Broncos’ Tim Patrick Suffers Torn Achilles
5:55pm: Patrick has indeed suffered a complete tear of the Achilles, per Mike Klis of 9News in Denver (via Twitter). The injury will knock Patrick out for the entire 2023 campaign.
1:50pm: Tim Patrick was expected to play a significant role in the Broncos’ offense this year after missing all of last season. Instead, the veteran wideout appears to have suffered another massive injury. 
The 29-year-old is believed to have suffered a torn Achilles, head coach Sean Payton said on Monday (Twitter link via NFL Network’s James Palmer). If that does turn out to be the case, it will mark a crushing blow for Patrick and the second consecutive year in which he loses a campaign to a major injury.
The former UDFA tore his ACL almost exactly one year ago, and he was sidelined for the 2022 season as a result. That injury occurred in his right leg, while this latest one affects his left. Patrick was carted off the field during practice, and he was seen on crutches when entering the locker room. At a minimum, he could be facing another extended absence to start the year, which would further delay his attempt to return to his pre-injury form.
Patrick put up almost identical statlines in 2020 and 2021, averaging 52 catches and 738 yards per season. He scored 11 touchdowns over that span, making him a full-time starter alongside Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton. Each of the latter two were mentioned frequently in trade talks this offseason, but the team has remained insistent that they will not be moved. Missing Patrick for, potentially, another full season would add to Jeudy and Sutton’s workloads in a passing attack which desperately needs improvement from last year.
The Broncos made a slight trade up the board to select Marvin Mims with their top pick in this year’s draft, giving them another young pass-catcher. Missing Patrick – along with KJ Hamler, who has battled injuries throughout his career and is currently on the NFI list – for any extended stretch could thrust Mims into an immediate starting role. Growing pains during his rookie season could hinder the effectiveness of Denver’s offense during Sean Payton‘s first year at the helm.
Further evaluation will be needed to determine if Patrick has been faced with another lengthy rehab process. If that does turn out to be the case, his future with the team could be put in doubt. The Utah product is due $5.5MM in guaranteed money this season, but none of his compensation in 2024 (the final year of his deal) is guaranteed. Patrick is set to count for just over $11MM in cap space this year, though an IR stay would obviously change the Broncos’ financial outlook at the receiver spot.
Cowboys RB Ronald Jones Issued Two-Game Suspension
The Cowboys’ running back depth chart will be thinned out to begin the season. Ronald Jones received a two-game suspension on Monday, as noted (on Twitter) by ESPN’s Field Yates. 
The NFL announced that the ban was handed down due to a PED violation. That will cost Jones two weeks of pay, and make him ineligible to join Dallas’ active roster until Week 3. He is able to remain with the team during practices and the preseason, though today’s news will certainly not help his chances of surviving roster cuts in advance of the season.
The 25-year-old signed a one-year deal not long after Ezekiel Elliott was released. That opened the door to the former earning the backup role behind Tony Pollard, but Jones saw very limited usage in 2022. He spent the season with the Chiefs, receiving only 18 total carries. Despite dressing for Kansas City’s Super Bowl victory, he was not used during the title game. That hurt his value on the open market, one which has seen a number of experienced backs struggle to find long-term commitments.
The former second-rounder spent his first four seasons in Tampa Bay, but he never saw more than 192 carries in a single season. His largest workload came in 2020, when he posted career-highs in rushing yards (978), touchdowns (seven) and efficiency (5.1 yards per carry). His 309 receiving yards from the previous campaign demonstrated his abilities as a pass-catcher, but Leonard Fournette operated as the Buccaneers’ lead back for each of the past two seasons.
The (at least temporary) loss of Jones will test Dallas’ backfield depth. Pollard – who received the $10.1MM franchise tag after turning down at least one multi-year offer from the team – is in line to operate as the focal point of the Cowboys’ ground game. Not much experience is in place behind, him, though, and sixth-round rookie Deuce Vaughn could be in line for a notable role. Of course, a signing could come about as a result of today’s news.
A slew of veteran backs are still on the open market, including Elliott (with whom a Cowboys reunion has not been entirely ruled out), Fournette, Kareem Hunt and J.D. McKissic. How much interest Dallas shows in making a move at the RB spot will be worth watching in the coming days.
