can help a locker room, and would likely only cost the veteran minimum.
Reasons to let him go
There are really only two. If the Giants look at his age (33 in April) and want to go younger. They do have Theo Johnson, Daniel Bellinger and Greg Dulcich. The only other reason to move on would be if they really don’t value a “blocker only” tight end.
The verdict
If the New York City native wants to come back and will again play for a veteran minimum deal I would like to see him return.
