Ranking the 5 most important Giants free agent signings of the offseason

 

by Zak Musso | July 11, 2022

It’s July, which means training camp is going to get here before you know it. With the offseason rapping up, it is time to revisit just how wild the last six months have been in New York for the NY Giants.

After starting the season 4-7 a year ago, the Giants had an embarrassing stretch of incomprehensibly bad football, losing six straight games to end the season, culminating with Joe Judge having so little trust in the offense in Week 18, that he called a kneel down on third down from their own two yard line in the second quarter.

The late season debacle led to the firing of Judge and the forced retirement of the dreadful Dave Gettleman. The Giants decided to replace them by traveling to western New York, snagging the two top lieutenants of the Buffalo Bills, Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll. The Giants made countless roster changes, which includes the mass exodus of many veteran Giants players like Logan Ryan, Evan Engram and James Bradberry. It is clear the Giants roster got significantly younger, adding 11 players in the draft, all with a legitimate path to playing time in their first season.

In his first free agency class as the lead decision maker of the Giants, Schoen was not able to do much, as the Giants were in salary cap hell thanks to Gettleman’s incompetent resource management skills. Schoen did the best with the little he had to work with, and went out and added three impact players through free agency, while also adding multiple veterans to be mentors to the young roster. Here are the top 5 Giants free agent signings this offseason.

5. LS Casey Kreiter

While Kreiter is by no means a household name, re-signing him to a one year, $1.12 million contract was a no brainer for the Giants. Kreiter plays one of the more underrated positions in the NFL, long snapper, where he was a Pro Bowler in 2018 with the Denver Broncos.

Over the last two seasons, the Giants have had the worst offensive production in the NFL, so Kreiter has spent plenty of time on the field.

Kreiter has helped Giants kicker Graham Gano nail 60 of his 65 field goal attempts the last two seasons, good for a 92.3 make percentage. With about half of NFL games being decided by one score or less, every point matters.

Having a reliable long snapper with a Pro Bowl perigee is essential for any team with winning aspirations.

4. RB Matt Breida

The Giants desperately needed a veteran to back up Saquon Barkley at the running back position, and Breida is a fine choice. In his five year NFL career, Breida has rushed for 2,281 yards on 466 attempts and seven touchdowns, while catching 83 passes for 729 yards and six touchdowns. Breida averages 4.9 yards per rush attempt, which is surprisingly better than Barkley’s career 4.5 yard average.

The big difference between Breida and many veteran running backs is his electric game changing speed. His ability to catch passes out of the backfield perfectly fits Daboll and Mike Kafka’s offense, and makes him an ideal third down back if they elect to take Barkley, who is a great receiving back as well, off the field.

By playing for Daboll in Buffalo a season ago, Breida should know the offense well, potentially earning him more time on the field than if elected to sign elsewhere.

3. OL Jon Feliciano

Jon Feliciano joins a long line of Buffalo Bills players and coaches that departed this offseason to join the new look Giants. After being an important guard for Buffalo the last two seasons, Feliciano will be the Giants starting center this season, helping to anchor an offensive line that will likely feature four new starters.

Feliciano is a 6-4, 325-pound mauler who new Giants offensive line coach Bobby Johnson described as a “dirtbag,” but in a positive way. The Giants could use some physical nasty linemen, and Feliciano is the perfect choice for that.

The aforementioned Johnson was the offensive line coach in Buffalo last season. Feliciano’s familiarity with Johnson’s line sets and Daboll’s offense makes him the perfect choice to play the center position. His knowledge of the offense should help the rest of the offense get up to speed quicker, and help him develop the necessary center-quarterback chemistry with Daniel Jones.

2. Tyrod Taylor

The Giants signed Tyrod Taylor to a two-year, $17 million deal earlier this offseason. When Daniel Jones got hurt last season, the Giants offense was incapable of functioning with Mike Glennon and Jake Fromm at the quarterback position. Giants fans are well aware that if you do not have competent quarterback play, you have no chance of winning.

Tyrod Taylor is the best backup quarterback in all of football, and he is better than about five to 10 current starting quarterbacks. Taylor has thrown for 10,736 yards in his career with 59 touchdowns, while rushing for 2,001 yards, so he will be more than ready if called upon.

His playing style is similar to Jones, as both have big arms and tons of athleticism they utilize. Having similar qualities to the starting quarterback is a big asset, because the offense will not change if Jones goes down this year due to injury, like he has in parts of his first three seasons.

1. Mark Glowinski

Mark Glowinski is by far the most important free agent signing for the Giants this offseason. Glowinski, an offensive guard with Indianapolis last season, combined with All-Pro guard Quenton Nelson to form one of the best duos in the football .

Jordan Raanan, the Giants beat reporter for ESPN, perfectly illustrated what the Giants are getting in Glowinski.

“The Giants seem to be adding a dependable veteran who is an upgrade from what they had last season with Will Hernandez and Matt Skura. Glowinski hasn’t missed a game in three seasons. In 2021, he finished 34th in pass block win rate, one spot ahead of Hernandez. But he was 11th in run block win rate, light years ahead of any Giants guard. Pro Football Focus had him ranked 21st among guards. No Giant was in the Top 50. So, clearly, by any metric, Glowinski is an upgrade. This is what constitutes a significant signing for the Giants this offseason.”

While Glowinski’s ceiling may never be a Pro Bowl caliber player, he is significantly better than any other guard on the roster, and given the cap room Schoen was left with, signing Glowinski may turn out to be a steal.

Glowinski, Andrew Thomas, Jon Feliciano, and Evan Neal are four locks to start on the offensive line this season, forming what should be the Giants best offensive line of the last decade. The Giants goal for this season is ultimately to learn whether or not Jones is their franchise quarterback and signing Glowinski to help form a competent offensive line should finally give Jones time to show whether or not he is the future.