Giants Notes: OBJ, Collins, Trading Up
Now for more from the Big Blue and Gang Green:
Giants WR Odell Beckham Jr. is once again being mentioned in trade rumors, with one prominent national writer expressing his belief that OBJ will be dealt this offseason. Ralph Vacchiano of SNY.tv, though, believes the Giants would be foolish to pull the trigger. For all of his perceived character issues, Beckham is well-liked in the locker room, displays a strong work ethic, and generally holds himself accountable when things go badly. He has done and said things that the team would obviously prefer he didn’t, but on the balance, he is an irreplaceable talent, and Vacchiano believes the Giants would be well-served to simply deal with whatever distractions Beckham creates, as they have not been damaging to this point (at least not when compared to his on-field production).
- Ryan Dunleavy and Matt Lombardo of NJ.com debated a few of the most pressing issues facing the Giants this offseason. Dunleavy believes that somehow taking care of Landon Collins should be the club’s top priority, and it still seems likely that the team will put the franchise tag on him. After Collins, Dunleavy believes the next unrestricted free agent that the Giants should prioritize is cornerback B.W. Webb, while Lombardo believes the club should focus on Russell Shepard, who should not be overly expensive to retain.
- While Dunleavy and Lombardo agree that trading Beckham will hurt the Giants in the short-term, they both appear convinced that he will not see the end of his five-year contract with the team, and that trading him will be in the team’s best interest at some point in the near future.
- The Jets hold the No. 3 overall pick in the 2019, and since they already have (they think) their franchise signal-caller, they could trade that pick to a QB-needy team for a bounty of draft capital. As Vacchiano suggests, the Giants are one team that could be giving the Jets a call.
Giants Leaning Toward Keeping Eli Manning As Starter?
In the six weeks since Dave Gettleman‘s “no holds barred” conversation with Eli Manning, not much has transpired on this front.
With one fewer starting quarterback available, after the Broncos’ Joe Flacco trade agreement, the Giants represent one of the few teams with an uncertain situation atop its signal-caller depth chart. However, signs appear to be pointing toward Manning returning for at least one more season as the Giants’ starter.
All indications lead to this process ending with that conclusion, Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com notes, adding that the belief around the league is the Giants saw enough from their longtime quarterback in the second half of last season to run their 15-season situation back one more time. Several close to Manning have seen no sign the Giants are planning on parting ways with the longest-tenured starting quarterback in team history.
The Giants are doing extensive research on this year’s top quarterback prospects, per Raanan, and are more likely than not to select a passer with their first- or second-round pick.
Manning raised his completion rate (a career-high 66 percent) and yards-per-attempt figures (7.5) considerably from the past two seasons and dropped his interceptions (11) to the lowest total during his 14 seasons a full-time starter. The Giants won four of five during a midseason stretch but dropped their final three games — three of which without Odell Beckham Jr.
If Manning is on the Giants’ roster on March 15, he will receive a $5MM roster bonus. His 2019 cap figure is $23.2MM.
Beckham Jr. Could Still Be Traded
Odell Beckham Jr. signed a mega-deal this past Summer that seemed to put all of the trade rumors surrounding the young wideout to rest. But the Giants’ superstar is starting to pop up in trade buzz yet again, after another drama-filled season. The team reiterated that they were committed to Beckham longterm at their year-end press conference, but Jay Glazer of The Athletic predicts that he’ll end up getting traded this offseason.
Beckham made headlines this past season for his thinly veiled criticism of Eli Manning, and yet again for his sideline antics during games. Beckham had health issues for the second straight season, missing four games with a quad injury. If the Giants were to put him on the trade block, there’d be no shortage of trade suitors. He’s still only 26, and would likely fetch multiple early draft picks if New York finally decided to pull the trigger.
Giants Not Interested In Kyler Murray?
