Tuesday night’s “Hard Knocks” premiere gave Giants fans an inside look at how painful a business it is behind the scenes.
In a closed-door meeting with seven of his closest constituents, Giants general manager Joe Schoen pointed out the financial reality of paying quarterback Daniel Jones $40 million and retaining a high-priced running back in then-pending free agent Saquon Barkley.
“We’ve got to upgrade the offensive line, and you’re paying the guy $40 million — it’s not to hand the ball off to a $12 million back,” Schoen said to director of player personnel Tim McDonnell, who questioned the team’s offensive identity without Barkley.
Jones is entering the second year of a four-year contract worth $160 million, and the Giants’ large commitment to him forces savings in other aspects of roster construction.
And that came to the forefront with Barkley’s negotiations.
In a separate conversation regarding the former Penn State star, Giants owner John Mara told Schoen on Feb. 13 that “in a perfect world, I’d still like to have him back.”
The Giants ultimately did not want to pay premium price for a running back, and Barkley agreed to a three-year, $37.75 million contract with the Eagles, with $26 million guaranteed and the deal being worth $46.75 million if he hits his incentives.
Schoen and Mara also mentioned that they would re-sign Barkley if it was for less money and perhaps try to trade him later.
They then pivoted to former Texans and Bills running back Devin Singletary on a three-year, $16.5 million contract.
“What are we really gonna get, unless it got down to $7 million? I don’t want to offer that because I don’t want to be like we ‘disrespected’ him,” Schoen explained to Mara.
Schoen’s comments about the high-priced Jones handing off to a pricy Barkley signaled how the organization still believes Jones can be the leader of a playoff contender.
The general manager further detailed that the plan was to provide Jones more protection up front and potentially help him in the draft.
“My plan is address the offensive line at some point here in free agency. We’re sitting at (No. 6), there’s a chance there’s an offensive weapon there. This is the year for Daniel,” Schoen said.
“The plan all along was give him a couple years. Is he our guy for the next 10 years? Or do we need to pivot and find somebody else?”
Schoen further detailed in the “Hard Knocks” premiere that the offensive line as the primary culprit for Jones’ struggles, with the unit being ranked the worst in the NFL last year by Pro Football Focus.
“You could have Pat Mahomes, and he couldn’t f–king win behind that,” Schoen said. “I’m not giving up on him.”
While he didn’t pay Barkley, Schoen did invest in the offensive line as promised, bringing in five new faces in Jon Runyan Jr., Jermaine Eluemunor, Aaron Stinnie, Austin Schlottmann and Matt Nelson.
Runyan and Eluemunor will likely start at guard for the Giants, but they will still need improvements from 2023 second-round pick John Michael Schmitz Jr. and 2022 top-10 pick Evan Neal.
Pro Football Focus still projects the Giants to have the fourth-worst offensive line in football this coming season despite the moves.
The Giants also added an offensive weapon in the draft, as he projected, selecting LSU standout receiver Malik Nabers with the sixth pick.
