Mock offseason plan for the New York Giants

With NFL free agency beginning on Monday, rather than give you just my weekly Giants mock draft I thought this would be a good opportunity to lay out a full offseason plan for constructing the team’s 2025 roster.

A mock draft will be included, along with some salary cap moves and free agency signings. I will use the Spotrac roster manager values for cuts, restructures and signings.

Salary cap stuff

As of Friday, the Giants had $47.078 million in top-51 salary cap space, per Spotrac.

Cuts

PK Graham Gano:

2025 cap savings ($3.165 million) | Dead cap ($2.5 million)

I like Gano and he was outstanding for the Giants when healthy. But, he has not been healthy since 2022, will be 38 this season and it’s time for the Giants to try and find a younger, healthier kicker.

DT Rakeem Nunez-Roches

2025 cap savings ($3.6 million) | Dead cap ($1.433 million)
[NOTE: These are pre-June 1 cuts, giving the Giants additional money to spend in free agency].

Those two moves would bring the Giants to an estimated $53.843 million in cap space. As of right now, though, it does not seem like either move is on the horizon for the Giants.

I am not cutting inside linebacker Bobby Okereke. Whatever is going on between Okereke and the Giants, the team needs to figure it out. They can’t keep hemorrhaging good players. They have to find a way to get the kind of production from Okereke he showed in 2023 that he is capable of.

Restructures

The Giants are in reasonably good shape entering free agency with the $47 million they have to spend. The Gano and Nunez-Roches cuts I made push that above $53 million. The $47 million number is 14th in the NFL, and the $53 million would be 10th in overall cap space.

Obvious restructure candidates for the Giants would be Brian Burns, Dexter Lawrence and Andrew Thomas. Giants GM Joe Schoen has historically not restructured contracts until he was more or less out of options to save cap space, so I have my doubts that he will touch any of these contracts before free agency.

This is my offseason plan, though. I am not going to go crazy here, but I am going to restructure Burns’ deal. The 2025 cap hit on his four-year, $97.5 million contract is $29.75 million, highest on the team.

The restructure allowed by Spotrac’s management tool cuts the base salary to a minimum, uses signing bonus, adds a void year and ultimately drives the cap hit for 2025 to $12.886 million.

That is a cap savings of roughly $16.8 million that puts the Giants’ cap number at $70.707 million. As of Friday, that would put the Giants sixth in the league in cap space entering free agency.

Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

Giants’ free agents

The Giants have 20 unrestricted free agents after they re-signed long-snapper Casey Kreiter. Here are the ones I would realistically re-sign:

P Jamie Gillan (Contract: Two years, $4.5 million | 2025 cap hit: $2.295M)

[The Giants agreed with keeping Gillan, signing him to a three-year contract]

TE Chris Manhertz (Contract: One-year, $1,197,500 vet minimum deal)

[Manhertz is returning to the Giants on a one-year deal]

Edge Azeez Ojulari (Contract: Two years, $15.133 million | Signing bonus: $5.599M | 2025 cap hit: $3.97M)

[NOTE: This is a Spotrac Market Value deal]

I have doubts that the Giants will sign Ojulari. I may not have have re-signed him, either, had Harold Landry been released by the Tennessee Titans just a little bit earlier. I was too far into this to change directions. I could easily see the Giants and Landry, who played for defensive coordinator Shane Bowen in Tennessee, working out a deal. At this price, though, I will keep Ojulari rather than have to draft or buy a replacement in free agency.

PR Ihmir Smith-Marsette (Contract: One-year, $1,197,500 vet minimum deal)

Edge Tomon Fox (Contract: One-year, $1.030M ERFA deal)

[NOTE: The Giants apparently agreed with this one, since Fox signed his tender on Friday].

CB Divaad Wilson (Contract: One-year, $1.030M ERFA deal)

LB Dyontae Johnson (Contract: One-year, $960K ERFA deal)

I did not re-sign wide receiver Darius Slayton. I would like to, but I think Slayton really wants to move on and will likely find a better deal elsewhere.