With Eli Manning entering a contract year and his age-38 season, the Giants will be connected to a few quarterbacks this offseason. Now that Kyler Murray has spurned baseball for the NFL draft, he may be one of them. But Big Blue is not known for non-traditional quarterback types, and one Giants source told SNY’s Ralph Vacchiano that the 5-foot-10 Murray is “probably a little too small” for the team to consider. Murray’s suitor list will become clearer as pre-draft workouts commence, but the Giants are in the thick of the market in holding the No. 6 overall pick and needing a Manning heir apparent. They appear readier to select a passer with a high draft choice this year than they were a year ago, but the Giants have been a traditional quarterback franchise. Manning is 6-foot-3. The Giants deployed 6-5 Kerry Collins and 6-3 Phil Simms. The starting passers that filled the gaps in between the franchise’s three most prominent signal-callers were also north of 6-3. So are top 2019 passing prospects Dwayne Haskins, Drew Lock and Daniel Jones. Pat Shurmur said last year he prefers taller quarterbacks.
- The Giants made another addition to their coaching staff, hiring Mike Dawson to be their outside linebackers coach. Dawson spent most of his career, including the past three seasons, at the college level. He followed Scott Frost from Central Florida to Nebraska. His lone NFL coaching experience was a three-year stay on Chip Kelly‘s Eagles staffs earlier this decade.
Giants Expected To Draft Quarterback Early?
With Eli Manning going into a contract year, and the 15-year veteran’s status not completely certain for 2019, the Giants will be connected to quarterbacks this offseason.
While the Giants could take their chances with Manning for one more season with an eye on an as-of-now-promising 2020 group of passer prospects, the team may not be willing to wait another year. The Giants are “looking hard” at this year’s crop of quarterbacks, a source informed Ralph Vacchiano of SNY, adding it would be a surprise at this point if they did not draft a signal-caller in the first two rounds.
The Giants, whose top two picks sit at Nos. 6 and 37, obviously made one of the more controversial decisions in recent draft history by taking all-world running back talent Saquon Barkley over Sam Darnold. While Barkley won offensive rookie of the year honors, the Jets have a potential long-term passer while the Giants remain without a Manning heir apparent.
Manning is still expected to return as Big Blue’s starter next season, but Vacchiano adds the franchise appears more serious about finding his successor this year than it was in 2018. The Giants entered their ’18 war room without a clear consensus on the draft’s top passer and were not blown away by any of them.
No known Manning dialogue has commenced between the Giants and Manning’s agent, Tom Condon, yet. The Giants, however, are not expected to wade into the free agency waters for a quick-fix solution, Vacchiano adds. Their 2019 starter options would appear to be Manning, who just turned 38, or a first- or second-round draft choice. Of course, the historically durable Manning could groom a younger passer chosen this year.
Dwayne Haskins, Drew Lock, Daniel Jones and perhaps Kyler Murray are the quarterbacks receiving first-round buzz this year. Next year’s crop may well include Justin Herbert, Tua Tagovailoa and Jake Fromm. The Dolphins are looking at the latter contingent; the Giants might not be.
NFC East Notes: Cowboys, Payton, Eagles
Take this with a grain of salt, but there’s an ongoing theory that the Cowboys are eyeing Saints coach Sean Payton as the eventual replacement for Jason Garrett, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. Of course, there are a number of complications and roadblocks involved in such a plan, including Payton’s contract with New Orleans, which runs through 2020.
Garrett is a lame duck heading into 2019 and the team does not plan to give him an extension between now and the fall. Of course, Garrett’s job has been in jeopardy before and he could easily turn things around with a big season in Dallas.
If the Cowboys are indeed interested in Payton, then this wouldn’t be the first time another team has tried to pry him away. The Colts and Rams reportedly explored the idea in January 2017, but Payton wound up staying put in New Orleans.
Here’s more from the NFC East:
- The Eagles may be hoping to “tag and trade” quarterback Nick Foles, but Foles’ representatives should be prepared to fight any attempt to block his path to the open market, Mike Florio of PFT writes. The QB’s camp could communicate that they won’t cooperate with the plan or they could fight it based on the rules of the CBA. Article 4 of the CBA reads: “A Club extending a Required Tender must, for so long as that Tender is extended, have a good faith intention to employ the player receiving the Tender at the Tender compensation level during the upcoming season.” Tendering Foles strictly to trade him would potentially be in violation of that clause.
- The Giants are likely going to use Eli Manning as their starting quarterback in 2019, Ralph Vacchiano of SNY opines. The Giants, he writes, are more likely to seek his heir in the draft and potentially explore a negotiation to trim his $23.2MM cap hit.
