Williamson: 4 areas the Giants need to address in the offseason
Matt Williamson is a former scout for the Cleveland Browns, and spent the last 10 years at ESPN as a scout and co-host of the podcast "Football Today."
The Giants made news this week with the release of Victor Cruz and Rashad Jennings. This should have come as no surprise, as moving on from two declining assets in Cruz and Jennings opened up $10 million in cap space for New York to use in other areas.
This Giants have a lot of areas of concern right now and will need every penny of that $10 million to fix holes on their roster.
What are the next moves for the Giants?
Front Seven
New York's defense came on like gangbusters in 2016 on the strengths of its excellent defensive line and secondary. In fact, it was probably the most improved defense in the league since 2015 after excellent offseason acquisitions a year ago.
We know that this organization puts as little into its linebackers as any team in the league, but that's a group that could certainly stand upgrading. However, the big issue here is the impending free agency of Jason Pierre-Paul and Johnathan Hankins.
Last year at this time, New York franchised Pierre-Paul after his hand injury made long-term negotiations difficult. Always a fantastic edge-setting run defender, Pierre-Paul adapted well to his injury and played at a very high level before injuring his groin in Week 13 and missing the remainder of the year. Before that, Pierre-Paul played an exuberant number of snaps. All reports indicate that New York will try to lock Pierre-Paul up before he is able to test the market and despite their lack of cap space, this is a move that needs to happen, especially considering how this team is built.
If that contract does get done and factoring in the huge sums of money the Giants would then have invested in Pierre-Paul, Olivier Vernon, and Damon Harrison, that would almost ensure that Hankins, who is just 24 years old, would be heading out of the Big Apple.
Hankins was one that didn’t benefit from the addition of Harrison, as he was asked to become more of an upfield penetrator rather than a space eater. He could flourish in a new environment going back to more of a nose tackle role, but nonetheless, New York doesn't have anyone waiting in the wings at defensive tackle to step up for Hankins.
Weapons
The Giants' offense took a big step back from 2015, when Ben McAdoo was the offensive coordinator, to 2016, when he took over as the head coach. While the defensive line is always of extreme importance with this organization, just about every aspect of the offense needs an improvement of some sort.
The Giants couldn't generate a 20-point game in any of their final six contests and averaged under 20 points per game for the season. New York has one of the worst tight end situations in the league currently and while Paul Perkins is very intriguing and deserves many more snaps and touches, the Giants would be crazy not to bring in a bigger more rugged running back. This was one of the NFL's worst running games in 2016.
Lastly, the Giants run more three-wide-receiver sets than any team in the league. Despite being set with Odell Beckham as their top option, and having Sterling Shepard - who was extremely impressive out of the slot - New York really should consider adding two more wideouts to the mix. Perhaps even adding wideouts with size, considering it's an attribute this current group of wide receivers clearly lacks.
Offensive Line
The Giants are very well set right now at left guard and center, where Justin Pugh and Weston Richburg reside. The other 60 percent of their starters are highly questionable.
Ereck Flowers would probably be much better off at right tackle or even at guard rather than at left tackle. Bobby Hart exceeded minimal expectations at right tackle late in the season and Will Beatty is still in the mix.
Still, outside of Pugh and Richburg, there isn't a lot to get excited about here. Even more concerning, Pugh and Richburg are set to become free agents just one year from now. Several reinforcements are needed.
Eli Manning
Here is the elephant in the room: Eli Manning played poorly in 2016 and if that is any indication as to what we'll see going forward, he is now more of a problem than solution at the most important position in football.
Manning is 36 years old and basically never misses a snap. His backup, Ryan Nassib, is on an expiring contract and he should hit the open market. But Nassib has never shown that he is worthy of being Manning's successor, although he also hasn't really ever gotten a true opportunity either.
Ideally, this would be the offseason (actually, last offseason was really the time) to draft a quarterback very early to sit for a year and then replace Manning. But with all the issues this team has to deal with explained above, can that actually happen?