David Kanter asks: All things considered, including 2025 edge contracts being inked, do you think Brian Burns contract is a good one?
Ed says: David, I do not have a problem with the Burns contract.
I know you can look at the sack numbers and say 8.5 isn’t enough for a player with the fourth-highest average salary per year among edge defenders. There is, though, so much more than sack numbers that should be considered.
When do many sacks occur? In the fourth quarter when teams are passing because they are trailing and are desperate. How often is a pass rusher on a 3-14 team in that situation?
Burns is a tremendous player, whatever the stats say. He played much of last season with a groin injury. It is amazing he was as productive as he was and played as much as he did the way he was dragging himself around.
He is a locker room leader and an example for his teammates. He has only two years of guaranteed money left on his deal, and he will be only 27 this year. He is in his prime. He is the kind of player at a premium position that you spend money on.
Brennan Lyons asks: Is there an NFL rule prohibiting a team from giving non-first round picks (I.e. a second round QB) a fifth-year option the same or similar to the one all first rounders get? I assume there is simply because I don’t recall ever hearing about it, but just to confirm?
Ed says: Brennan, only first-round picks have fifth-year options as part of their rookie contracts. That is why you may see team trade up late into the first round for a quarterback. That fifth-year option can be really valuable to control costs for an additional season.
Robert Colot asks: Should the Giants use an early draft pick to get an offensive tackle? The Thomas foot injury worries me since some people don’t fully recover from that injury. Neal is obviously not the answer at right tackle.
Ed says: Robert, that’s a tricky question to answer. They have Andrew Thomas and Jermaine Eluemunor as starters, and signed James Hudson III to be the swing tackle. We don’t know if they will be surrendering draft picks to move up for a quarterback. What I would like to see them do is draft a developmental tackle in the middle rounds. Eluemunor has only one year left on his contract, so getting a potential 2026 replacement for him in this draft would be a good idea.
John Urbielewicz asks: I think the tank has begun starting with free agency. No Milt Williams, DJ Reed, Johnathan Allen. Instead we splash with Robertson-Harris, Board, and Golston, all with below average PFFs. Come on, what are we doing?
Ed says: John, first of all we know the Giants don’t tank. Remember John Mara addressing that after the season? Second of all, let’s be realistic.
What the Giants are doing is building a 90-man roster. Cornerback Paulson Adebo is a top of the market signing. Safety Jevon Holland is a top of the market signing. Not every signing can be for a player at the top of the market. Bringing back Darius Slayton is an excellent move.
Chauncey Golston is a good player who will have a key role for the Giants defense. Roy Robertson-Harris and Chris Board are depth signings, but, newsflash, they come in spots where the Giants did not have depth a season ago. Same with offensive tackles James Hudson III and Stone Forsythe. The Giants did not have a real swing tackle a year ago. Now, they do.
As for Pro Football Focus scores, they are not the be-all and end-all of judging player performance.
Thomas Targonski asks: I’m writing this on the first day of free agency.
I know it will be spun in some positive way but the signings of ex-Seahawks DT Harris and ex-Brown OT Hudson are underwhelming at best. PFF grades for both are mediocre. As many have reported, I believe top free agents are avoiding joining the Giants’ mess – and who could blame them?
Ed says: Thomas, my answer is roughly the same as the one I just gave above. Not every signing can be top of the market. In terms of Roy Robertson-Harris, he is a veteran depth signing who was coached in college by Giants defensive line coach Andre Patterson. They know what he can do and signed him for a reason. As for James Hudson, if swing tackles were overwhelming they wouldn’t be swing tackles. He’s an improvement over Josh Ezeudu and Chris Hubbard, and that’s how the signing should be viewed. He is also young enough that perhaps there is still some upside.
As for top free agents avoiding the Giants, that comment was made by Amani Toomer. If it was the case, how do you explain a top of the market cornerback in Paulson Adebo and the premier safety on the market in Jevon Holland joining the Giants? How do you explain Darius Slayton, who had options, deciding to return?
I’m not going to say every one of these moves was perfect, or that they will all pay dividends. That is never the case in free agency or the draft.
Adam Leon asks: Can you please explain/justify how the NYG would pay Slayton $13M/year for 3 years yet last year they would not give Saquon roughly those same terms..?
This question is not an indictment on Slayton who has been a good Giant, but rather another example of a head scratcher by this regime.
Ed says: Adam, the Giants DID offer Barkley $13 million annually in 2023, but Barkley turned it down because he didn’t like the amount of guaranteed money in the deal. The guaranteed money offered by New York never reached the total of two franchise tags. He signed for three years, $37.75 million with the Philadelphia Eagles, but got more in guarantees than the Giants offered.
This is a quibble, but Slayton’s is $12 million annually, three years, $36 million.
Schoen did not want to pay a big money deal to a 27-year-old back with a long injury history. Barkley made him look bad in 2024, but would Barkley have made the Giants better on the field? Probably not.
Isn’t it time we moved on from the Barkley debate?
Richard Repaskyasks: Given that the Giants have the toughest schedule in 2025, what win-loss record, in your opinion, would be acceptable to John Mara for keeping Daboll and Schoen? For that matter, what record would be acceptable to you for keeping them?
Ed says: Richard, that question is impossible to answer in mid-March. I don’t know that there would ever be a hard number that means fire them if below, keep if above.