- Former Eagles quarterback G.J. Kinne has agreed to become an offensive assistant with the Eagles, Bruce Feldman of The Athletic tweets. Last year Kinne worked an analyst/assistant QB coach at Arkansas. Kinne, a Tulsa product, worked the practice squad circuit up until he was released by the Giants in May of 2016.
- The Eagles also promoted assistant wide receivers coach Carson Walch to full WRs coach, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. He takes over after the team moved on from Gunter Brewer.
Giants To Part Ways With Jonathan Stewart
Jonathan Stewart is now set for free agency. The Giants will not pick up their option on the running back, according to a source who spoke with Ralph Vacchiano of SNY (on Twitter). 
Stewart inked a two-year, $6.9MM contract with the Giants last March. After Saquon Barkley was drafted, the plan was for Stewart to serve as a change-of-pace back and sideline mentor to the former Penn State star. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned. A foot injury landed Stewart on IR in September and the team decided against activating him from IR after he returned to practice in November.
All told, Stewart played in three games last year and rushed six times for 17 yards. That’s a far cry from his best years in Carolina, including a 2015 Pro Bowl season in which he ran for 989 yards and averaged 4.1 yards per tote.
Stewart will celebrate his 32nd birthday on March 21, putting him at a tricky age for running backs. Still, if Stewart plans to continue playing, he may draw interest in the second and third waves of free agency.
Cardinals Claim Tanner Vallejo Off Waivers
Tanner Vallejo has found a new team. After being waived by the Browns yesterday, the linebacker has been claimed by the Cardinals (via the team’s website).
While the 24-year-old has been waived twice over past five months, there were still plenty of teams lining up to make a claim. NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports (via Twitter) that the Jets, Giants, Bengals, Vikings, and Chargers also made an attempt to claim Vallejo off waivers. Thanks to Arizona’s league-worst 3-13 record, they got first dibs on the player.
The Boise State product was selected by the Bills in the sixth-round of the 2017 draft, and he proceeded to appear in 15 games as a rookie. Vallejo was waived by Buffalo prior to this past season before landing on the Browns. In fact, NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo points out (via Twitter) that the Cardinals made an unsuccessful claim on the linebacker at that time, so their interest in the linebacker isn’t anything new.
Vallejo ended up being relatively productive in Cleveland, compiling 27 tackles and one forced fumble in 13 games (one start). He ultimately finished the season on IR due to a hamstring injury. The Cardinals will now pick up the two years remaining on his rookie contract.
Giants Add Rutgers Assistant To Staff
- The Giants will hire one of Rutgers’ assistant coaches, Henry Baker, as assistant defensive backs coach, James Kratch and Ryan Dunleavy of NJ.com report. This is interesting because Baker accepted a job with the Scarlet Knights for the 2019 season, and it was to be his second stint at Rutgers. This will be Baker’s first NFL job, though he did receive minority coaching internships with the Lions and Giants during recent offseasons. Baker will replace Deshea Townsend, who is now with the Bears. Football Scoop first reported the hire.
- A former Giants great, Antonio Pierce spent the 2018 season on Herm Edwards‘ Arizona State staff. The Chiefs, however, were interested in prying Pierce away and making him their linebackers coach, per Marvez (on Twitter). But Pierce, who just wrapped up his first season as a college coach, opted to stay with the Sun Devils.
Giants Release LB Connor Barwin
It’s officially official. On Monday, the Giants released linebacker Connor Barwin, per a team announcement. 
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The Giants first decided to part ways with Barwin in late January, but the move was not finalized until Monday afternoon. Barwin joined the Giants on July 25 at the start of training camp and, at the time, it seemed as though he’d have a significant role on defense. Eventually, his playing time dwindled. The 32-year-old appeared in 15 games but started in just three and had just one sack to his credit in 2018.
If Barwin wants to continue playing, he should be able to find a market for his services. He may have to settle for something near the veteran’s minimum, but he’s already earned big bucks throughout his career.
Before his release, Barwin’s 51 sacks were the highest of any player on the Giants’ roster.