All of that leaves me with $62.627 million in cap space entering free agency.

Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images

Free agency

I am not trying to construct a full 53-man roster as I do this. I will try to allocate resources to the positions of need.

Quarterback

Plan A — Russell Wilson

Let’s recognize that the momentum for the Giants signing Aaron Rodgers is increasing. I honestly believe at this point that it is going to happen, and I get it. Even at 41 and after the disastrous two seasons with the New York Jets, Rodgers is the most talented veteran quarterback on the market.

Signing him would be a desperation play by Schoen and Brian Daboll. The reality, though, is that the Giants’ decision-making duo is desperate. The last two seasons have been dreadful and if 2025 resembles them they will be looking for work when the year ends.

Rodgers is also desperate to wash away the stain on his legacy of his time with Gang Green. Rodgers might be willing to play on a one-year deal of about $25 million with a low base salary, big signing bonus to drive the cap hit down and a boatload of incentives to try and rescue his reputation and the careers of Schoen and Daboll.

After recently mocking the idea of the Giants signing Rodgers, though, I cannot put my name on a plan that endorses the Giants signing him.

So, I will turn to the 37-year-old Wilson as the next-best available option. I don’t believe Wilson is a player who can truly lift the talent around him at this point in his career. He does, though, fulfill Schoen’s mission to get better play out of the position than the Giants had a year ago.

I also think Wilson would willingly help whatever young quarterback joins him in New York.

I am not crazy about Wilson’s price tag (two years, $77.466 million, per Spotrac), but that is what I will go with here. Spotrac puts the signing bonus at $27.66 million. I am adding void years to the deal (Spotrac’s calculator doesn’t say how many — it just allows ‘add void years’). The result, per Spotrac’s calculator, is that Wilson’s 2025 cap hit would be just $6.263 million. I can live with that.

For this to happen, of course, the Pittsburgh Steelers need to be willing to move on from Wilson.

Plan B — Jameis Winston

I have said before that if the Giants are going all-in to move to No. 1 and get Cam Ward that I believe Winston would be an excellent veteran to pair with him.

Winston is far from a perfect quarterback, which is why he has been bouncing around the league in recent years. He’s prone to incredible highs and really deep lows. If you sign him and plan to play him, you just have to live with the rollercoaster ride.

Winston, though, has similarities to Ward in arm strength, play style and confidence in his ability to make throws. As a former first overall pick and a player considered to be a good teammate wherever he has gone, Winston could be an excellent mentor for Ward. He would also allow Daboll and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka to run the same offense for both quarterbacks.

A Spotrac Market Value contract for Winston is two year, $12 million.

Offensive line

Schoen made several moderately-priced moves to upgrade the line with capable veteran players a year ago. The GM has admitted that right guard is the spot that needs to be upgraded.

It’s go big or probably get fired for Schoen this offseason. With that in mind, I’m signing the player thought to be the best free agent guard on the market. That would be 27-year-old Will Fries, who spent the first four years of his career with the Indianapolis Colts.

I will give Fries a Spotrac Market Value deal of four years, $56.517 million. I will add void years. Combined with a $17.52 million signing bonus, that drives Fries’ 2025 cap hit down to just $4.674 million.

The swing tackle position seems to be a perennial issue for the Giants. I am probably trying to draft a developmental tackle who might take over for Jermaine Eluemunor at right tackle in 2026, but I am going to try to go into the season with a better plan than Josh Ezeudu/Chris Hubbard as potential replacements if Andrew Thomas is injured again.

Jedrick Wills is a guy who played right tackle in college, but was moved to left tackle by the Cleveland Browns. He never lived up to his status the 10th pick the 2020 NFL Draft. If he is willing to try to rebuild his career by accepting a swing tackle role I would jump at that.

Wills’ Spotrac Market Value is just one-year, $2.216 million. That’s nothing.

Finally, if he is willing to return as a guard-center backup I would bring Greg Van Roten back. His Spotrac Market Value is one-year, $2.23 million. Again, not hard to swallow for a quality backup.