Dolphins Activate LT Terron Armstead From PUP List
Terron Armstead‘s stint on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list has been short-lived. The Dolphins left tackle was activated on Monday, as noted by a team announcement.
Head coach Mike McDaniel had expressed confidence that Armstead would be cleared to return to practice shortly after arriving at camp, and his activation will be a welcomed sign given his importance to the team’s offensive line. The former Saints mainstay delivered a strong season in 2022, his first with the Dolphins after signing a five-year, $75MM deal with Miami.
Injuries have been a mainstay in Armstead’s career, however, and that continued last season. A pectoral injury was one of many ailments the former third-rounder dealt with, and he was limited to 13 regular season games played. He was able to suit up for Miami’s playoff loss, though, and he earned a fourth career Pro Bowl nod. His health and performance will play a vital role in determining the Dolphins’ ability to repeat their success of last season.
Armstead underwent a cleanup procedure on his knee during the offseason, McDaniel noted. His recovery from that surgery led to his placement on the PUP list last week, and he did not take the field today. Still, his activation means he has been cleared to return, and he will have plenty of practice time in the build-up to his 11th NFL campaign and second in South Beach.
Miami restructured the contracts of many of their highest-paid players this offseason. That included re-working Armstead’s deal, and as a result his 2023 cap hit will be just over $9.2MM. His impact on the team’s capsheet will jump to $20.6MM in each of the three campaigns after that, however, so continued strong play will be vital for team and player for the foreseeable future. In the immediate term, though, the Dolphins’ top lineman is back in place on the blindside.
Panthers To Sign LB Deion Jones
2:28pm: Jones’ visit has produced an agreement. He will sign a one-year deal with the Panthers, reports ESPN’s Adam Schefter (Twitter link). Jones will return to the NFC South while attempting to remain healthy and boost his free agent value ahead of next offseason.
12:12pm: One of the top remaining free agent linebackers is set to meet with a potential new team. Deion Jones will visit the Panthers later today, reports Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link). 
Jones is quite familiar with the NFC South, having spent the first six-plus years of his career in Atlanta. He showcased his playmaking skills early in his career, earning his lone Pro Bowl nod in 2017 and remaining productive through most of his Falcons tenure. 2022 was a year in which the team looked to move on from many of its largest financial commitments, though, and an injured Jones was dealt to the Browns in October.
The 28-year-old agreed to remove the final year of his contract upon arrival in Cleveland, making his brief Browns stint an audition ahead of free agency. Jones joined a team which suffered numerous season-ending injuries at the LB spot, but he still saw the field for only 59% of defensive snaps – by far the lowest total of his career. He racked up 44 tackles, 2.5 sacks and an interception during 11 games in Cleveland.
To date, the only team other than the Panthers known to have hosted Jones was the Giants, having done so in April. The former second-rounder remains unsigned well into training camp, but he could serve in at least a rotational capacity in his next home while attempting to rebuild his value. Carolina could stand to add depth at the second level.
The Panthers have Shaq Thompson – who re-did his deal this offseason to keep him on the books through 2024 – and Frankie Luvu at the top of their LB depth chart. The latter is entering a contract year, and the team is lacking experienced depth options aside from Kamu Grugier-Hill. Jones, who has eclipsed 100 tackles five times in his career, could add a proven playmaker to the mix.
With more than $20.5MM in cap space, Carolina is in better financial shape than most teams with respect to adding free agents. Some of that total could be aimed at acquiring an edge rusher, something the team was connected to earlier in the offseason. The nature of Jones’ visit will influence the Panthers’ interest as he seeks a deal ahead of the 2023 campaign.
Colts RB Zack Moss Suffers Broken Arm
Much of the attention around the league is currently aimed at one Colts running back, but another has encountered a signficant setback. Zack Moss suffered a broken arm and is set to miss roughly six weeks (Twitter link via NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo). 
The 25-year-old began his career in Buffalo, seeing a healthy workload in his two full seasons with the team. Operating behind starter Devin Singletary in particular, and on a team which does not rely heavily on running backs in general, Moss saw 208 carries between 2020 and 2021. He parlayed that into 826 yards (on an average of just under four per carry) and eight touchdowns, but his time with the Bills came to an end last season.
