Free Agency Rundown

What a week for the Big Blue. Lots of "nuts and bolts" type-pieces as opposed to any huge splashy signings outside of perhaps Likely. One of the most exciting parts of signing Likely will be the fun we will get to have with his name. How many beers you drinking tonight? Likely 80. How many games are we going to win next year? Likely 80. I guess we still have to see what number he ends up with on the G-Men, but my guess is Likely 80. As an aside, I am a connoisseur of football names. For instance, did you know that any two parts of an Equanimeous St. Brown triangle are Equanimeous St. Brown to the third? It's true. Look it up.

Anyways, the key word I have for the Giants free agency week is "Infrastructure." I'm going to give you the honest and objective truth on a few of the key signings in this post in no particular order. This won't be some in-depth analysis on every single one of them, because for example I seriously have no idea who "Aaron Stinnie" is - apparently he has been on the team for at least 2 years and has seen four starts on the O-line? Good for us that we re-signed him I'm sure / perhaps. Depth is wealth at the O-Line and literally everyone knows this.

K - Jason Sanders (MIA)

I don't know what else to say but thank GOD - hopefully. The Giants kicking situation last year needs to be studied even though we'd all like to erase it from our memories forever. The Denver game, the game(s) where Gano's injury was like "not bad enough to not play" but then also was "crucially significant enough" to miss key extra points, field goals, or kickoffs out of bounds, or we had to put the damn punter out there to attempt an extra point, or we'd go for it because we don't have/trust a kicker, or whatever the hell Jude McAtamney was, and oh yea the viral moment where Younghoe MISSED. THE FOOTBALL. on a field goal attempt. That's a brief summary of what should be someone's dissertation on the worst special teams unit of all time. That is hopefully all behind us now.

The "hopefully" thing is because Sanders missed the entire 2025 season with a hip injury in Miami (eh-heh!). Now make no mistake, the Dolphins are in absolute hell as a franchise. I don't presume that they are getting smart all of the sudden and are letting Sanders walk because he's some sort of damaged good or anything like that, they just have much bigger fish to fry (cuz they're the Dolphins, get it?). When Sanders was healthy he was setting franchise records for the Dolphins and was a perennial top kicker in the league - you may recognize him from your fantasy football leagues, what a carry.

Either way, with a new coaching staff running special teams on the Giants and fresh talent on the unit (and not from some cock-a-mamie English / Irish / Aussie players program), Sanders just needs to be, ehem, ** able to kick the football for the whole season ** and this is a massive, massive improvement for the Giants. This is potentially 3 wins that were ripped from us last year due to flat out incompetence.

P - Jordan Stout (BAL)

I was admittedly not familiar with this guy's game. He ranked first in the NFL last year in average net punt yards (44.9) and third in gross average punt yards (50.1). That's an average return of basically 5 yards on some pretty significant field-flippers. Coverage units aside, the leg is there and worth making him the highest paid punter in the league (which is only like 4 dollars or something anyways).

I don't have a lot to say on this one, I was kind of a big Scottish Hammer guy but I'm officially team "anti-European kickers" now as previously mentioned. I will say that having a good punter in your back pocket is usually best when you also have a brick shit house defense a-la-Seattle in the Super Bowl. I don't know that we "do" have a "brick wall" defense, but consistent good defensive field position might help them to be better-suited for success. By the way, speaking of the Seattle Super Bowl, that punter - Michael Dickson - landed 3 of 7 punts inside the Patriots' 6 yard line that game. Drake Maye is a fraud anyways, but still that's still insane. And it put Seattle's defense in a position to capitalize. Hopefully we can do the same with Stout. Potential for another fun name / jersey here as well, especially come Guinness season.

The Secondary

2 cornerbacks and 2 safeties - so far - and a couple of dogs among them at that. This is part of why The Oracle consciously believes that we are not taking Caleb Downs at 5. We could still use some help at CB (and safety) and I suspect we will draft one in the second or third round.

CB - Greg Newsome II (JAX): originally 26th overall pick to the Browns in 2021, traded to Jacksonville last year, kind of a huge beast and I think he'll be diesel.

S - Jason Pinnock (SF): former Giant coming home - shoutout Xavier McKinney what could have been if we weren't idiots. He has only been gone one year in San Fran and is back to come up and play the run / cheeky safety blitz (13 career TFL's, 6.5 sacks, 5 forced fumbies) and he's got a little bit of ball hawk back there too.

S - Ar'Darious Washington (BAL): another one from the 2021 class - went undrafted to the Ravens. I believe this is a "this guy loves ball" Harbaugh-type and either through injury or by winning the position I think he will be in a starter this year, likely rotationally.

CB - Art Green (NYG, re-signed): I'm going to keep it a buck I don't know who this is. Looks like he is a special teamer and depth CB. Should probably change his name to Arty Blue, eh?

FB - Patrick Ricard (BAL)

Mmmmmmm, yes. This one is quite delicious. I feel devious pangs of joy visualizing a couple of meaty white boys running the football down the Eagles throat on the goal line / 4th & 1. Pause.

