Plenty, but not everything, the Giants did in free agency was specifically designed to provide help and support for Daniel Jones. There is no doubt the front office now believes the still-young quarterback, entering his third NFL season, is in a more advantageous position than ever before.
“Of course, I’ve always believed you draft the guy you feel is gonna be your franchise quarterback, first thing you got to do is get people around him to keep him upright and then you got to get him playmakers,’’ general manager Dave Gettleman said Tuesday. “You help him by doing a variety of things.’’
The things the Giants did this offseason to make Jones’ football life easier started with the signing of towering receiver Kenny Golladay. They also added veteran tight end Kyle Rudolph, running back Devontae Booker and speed receiver John Ross.
“We felt we’d like to get a bigger wide receiver, Kenny was available and we made the deal,’’ Gettleman said. “That’s obviously gonna help Daniel. Kyle Rudolph is a professional tight end. He’s been in the league 10 years, he knows all the ins and outs, he’s still a good player, of course that helps Daniel, but it helps our running game, too, it helps Saquon [Barkley]. It’s a whole picture.’’
The signing of Booker to a two-year contract worth $5.5 million raised some off-kilter looks. If Barkley makes a full recovery from reconstructive knee surgery, Booker’s role is strictly as a backup.
“One of the reasons we prioritized Devontae is you can never have too many good players at a position,’’ Gettleman said. “One of the things that made Devontae attractive was the fact we felt he was a legitimate three-down running back. We feel he can be a good part of our solution at running back.’’
After agreeing to a two-year, $12 million contract with Rudolph, the Giants learned Rudolph had a problem with his foot that required surgery to fix. They could have gone back on the deal or reduced the guaranteed money ($4.5 million) by adding incentives based on playing time. Ronnie Barnes, the senior vice president of medical services, and Dr. Scott Rodeo, the head team physician, signed off on Rudolph eventually returning to health and the contract remained unchanged.
“We are the Giants,’’ Gettleman said. “We are going to do everything with class and we had an agreement, Ronnie signed off on it and Doctor Rodeo signed off on it, so we were fine.’’
The Giants knew laying out big bucks (three years, $63 million) for Leonard Williams meant his defensive linemate, Dalvin Tomlinson, would not be returning. Tomlinson signed a two-year, $21 million deal with the Vikings.
“Dalvin is a wonderful young man, and he was a captain,’’ Gettleman said. “Obviously there’s regret. But at the end of the day you only have so much money and you’ve got to make decisions. That’s just the way it is. We’ll miss Dalvin, absolutely, and I’m thrilled he got what he wanted and Minnesota’s a fine organization.’’