Moss was part of the trade which saw Nyheim Hines dealt from Indianapolis to Buffalo at the trade deadline, setting up the Utah product for a fresh start. His usage increased upon arrival with the Colts, a team which finished the year without former rushing champion Jonathan Taylor in the lineup. Moss averaged 4.8 yards per carry and scored one touchdown in eight Colts games to close out the campaign.
The 25-year-old is set to operate as Taylor’s primary backup this season, the final one of his rookie contract. Today’s news puts his Week 1 availability in doubt, however, so it will be interesting to see if the team aims to make a depth addition amidst the uncertainty surrounding Taylor’s future. The Colts’ other backs include former UDFA Deon Jackson, ex Rams seventh-rounder Jake Funk and fifth-round rookie Evan Hull.
Moss will now turn his attention to recovery, while the Colts attempt to ensure Taylor will be available to handle his standard workhorse role at the start of the season. Missing both backs for any length of time would deal a signficant blow to the team’s ground game, something which will be particularly important if rookie QB Anthony Richardson is handed the reins early in the campaign.
Saints To Sign DE Kyle Phillips
After spending the past season out of the NFL, Kyle Phillips has found a new home. The defensive end has agreed to a deal with the Saints, as noted (on Twitter) by Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football. 
[RELATED: Saints DE Zuniga Retires]
Phillips joined the Jets as a UFDA in 2019, and he carved out a considerable role for himself as a rookie. He started four of 15 games played, logging a snap share of 53%. The Tennessee alum was credited with four sacks and 17 pressures by PFF that year, earning him an overall grade of 66. His follow-up campaigns were not as productive, however.
In both 2020 and 2021, Philips was limited to just seven games played. An ankle injury suffered in the former campaign shut him down for the remainder of the season, one in which his playing time dropped considerably. The 26-year-old’s snap share rose again in 2021, checking in at 47%, but he managed only one sack, along with 13 pressures and the same number of tackles for loss between his final two seasons in New York.
The Jets have invested heavily on the edge in recent years, signing Carl Lawson to a $45MM deal in 2021 and using first-round picks on pass rushers (Jermaine Johnson and Will McDonald) in each of the past two drafts. It thus comes as little surprise that Phillips’ return to the league will see him head elsewhere. In New Orleans, he will look to again earn a rotational role.
The Saints’ edge room is led by Cameron Jordan, who recently indicated he is not eyeing retirement any time soon. New Orleans lost former first-rounder Marcus Davenport in free agency, but the team still has another ex-Day 1 pick (Payton Turner) in the fold. Carl Granderson, Tanoh Kpassagnon and second-round rookie Isaiah Foskey represent the other pass-rushers Phillips will compete with in training camp. A return to the form of his rookie season could not only earn the latter a 53-man roster spot but also provide the Saints with an effective depth contributor.
Panthers Waive DT Bravvion Roy
A relatively recent Panthers draftee with connections to ex-head coach Matt Rhule has been let go. The team announced on Monday that defensive tackle Bravvion Roy has been waived. 
Roy was drafted in 2020 as one of several players with a history of playing under Rhule at Baylor. He flashed considerable pass-rushing potential in his final college season in particular, with 5.5 sacks and 13 tackles for loss. That production did not translate to the NFL level, however.
The former third-rounder recorded only one sack and three TFLs across 45 games in Carolina, where he primarily played in a rotational capacity. Roy started nine games as a rookie, but only six contests after that, and his snap share in 2021 and ’22 (31% and 34%, respectively) was noticeably lower than his debut campaign. A hamstring injury led to an IR stint last season and limited him to 13 games played.
With Frank Reich having been installed as Rhule’s full-time replacement, it comes as little surprise that a player added in part for his connections to the latter is being let go. Derrick Brown is in place as the anchor of the Panthers’ defensive line, and the team inked Shy Tuttle to a three-year, $19.5MM deal in free agency. That will give Carolina a starting tandem at the DT spot similar to the Brown-Matthew Ioannidis duo which was used last year. The team has several candidates to assume Roy’s second-team snaps.