Wide receiver

The Giants are almost certainly losing Slayton. Jalin Hyatt has yet to show that he can be a relied upon part of the receiving corps, much less take on the WR2 role opposite Malik Nabers. That makes wide receiver a sneaky need for the Giants, and one that will probably be best filled in free agency.

My big move here is one that purely revolves around the short-term nature of the situation Schoen and Daboll are in.

I am signing 31-year-old Stefon Diggs because of his familiarity and previous success with Daboll in Buffalo. I know he’s coming off a torn ACL, that he might not be quite what he once was and that he is a guy who can be vocal when he doesn’t get the ball. At a Spotrac Market Value of one-year, $13.462 million, though, I can do that. Spotrac figures the cap hit for Diggs once you factor in signing bonus to be $5.832 million. Again, palatable.

I am taking one more swing at wide receiver, as well. Josh Palmer, who will be 26 this season, has 182 receptions in four seasons with the Los Angeles Chargers. His best year was 2022, when he had 72 catches for 769 yards. He has had 33, 38 and 29 receptions his other three seasons.

At a Spotrac Market Value of three years, $12.799 million I will take a flier on the idea that Palmer might be more reliable than Hyatt. With a signing bonus of $4.864 million, Palmer’s 2025 cap hit is only $2.791 million.

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FINANCIAL UPDATE: That takes care of the offensive side of the ball. With all of those additions, I am still at $44.893 million in available cap space. The Burns restructure paid for almost all of the moves, in terms of 2025 cap space used.

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Now, let’s get to the defense.

Photo by Ric Tapia/Getty Images

Defensive line

The 2025 NFL Draft class is deep in defensive tackle talent. I think it would be unwise, though, for the Giants to simply rely on the draft to replenish an interior defensive line that doesn’t have nearly enough talent.

If the Giants want to move up to No. 1 to select Ward as their quarterback of the future, they are going to need to fork over some of their draft assets to the Tennessee Titans in exchange. So, doing what they can in free agency to get Dexter Lawrence some desperately-needed help would be wise.

Jonathan Allen was just released and chasing the 30-year-old two-time Pro Bowler is an intriguing thought. Right now I have no idea what his market value might be. Thus, I am sticking to my original plan.

I’m reuniting the Giants and B.J. Hill, signing the former Giants’ third-round pick to a Spotrac Market Value deal of two years, $18.046 million. His cap hit would be $3.781 million once a signing bonus of $5.053 million is accounted for.

I am also adding six-year veteran Teair Tart, who spent the first four years of his career with the Titans and thus is familiar with Bowen. He is a nice depth piece who comes with a price tag of one-ear, $5.089 million. Spotrac has his cap hit at $2.799 million.

For what it’s worth, those signings would not prevent me from dipping into the draft to grab another interior defender.

Cornerback

The Giants must make a big play for a quality cornerback to both take pressure off and to mentor 2023 first-round pick Deonte Banks. There are a LOT of options.

D.J. Reed makes sense. The former 49er, Seahawk and New York Jet spent the last three seasons with the Jets, where new Giants defensive backs coach Marquand Manuel was the safeties coach.

Carlton Davis of the Detroit Lions makes sense, except that the 28-year-old has missed 20 games over the past four seasons and has never played more than 14 games in a season.

Paulson Adebo makes some sense because he is a 26-year-old who is just coming into his prime and is unlikely to be as costly as some of the other options.

Byron Murphy Jr. of the Minnesota Vikings, who is coming off a career year, is another potential target. The 27-year-old would be the most expensive option, though, and it’s known that the Vikings would like to bring him back.

My choice? Charvarius Ward.

The 28-year-old seven-year veteran had a down season in 2024 with the San Francisco 49ers. It is unfair to judge him on that, though, as the midseason death of his nearly 2-year-old daughter weighed heavily upon him.

One thing I have been told about Ward is that he would like to get away from the West Coast and have a fresh start somewhere away from the things and places that remind him of his daughter.

Pro Football Focus selected the Giants as Ward’s best free-agent landing spot. PFF said:

Ward’s overall body of work speaks for itself, as he has posted strong 80.0-plus grades in both 2022 and 2023, showcasing his reliability as a top-tier cornerback.

