Giants' Free Agency 2014: Josh Brown, Trumaine McBride to return, per reports

It sounds like the New York Giants will soon be taking care of two of their own free agents, with reports Monday afternoon that placekicker Josh Brown and cornerback Trumaine McBride are near deals to return to the team in 2014. Both players could hit to the open market in NFL Free Agency at 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday.

Conor Orr of the Star-Ledger reported that the Giants are "close to wrapping up a deal" for the 34-year-old Brown, who made 88.5 percent of his field goals last season, including 7-of-8 from the 40-49 yard range.

Art Stapleton of The Record reported that the Giants and the veteran cornerback McBride have agreed on a two-year deal. McBride was out of football in 2012, came to the Giants on a futures contract in 2013 and had the best season of his career, starting 10 games.

Newsday's Tom Rock tweeted that safety Stevie Brown appears headed to free agency.

Pat Traina tweeted that "a couple of current contracts should be restructured" soon by the Giants. She further added that the contract of center David Baas is not currently among those.

Valentine's View

The signings of Brown and McBride are good moves. There was no reason to replace Brown, a quality kicker with enough leg to be a weapon for the Giants from beyond 50 yards. As for McBride, we don't know the terms of his contract but we do know that cornerbacks, thanks to the four-year, $39 million deal signed by Sam Shields, will be insanely expensive on the open market. McBride is a much lower cost option. Perhaps the Giants continue to add depth here via free agency and the draft.

As for Stevie Brown, that one still surprises me. I thought it was pretty close to a slam-dunk that he would be back with the Giants.