The 26-year-old will now hit the waiver wire, giving teams the chance to provide him with a fresh start. If he goes unclaimed, he will seek out an opening as training camps continue. With the roster spot opened up by Roy’s departure, fellow D-lineman LaBryan Ray was signed. The latter signed a futures deal with the Patriots in January, but was released soon after and played in the XFL. He will aim to see regular season NFL action for the first time this fall in Carolina.
Vikings, Danielle Hunter Agree To One-Year Deal
The Vikings and pass rusher Danielle Hunter are in agreement on a new one-year contract, as Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com report (via Twitter). The deal will pay Hunter $17MM in guaranteed money, and he can push that number as high as $20MM (an ESPN report notes that Hunter can earn the extra $3MM via sack incentives). Minnesota has also agreed that it will not put the franchise or transition tag on him next offseason.
We heard just yesterday that Hunter was on the trade block, which was the second time this offseason that his name had cropped up in trade rumors. Still, the Vikings are hoping to make another playoff run in 2023, and after trading Za’Darius Smith in May, trading or releasing Hunter would have left the club rather thin in the edge rush department.
In 2022, Hunter — who skipped OTAs and mandatory minicamp and who may have been “holding in” for the first several days of training camp as he pursued a new deal — recorded 65 tackles and 10.5 sacks while finishing as Pro Football Focus’ seventh-best edge defender out of 119 qualifiers. That performance led to the third Pro Bowl nod of his career.
The LSU product, who was still playing on the five-year, $72MM contract he signed in 2018 (before he earned his first Pro Bowl bid), had watched the pass rusher market explode in subsequent years. So, after posting 14.5 sacks in 2018 and 2019, and after his similarly strong 2022 campaign, it makes sense that the $5.5MM that Hunter was due to earn in 2023 was not particularly appealing to him.
On the other hand, the Vikings’ retience to reward Hunter with a long-term accord that would have placed him near the top of the edge market is also justifiable, as Hunter missed the entire 2020 season with a neck injury and was limited to only seven games in 2021 due to a torn pectoral muscle. The compromise that player and team have struck will give Hunter a handsome raise this year and will give him a chance to hit the open market in 2024 while also allowing Minnesota to secure the talents of an elite pass rusher without jeopardizing its future financial flexibility.
Hunter and free agent acquisition Marcus Davenport will operate as the Vikings’ primary outside linebackers. Davenport, who has dealt with his fair share of recent injury troubles, will also be eligible for free agency next offseason. After recording just a half-sack in his final year with the Saints in 2022, Davenport opted for a one-year pact with Minnesota to rebuild his value (although he will still earn at least $10MM this season).
Colts Considering Placing RB Jonathan Taylor On NFI
9:45pm: The craziness continues straight out of the workhorse’s mouth as Taylor has weighed in himself on the recent reports, tweeting out that he “never had a back pain” and “never reported a back pain.”
This could be a case of reporters running amok with a story that got out of hand without confirmations or reliable sources. It could also be some damage control from Taylor, who likely realizes the financial ramifications of being placed on the NFI list.
If Taylor’s refutation is false, one would assume there would be medical records from the team’s training staff noting the back pain as a concern. And, in order to move him to the NFI list, one would assume there would need to be documentation detailing that it happened away from the team.
If Taylor never did report back pain, this could be an inside look at the tactics the team is willing to go to in order to gain leverage in a negotiation in which it already has all the power. Speculation aside, Taylor’s response through unmediated channels is further confirmation that this relationship may be deteriorating beyond repair. And fast.
8:30pm: In a wild continuation of a situation seemingly full of pettiness, the Colts have reportedly considered placing star running back Jonathan Taylor on the non-football injury list, according to Mike Chappell of FOX59/CBS4 Sports. Things have gotten rather contentious between Taylor and the organization lately, and if the team were to pull off this transaction, the situation would only get rockier. 
Taylor has been involved in the recent conversations pertaining to the decline of the running back market, and anticipating his future active role in the situation, Taylor made it clear that he wants to begin discussions on a new deal with Indianapolis. With team owner Jim Irsay making it clear that no extension offer has been made yet, nor does he have any current intention to offer an extension, Taylor formally requested a trade. Irsay has planted his heels in the ground, expecting Taylor to honor his rookie contract, but with no indication of good faith negotiations, Taylor felt the need to stay ahead of the eight ball.