It’s about what it looks and feels like. Do they ultimately get a quarterback of the future in place who looks like a potential long-term starter? Are they competitive week-in and week-out? Do players appear bought in or tuned out? Do Schoen and Daboll appear to have learned from some past mistakes?
For me, I just have to see how the season plays out.
Ronald Lukoff asks: With the Titans and Browns both needing quarterbacks, why would they even consider trading the 1st or 2nd pick. If they are considering this, they obviously do not think to highly of Ward or Sanders. So if both teams are willing to pass on a QB (the most important position in sports), what makes us think that Ward or Sanders is the answer. With the exception of last year, the Giant draft record the previous two years was horrible.if the Giants had the 1st pick, there is no way they would trade it if they felt like a franchise QB was to be had. What are your feelings about trading up to secure one of the quarterbacks?
Ed says: Ronald, I think I have been clear for several weeks that if the Giants feel Cam Ward is the best quarterback in the class and the guy they want to build around, they should do what they deem necessary to make sure they get him. There is no price too high to pay if you get quarterback right. If you get it wrong, you get fired. But, at some point you have to take the swing.
The Titans and Browns need long-term answers at quarterback, yes. They are in different situations than the Giants, though. Each has, in my view, a little more leeway to pass on quarterback at the top of the draft than the Giants do if there isn’t one they LOVE.
Tennessee, in particular, has stated a desire to collect as many Day 1 and Day 2 draft assets as possible.
Also, scouting is not an exact science. It involves human beings and their biases, their experiences. No two scouts or teams will see any player exactly the same way. One team can love a player, while another may not. That happens all the time.
David Cynamon asks: You have frequently stated, including in this week’s mailbag answers, that the Giants’ 50-50 split ownership “complicates decisions” and “can lead to compromise decisions and a lack of clear direction.” But to all appearances, Tisch is an absentee owner who is there only for the financial side; I have never read or heard of his involvement in any football-related decisions. Can you provide any specific examples (without breaching any confidences) where Tisch’s involvement led to a “compromise decision” or a “lack of clear direction” that hurt the team’s success? My sense is that, while Mara appears to be a good person and someone who wants to do the best for the team and fans, he is too insular and too tied into the “family business” model to run a successful modern football franchise. In another words, the buck stops with him, even though he may get only fifty cents.
Ed says: David, it does seem that Steve Tisch has receded farther and farther into the background in recent years. Tisch has not been involved regularly in the football side the entire time I have covered the team, but his opinion on major changes still carries weight. As I have said, it’s an equal split in terms of finances and authority.
This goes back a while, but I don’t think John Mara wanted Tom Coughlin out after 2015. That, to my understanding, was Tisch demanding a change. I think there was also a split opinion on how long to ride with Eli Manning. We know where Mara’s loyalties were. I’m not sure Tisch was on the same page.
Douglas Mollin asks: The secondary is looking pretty solid right now, on paper at least: Adebo, Banks, Phillips, Nubin, Holland. Do you think this takes Travis Hunter off the board if he’s there at #3? Assuming Ward is gone and Sanders is not their guy, might Graham be three-worthy, to borrow a Seinfeld phrase?
Ed says: Doug, I don’t think what the Giants have done would take Hunter out of consideration in that circumstance. There have been some reports that say the Giants think Hunter will be a better NFL cornerback than wide receiver, so that might give the Giants pause. Maybe it pushes up edge defender Abdul Carter. Right now, I don’t know. For me, Mason Graham is not worth the No. 3 overall pick in a deep defensive tackle class. That doesn’t mean the Giants wouldn’t think differently.
Mark Cicio asks: Other than a veteran QB (whenever that is settled), do you see any other bigger ticket free agent signing? Any word on if they are still in the market for a high end guard?
I think building quality depth across the trenches so far has been underrated by many, as it has been an issue with us for years. Your thoughts on what they’ve accomplished there so far?
Ed says: Mark, no, I don’t foresee any more “big ticket” free agent signings. As of Friday morning, Over The Cap showed the Giants with $31 million in cap space. That, though, is without the contracts of Jevon Holland, Chris Board, Stone Forsythe, Chauncey Golston, Greg Van Roten, Aaron Stinnie and Ihmir Smith-Marsette. The real number is probably $20 million or less.
I think the Giants wanted a big-ticket guard, but after Will Fries got five years and $88 million from the Minnesota Vikings they realized guard prices are exorbitant. That’s why they brought back Greg Van Roten and Aaron Stinnie.
I like what they have done, vastly upgrading the secondary talent and adding offensive line depth. It all comes down to getting the right quarterback(s).
Brian Sheitman asks: When NBA teams trade future #1 draft picks they often place a qualifier on the pick such as “top 10 protected”. I don’t hear about this being an option for NFL teams. As a Giants fan I would be much more willing to trade a future #1 pick if I could be sure they wouldn’t miss out on a future star Quarterback that could be available at the top of the next years draft. Are you aware of any NFL rule prohibiting this practice?
Ed says: Brian, “protected picks” do not exist in the NFL. What the NFL does allow are “conditional picks.” In other words, when a trade is made a pick will be a fourth-rounder if certain conditions are met, a fifth-rounder if they are not.
Submit a question
Have a Giants-related question? E-mail it to [email protected] and it might be featured in our weekly mailbag.
