Giants Free Agency Day 1: A Rollercoaster of Emotions

    Yesterday was truly one of the oddest days I can remember being a Giants fan. So much to love, so much to hate, and so much meh. The largest news of the day being that after six years with the team Saquon Barkley decided to sign with the Philadelphia Eagles in free agency. Now, there are a lot of ways fans feel about this news, but for me this is absolutely a betrayal. 

                               "I want to be a Giant for Life"

   We've heard Saquon say this countless times the last two years, expressing what seemed to be love for the franchise and a desire to retire a New York Giant. But now any kind of legacy he would have had in blue is forever tarnished. Someone like Eli Manning who is the epitome of the phrase "Once a Giant, Always a Giant", turned down offers from teams like the Jacksonville Jaguars at the end of his career so he could be a forever Giant. Yet someone who we thought would never wear any other color than blue, leaves us on the first day of free agency, and signs with the arch rivals. That doesn't seem like someone who wanted to be a Giants legend or someone who always promised he would turn things around in New York. 

    We've seen it before when DeSean Jackson left Philly to go to Washington and even when Terrell Owens went from the Eagles to the Cowboys. These are spite moves. And nothing against those players but you expect that kind of reaction from the way things ended in their respective situations. As for Saquon, he was treated with nothing but respect from the jump. He was handed the keys to the offense as a rookie and named captain of the team 5 of his 6 seasons. Barkley was always respectful to the media and them to him. I would never expect something like this from a guy like him which is what makes this move so disappointing. Not to mention the Giants offered him a similar contract last summer to which he declined. 

    But lets move to on to some more positive moves from yesterday. The Giants made three free agent signings before making a blockbuster deal to acquire Brian Burns from the Carolina Panthers. The first move was signing Jon Runyan from Green Bay. He is a left guard who has been great for the Packers the last few seasons. He let up just two sacks in 2023 and fills a huge hole the G-Men had on the offensive line. 

    They also picked up Jermaine Eluemunor a right tackle who played with Las Vegas last season. He played a lot of snaps in 2023 and allowed six sacks. This move reunites him with Carmen Bricillo who was his offensive line coach in Vegas and now has the same position with the Giants. Devin Singletary was another offensive move the Giants made yesterday. The 5' 7" back had 898 yards and 4 TDs in 2023 on 4.2 yards per carry. Which if you squint a little isn't too far off from what Barkley did last season. 

    My favorite move of the day was the trade to get Brian "Spida" Burns. If you're not familiar, Burns has been one of the league's best pass rushers since getting drafted in 2019 from FSU (go noles). Burns has put up 7.5, 9, 9, 12.5, and 8 sacks in hist first five seasons. Considering he produced this much with little help on the opposite side while in Carolina, we should be excited to see what he can do when Kayvon Thibodeaux and Dexter Lawrence are on the same d-line. 

    The Giants gave up one of their two second-rounders as well as a fifth-rounder to get the two time pro bowler. They then extended him to a 5 year $150 million contract with $87 million guaranteed. This may seem like a lot of money and it is, but Burns is just 25 and only going to get better while in New York. I love this move and can't wait to see him get after the opposing team's QB. 

    After all these moves I feel like I finally have an idea of what Joe Schoen and company are trying to do. We didn't overpay the running back and we instead signed two great lineman on either side of the football. This is the way the Giants used to build their teams, from the inside out. When Big Blue was winning Super Bowls they had a great offensive line and a dominate defense. And that appears to be the plan going into a make or break season for Schoen and Daboll.