Currently, Taylor is on the team’s physically unable to perform list. He’s still rehabilitating from an ankle surgery he underwent in January, and he came into training camp complaining of back pain. Because he began experiencing the back pain while working out on his own in Arizona, it was deemed to be a pre-existing issue, stemming from outside organized football activities. This grants the team the option of moving Taylor from the PUP list to the NFI list.
That may not seem super significant as you continue to see PUP and NFI placements here and there on our Minor NFL Transactions posts, but in a volatile situation in which money is a key point of contention, this move would be a clear escalation from the Colts’ brass. Once the season begins, if a player remains on the PUP list, the team continues to pay that player for time missed. If a player is instead on the NFI list, having suffered an injury away from team-organized events, the team is able to withhold any amount of pay it chooses, up to the player’s full base salary.
According to Nick Korte of OvertheCap.com, it may not end there. The current collective bargaining agreement reportedly “opens up a path for his contract to be tolled,” something only available for NFI players in a contract year. Taylor can avoid this by returning to action by the sixth game of the regular season. The CBA also “opens up a path (for Taylor) to fail to accrue a season in 2023.” This would mean that, instead of entering the offseason as an unrestricted free agent, he would be a restricted free agent.
Moving Taylor to the NFI becomes an immediate message to the young running back: Not only are we not sure we want to pay you in the future, we’re not even sure we want to pay you now. A year removed from having led the NFL in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns, it seems insane to be this dismissive to a player asking to work towards a future together. The team has yet to make the move, but it’s become clear that the two sides are nowhere near a path that leads to resolution anytime soon.
Offseason In Review: New York Giants
The Joe Schoen regime’s first offseason did not feature splash moves, with cap issues limiting the GM last year. After a surprise voyage to the NFC’s divisional round, the Giants became far more active this year in making moves that will shape their long-term future. For the most part, the team’s core players are now locked down. Though, more headlines came the team’s way because of the pillar that exited the offseason without an extension.
Re-signings:
- Daniel Jones, QB: Four years, $160MM ($81MM guaranteed)
- Saquon Barkley, RB: One year, $10.1MM ($10.1MM guaranteed)
- Darius Slayton, WR: Two years, $12MM ($4.9MM guaranteed)
- Jamie Gillan, P: Two years, $4MM ($1MM guaranteed)
- Jihad Ward, OLB: One year, $1.5MM ($500K guaranteed)
- Matt Breida, RB: One year, $1.4MM ($500K guaranteed)
- Casey Kreiter, LS: One year, $1.32MM ($353K guaranteed)
- Oshane Ximines, OLB: One year, $1.18MM ($200K guaranteed)
- Sterling Shepard, WR: One year, $1.32MM
- Jarrad Davis, LB: One year, $1.18MM
- Isaiah Hodgins, WR (RFA tender)
Faced with one of the more fascinating decisions in the franchise tag era, the Giants made no secret of their stance adjustment on Jones. Schoen passed on the Dave Gettleman-era draftee’s $22.4MM fifth-year option in 2022. Picking that up would have brought an easier route for the Giants, but the former No. 6 overall pick was coming off an injury-limited season and had not justified such an investment at that point. With Jones becoming the first quarterback to re-sign with a team that had declined his fifth-year option, he exerted the leverage the March franchise tag deadline gave him. At the end of that journey: a payday that would have been unimaginable a year ago.
By not picking up Jones’ option and letting Barkley play out his, the Giants entered March with both unsigned. They ended up navigating this scenario in the same way the 2020 Titans did, re-signing the quarterback and tagging the running back. But the Ryan Tannehill–Derrick Henry situation did not produce half the headlines the Giants’ Jones-Barkley proceedings did.
In the fall, the team first identified Barkley as an extension candidate, beginning bye-week negotiations and offering an extension worth more than $12MM per year. No Jones negotiations took place at that point, with the new Big Blue regime wanting to see more. After Jones piloted a Giants offense stripped of non-Barkley skill-position talent to the franchise’s first playoff win since Super Bowl XLVI, Schoen and Co. changed course. Jones became the priority and was set to receive an expensive franchise tag ($32.4MM). Barkley’s superior talent notwithstanding, the two-time Pro Bowl running back’s positional value dropped him in the team’s queue. This set up a high-stakes stretch leading up to the March 7 deadline to tag players.