Resume.

But no homo, imagine the linebacker that has to meet the Patty Cake in the hole - BANG - "ok, ow, that hurt but I was able to kind of shed the block and maintain my gap now I just have to - BAH GAWD THAT'S SKATTEBO'S MUSIC" - BANG - right in the chest plate. First dahn. bum-bum-bum-bum, move. those. chains. You want to line up and take it again? We've got it all game baby.

Hows about a little student body left (designed quarterback run to the outside with lead blockers out of the backfield) with Skatt and Ricard leading, maybe throw a tight end out there too - run it out of the pistol formation even, screw it pull a guard while we're at it. First dahn, maybe touchdown (just run out of bounds if you need to Jaxson, my king).

Hows about motioning him to the wing, play action and hit him in the flat? Hows about that same formation but he's going downfield to block a corner on a wide receiver screen? Hows about a 3rd & 2 cut-the-crap and play action hit him out of the backfield howyadoin? First doooooooownnnn. What about fake any/all of that on 2nd & 8 from the 35 and hit Nabers or Likely on a flood route over the top. Tuddy.

And I haven't even mentioned the most devious possibility of all...

If The Oracle's Vision is right and we draft Jeremiyah Love at 5.

I have every hope in my body that Skat comes back from severe leg injury and is 90% or better than what he showed his rookie year. I believe that he will be, because he has a legitimate screw loose upstairs in the most beautiful way. His mind won't be the issue, if there is any issue it would be with his body. Short of him literally snapping his leg in half I believe he would have played through any injury for the whole season. There is, however, a chance that he has half a step less after that injury. As much of a fan favorite and team-morale-booster as he is, I think that it must be a consideration.

Whether he is able to be the same or not, a slight pitch count isn't a bad thing for Skat, and I simply don't get the same juice from Tyrone Tracy Jr. as you will likely get from Jeremiyah Love, even if it takes him 6 games to get consistent touches (it won't, he will be a playmaker from pre-season). Tracy is very rarely, if ever, the playmaker who is like "wow - we won that game because of Tracy" (more accurately, "wow, we almost won that game because of Tracy"). I can remember possibly one time where he like "showed out" in the way that Skat has, or that Saquon used to, or that top running backs in the league do to be stars and win games for their teams. But it's not who he is. That's not Tracy's fault and it's not why he's here. He's here because he's a serviceable option.

But that is what Love promises to be. A game breaker. A hard-nosed runner with speed and athleticism who can bust the home run play. Harbaugh said something like: "This is the highest I've ever drafted in the NFL [love that] and I think you take the best player available when you're up that high and you don't think about it." Really sound logic and I love it. The duo of Love and Skat with Tracy as the 3rd back would be the best rushing offense in the league and it would not be a discussion. We know Harbaugh loves his RBs from the Baltimore backfields. I just really think it lines up and makes the most sense.

TE - Isaiah Likely (BAL)

Yeah I mean this absolutely rocks. This guy is a legitimate big time baller and I really think he would be a much bigger star if he spent his career anywhere other than a run-heavy, passing-game-questionable Baltimore offense. I expect him to be a big part of the offense and I am just now having shades of Darren Waller flashbacks as I am writing this and oh my gosh please no don't let it happen again. I really don't think it will though. Waller was at the end of his career (might still be in the league?) and definitely had some CTE and maybe got cuckholded by his WNBA wife and made a rap song about it??? What? Did I fever dream that? Plus that was Daniel Jones' era. Scrap it all. I still remember the disaster of the game against the Bills at Buffalo in primetime when he was definitely interfered with on the 2 point play at the buzzer. I think we had Tyrod start that game. Lol, painful.

Anyways, Likely will likely be well-liked in the locker room like how you would likely like a veteran-like player with big-game experience and big man ability alike. He will also likely (last one, sorry) help Theo Johnson continue his lovely little development and then all the sudden we have have two jump ball tight ends who can also block and you have to keep your eye on both of them. Then all of the sudden Dart is finding big targets in the holes of zone coverages, and defenses are adjusting and leaving Nabers one-on-one with manipulatable safety help. And did I mention you now also have to seriously respect our run game? Hmmmmmm and the QB can run it himself?? Hmmmm!!! Now that's a real stumper.

We also got Tremaine Edmunds (LB - CHI) and re-signed Evan Neal and Jermaine Eluemunor (both fine as long as we continue to improve) as well as Micah McFadden (beast) Isaiah Hodgins (eh, don't care, show me something) and Gunner Olszewski (love you I'm sorry for what happened to your brain at Gillette last year).

Biggest Sad of the Week is we released Bobby Okereke. 3-time, team-appointed Captain and played all but 5 games since 2023. It may have been time I suppose. More room for the youth to step up. Lots of talent in the D-Line / Edge / Flex LB space for us, but tbh I need to see it this year.

All said, I am quite pleased with the state of the Giants following week one of free agency and you should be too. I don't think we're quite done yet, but that's probably it for the more-notable names? Strange things can happen as the draft approaches in late April I suppose. I am already so hype for the season.

-Giants Oracle