New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen is bruised and battered from all of the hits he has taken after letting Saquon Barkley and Xavier McKinney go, watching them have great 2024 seasons, and watching the team he is responsible for sink to 3-14.
It is possible that the upcoming free agency of Giants edge defender Azeez Ojulari could provide Schoen with another black eye.
Schoen had the opportunity to trade the 24-year-old Ojulari at the 2024 NFL trade deadline. He was, by many, expected to do just that. Schoen listened to offers but reportedly had a minimum price of a fifth-round pick that he would accept in exchange. He did not get it, and ended up hanging on to Ojulari.
The problem is that Schoen may have a difficult time keeping Ojulari from signing elsewhere. Ojulari provides something every team in the NFL wants more of — pass rush.
Ojulari has 22 sacks in 46 career games, covering 1,825 defensive snaps. For comparison, Kayvon Thibodeaux has 21 sacks in 43 games, but has played 2,314 snaps — roughly 500 more than Ojulari.
Despite the reality that Ojulari has missed 22 games over four seasons due to injuries, there should be a market for the 24-year-old pass rusher. I was surprised to see in the initial Pro Football Focus free agent rankings for the upcoming offseason that Ojulari was only estimated to receive a one-year, $5 million contract on the open market.
With Thibodeaux and Brian Burns in the fold and taking up significant financial resources, Schoen and the Giants could likely handle that type of deal. I still believe, though, that there will likely be teams able to offer both more money and more playing time than will be on the table with the Giants.
Reasons to keep Ojulari
Like every other team in the league, the Giants need more pass rushers. Ojulari is a good one, with upside. It is true that Ojulari’s supporting numbers like pass-rush win rate and pressure rate don’t match up to his sack production, but sacks get pass rushers noticed. And paid. Thibodeaux and Burns cannot play every snap. Depth is important, and Ojulari could provide both that and the ability for defensive coordinator Shane Bowen to find creative ways to get him on the field in pass rush situations.
If the Giants lose Ojulari, they will be looking for someone to fill his role.
On top of bring a good player, Ojulari has always seemed to like being a Giant. The team drafted him, albeit that was done by the previous regime, and keeping him in house would likely be well-received in the locker room.
Reasons to let him go
The biggest one is that Ojulari simply cannot seem to stay healthy. Over the past three seasons he has played in only 29 of 51 regular season games. As a former Giants GM once said, injured guys get injured.
The verdict
Keep him … if they can. If all it takes is one year at $5 million, they can — and probably should — do that.