Rumored to be aiming for a deal south of $40MM per year, the Giants saw their quarterback change agents and come in with a $47MM-AAV ask once talks heated up in the winter. After a lack of progress in the days leading up to the deadline, the Giants talked Jones down to $40MM per year. Beating the deadline buzzer on this extension allowed them to tag Barkley, completing step one of a seminal offseason itinerary. While that set off another high-profile negotiation that would play out in the coming months, Jones successfully negotiated the same contract parameters Matthew Stafford and Dak Prescott received and did so coming off a season in which he threw only 15 touchdown passes.
The Eli Manning heir apparent transforming his value to this degree made for one of the most interesting contractual sagas in recent memory. Jones, 26, had shown promise as a rookie under Pat Shurmur. His 24 TD passes — in a 12-start season — still rank fifth for a rookie. But Joe Judge‘s tenure, which largely placed Jason Garrett at the controls on offense, ended up setting Jones back. The Duke product combined for 21 TD passes in 25 starts from 2020-21, and his midseason neck injury in the latter season led to one of the worst stretches in Giants history. Although the team’s 9-7-1 response to that benefited Jones more than anyone, the Giants are making a reasonable bet on a player they were seemingly ready to discard at this time last year.
Factoring in rushing impact, QBR viewed Jones as having made tremendous strides under Brian Daboll. Despite increasing receiver limitations and a basement-level tight end situation, Jones ranked sixth in that metric. His 708 rushing yards boosted a team in need of viable non-Barkley help moving the chains, and it will be interesting to see how Jones performs in Daboll’s offense with an improved pass-catching corps.
This contract also gives the Giants a reasonable out after two years. They would be on the hook for barely $9MM in dead money if they designated Jones a post-June 1 cut in 2025. And the subsequent deals for Jalen Hurts, Lamar Jackson and Justin Herbert did bump the Jones contract down to 11th at the position. Still, Jones is a bit on this deal is a different than having him on rookie money. While it would have been interesting to see if another team would have been willing to give him $40MM per year on the open market, the Giants did not wish to chance that.
Barkley’s tag became one of many events in a crushing offseason for the running back position. The throughline from Mike Shanahan‘s brigade of post-Terrell Davis 1,000-yard backs to the gridlock atop the market following Christian McCaffrey‘s 2020 agreement has led to an overdue spotlight shining on this position’s place in the modern game. At the end of 2023’s carnage, the RB position is at maybe its most unstable point in history.
The Giants not coming to an agreement with Barkley certainly puts this relationship at risk of falling apart after 2023. But the team will have a chance to use the most talented back in its near-100-year history for at least one more season. The Giants will have a chance to tag Barkley again, at barely $12MM, in 2024. Will the 26-year-old RB remain in the picture by that point?
After shaking off a three-year stretch of injuries, Barkley provided great value on a $7.22MM fifth-year option salary by powering the Giants to the playoffs. While the Giants have not been able to utilize Barkley’s pass-game talents on the level his rookie year brought, he gained a career-high 1,312 rushing yards and was by far the most talented Giants skill player. Barkley stayed healthy throughout the season, but after the fall talks did not come close to producing a deal, the Giants ended up pulling their second offer — worth roughly $13MM per year — after tagging him. Four months later, Barkley will play the season for the $10.1MM tag salary (feat. a small incentive package with lofty benchmarks).
Barkley blasted the Giants for leaks that made him look greedy, when the fall and winter offers included low guarantees. Once the team finally moved up to the $22MM guarantee level that represented the cost of two franchise tags, the backfield staple was annoyed that increase came with an AAV decrease south of $12MM. Despite the parties being close to a deal, the Giants making the late move to reduce the AAV led to Barkley passing. Barkley’s No. 2 overall draft slot and fifth-year option money moved his career earnings past $38MM, which would have given him interesting leverage to use a Le’Veon Bell-like absence as evidence — on a Giants team still bereft of dependable skill players elsewhere — of RB value while preserving his body for what could be a last-chance free agency run in 2024. Barkley’s bluff on this front did not translate to even a training camp holdout, illustrating the power the tag gave the Giants.