The Giants’ secondary desperately needs reinforcements after finishing 26th in team coverage grade last season. Defensive coordinator Shane Bowen’s heavy use of Cover-3 (35.6%, eighth-highest in 2024) aligns well with Ward’s strengths. Over his career, he’s allowed just 0.83 yards per coverage snap in Cover-3, making him an ideal candidate to help revitalize New York’s defensive backfield.

Spotrac assigns a market value of three years, $45.863 million to Ward. With a $16.97 million signing bonus and void years added to Ward’s deal, his 2025 cap hit would be only $4.649 million.

Safety

The Giants have watched Julian Love and Xavier McKinney sign elsewhere the past couple of offseasons and go on to star for the Seahawks and Packers, respectively. They are likely to let Jason Pinnock go in free agency after Pinnock seemed out of place in Bowen’s defensive scheme in 2024.

Jevon Holland of the Miami Dolphins is the big fish in the free agent safety pond, but I don’t expect Schoen to change his positional value philosophy and suddenly throw gobs of money at a safety. It is, though, a position that needs to be added to.

I will do so with Talanoa Hufanga, a 26-year-old who has four years of experience with the 49ers.

Like with Ward, Pro Football Focus sees the Giants as Hufanga’s best landing spot:

After battling injuries over the past two seasons, Hufanga’s performances have dipped, culminating in a career-low 57.8 overall grade in 2024. At just 26 years old, however, the safety still has time to regain his form and showcase his playmaking ability.

The Giants, looking to stabilize their secondary, recently hired former Jets safeties coach Marquand Manuel. Manuel has had success with single-high defensive schemes, something the Giants may hope to emulate with Hufanga.

Perhaps signing two players who played together with the 49ers for the past few seasons would help smooth any transition to the East Coast.

The Spotrac Market Value for Hufanga is three years, $35.715 million. With a signing bonus of $10.358 million and no void years, his 2025 cap hit would be $4.622 million.

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FINANCIAL UPDATE: All of that leaves me with a comfortable $33.091 million in cap space heading into the season. I have not added a placekicker or considered other small, ancillary moves. With this amount of cap room, though, that should be enough to get through the season and perhaps make a significant move at some point if and when an opportunity presents itself.

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Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images

Mock draft

Round 1 (No. 1) — Cam Ward, QB, Miami

Yes, a trade up with the Titans. Every indication at this point is that either the Titans will pick Ward first overall, or they will trade down to No. 3 and the Giants will select Ward. Until something happens that changes my mind, my plan will be for the Giants to do the best they can at quarterback in free agency and then take the big swing this offseason requires for Ward.

The trade:
Giants get: Pick No. 1 (Ward)
Titans get: Picks 3 and 34, plus a 2026 second-round pick

Using the NFL Mock Draft Database simulator I could have done this deal for slightly less than that, but I think the simulator is a tad generous to the Giants here when it suggests that just 3 and 34 would be enough. So, I added the 2026 pick.

Round 3 (No. 65) — Marcus Mbow, OL, Purdue

I was hoping for a trade-down partner here to recoup an asset after giving up the 34th overall pick. I didn’t find one, and addressed the offensive line.

[Prospect Profile]

The rest of the draft

I accepted a small trade down with the Las Vegas Raiders, giving up 4.104 in exchange for 4.107, 5.144 and 6.218. Volume for a team that needs young, inexpensive depth.

Round 4 (No. 107) — Shemar Turner, DT, Texas A&M [Prospect Profile]
Round 4 (No. 134) — Dorian Strong, CB, Virginia Tech
Round 5 (No. 144) — Ollie Gordon, RB, Oklahoma State [Prospect Profile]
Round 5 (No. 155) — Hollin Pierce, OT, Rutgers
Round 6 (No. 218) — Oronde Gadsden II, TE, Syracuse
Round 7 (No. 221) — Barryn Sorrell, edge, Texas
Round 7 (No. 248) — Andres Borregales, PK, Miami