With the Giants free to use Barkley as they please, this tag season could tank his stock — through either an injury or a third 350-plus-touch year — and leave him in a tough spot on what looks like another crowded free agent market. That is, if the Giants let Barkley reach free agency in 2024. With Miles Sanders receiving $13MM guaranteed from the Panthers, Barkley will bet on himself this year in hopes a reasonable guarantee figure will await him on the market in 2024.
Shepard is the Giants’ longest-tenured player, but his injury history and having re-signed for no guaranteed money makes the Slayton transaction more pertinent for the 2023 Giants. Although Jones and Barkley zoomed into this regime’s good graces after down 2021 offerings, Slayton’s turnaround with the organization may have been more surprising.
The Giants buried Slayton on their depth chart going into his contract year and then slashed his pay, stripping away the proven performance escalator money he earned, before the season. But the slew of issues to affect the team’s receiver cadre — Shepard and Wan’Dale Robinson‘s ACL tears, Kadarius Toney‘s repeat injuries and then a give-up trade, and Kenny Golladay cementing himself as a historic free agency bust — led to Slayton climbing back into a starting role and leading the team in receiving (724 yards). The Giants are deeper at wide receiver this year, but with Robinson not a lock to begin the season on time, Slayton (three 700-yard years) could still find himself opening the season as Jones’ top wideout.
Trades:
- Sent third-round pick (No. 100) to Raiders in exchange for TE Darren Waller
In betting Jones will grow with better pass catchers, the Giants are wagering Waller will shake off the injury trouble that plagued him in Las Vegas. Waller, who will turn 31 in September, missed 14 games over the past two years. The Pro Bowl tight end’s injuries eventually caused the Raiders to cut bait. For a Giants team that has not employed a difference-making tight end in maybe 16 years (Jeremy Shockey?), this is a bet worth making. The pick obtained for Toney is a reasonable price to pay for a dynamic player like Waller.
Unlike Shockey, Waller has delivered a 1,000-yard season. In fact, the ex-Ravens wide receiver is one of just eight tight ends with two 1,100-yard years. Waller saved the Raiders when their Antonio Brown trade preceded a spectacular combustion, going from Jon Gruden-era flier to cornerstone piece in Derek Carr‘s final stretch with the franchise. In his most recent healthy season, Waller ripped off 107-catch, 1,196-yard, nine-TD performance.
Of course, that came three years ago. Since, Waller has dealt with ankle, IT band and hamstring problems. Waller missing eight games due to a hamstring issue — weeks after the Raiders made him the NFL’s highest-paid tight end, at $17MM per year — last year frustrated some in the organization. But he has a clear opportunity in New York. The Raiders had transitioned to a Davante Adams-centered aerial attack. While the Giants took a quantity-based approach at receiver, no No. 1-type wideout — at least, no known commodity — exists on this depth chart. Waller will enter the year as the most likely passing-game centerpiece.
Waller’s 2022 extension did not feature lofty guarantees, which gave the Raiders an easy out. The Giants will only be tagged with $2.5MM in dead money if they designate Waller a post-June 1 cut in 2024. This is a relatively low-risk proposition for Big Blue. Waller did show flashes after coming back from his hamstring issue in December; when healthy, he presents the capability to give the Giants a weapon that would accelerate Jones’ development.
Extensions and restructures:
- Signed LT Andrew Thomas to five-year, $117.5MM extension ($67MM guaranteed)
- Gave DT Dexter Lawrence four-year, $90MM deal ($46.5MM guaranteed)
- Restructured TE Darren Waller‘s deal, creating $7.87MM in cap space
In an offseason that has placed Barkley in a late-’90s George Costanza-like position, when the Susan Ross Foundation continued to unveil other financial plans regarding her estate, Thomas and Lawrence have joined Jones in receiving windfalls. How the Giants proceeded this year doubles as a decent encapsulation for positional value in the NFL. Beyond the reality of the Giants taking care of higher-value players and letting their running back stay on the tag, two more Gettleman-years breakthrough players are under contract for at least five more seasons. Thomas’ deal, in particular, could age very well for the team.
