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Good morning, New York Giants fans! Let’s get right to your Big Blue View mailbag for this Saturday.
Robert Pafundi asks: Any news on Remmers? Is he the best FA option at tackle right now? Any sense on how DG wants to solve RT; FA or draft? Last question: Any chance DG trades 1 of the 3 centers we have and what would you expect for a return?
Ed says: Mike Remmers, for those who don’t know, is a free agent offensive lineman who visited the Giants after free agency began. Remmers is a veteran Dave Gettleman and Mike Shula know from the Carolina Panthers, and Pat Shurmur knows from the Minnesota Vikings. He would be the right tackle if they signed him, at least heading into the draft.
I do believe both sides remain interested, but there was word that Remmers had offseason back surgery. Perhaps nothing will happen until and unless Remmers has recovered sufficiently to pass an NFL physical. Even should they sign Remmers I would expect them to draft a young tackle, they just wouldn’t necessarily need to do that in Round 1.
The centers? There would be zero market for any of them.
Robert J. Simon: Why didn’t the Giants show interest in RT Daryl Williams?
Ed says: Robert, how do you know they didn’t? Just because a guy doesn’t sign with a particular team doesn’t mean that team didn’t have interest in the player. To my knowledge the Giants did have interest in Williams to play right tackle, but he made the choice to return to the Carolina Panthers. That was his prerogative.
CTSCAN123 asks: I don’t know Jabrill Peppers or Antoine Bethea very well, but they are both listed as strong safeties. I recall reading that Peppers is likely to play the box safety roll, is Bethea rangy enough to play free safety at this stage in his career?
Ed says: Read Dan Pizzuta’s breakdown of the Giants new safeties. Bethea still played well last season. Peppers has been better close to the line of scrimmage, but I think part of the appeal for the Giants is they believe the two players are flexible enough to be moved around. Also, they just like the veteran leadership Bethea presents.
Joseph Galiszewski asks: Giants have a good blend of No. 2 & No. 3 type receivers signed for this season. Do you think the Giants might consider D.K. Metcalf, who is bigger, faster, stronger than OBJ was, with their first pick and then go for the OT with 17. This would finish off the offense for this year and the rest of the draft could be used on defense. Also, if Rosen becomes available, how about if the Giants could offer a 4th and or a 5th this year, and a 2nd in 2020 when the money they would have could offset the loss of a 2nd round pick.
Ed says: No, no, no and no to a wide receiver with the No. 6 pick. Make that NO, NO, NO and NO. If you aren’t taking a quarterback there, and I don’t believe the Giants are, it’s almost general manager malpractice if you don’t take the best defensive player on the board. There are maybe four to six elite front seven defensive players in this draft class depending on who you ask. If the pick isn’t a quarterback, the Giants have to come away with one of those difference-making defensive players.
I have said this for years — you have to build from the inside out. That means lines first. If you can’t control the line of scrimmage on either side the quality of your receivers or your corners or your safeties — or your quarterback — doesn’t mean a thing.
As for Josh Rosen, to think you could get him for a fourth- or fifth-round pick this year and a second-round pick in 2020 is living in fantasy land considering the reports I have seen and the whispers I have heard.
T.A. Campbell asks: What do you GUESS it would take to trade back into the mid to high 20’s of the 1st round?
Ed says: From No. 6 or No. 17? If you are trading back from No. 6 to, say, 25 you probably also have to get a second-round pick. From 17 maybe a couple of Day 3 picks.
My question is, why on earth would you even consider that move? At No. 6 you are going to get either a quarterback or, if you don’t want to go that way, one of the absolute elite talents in the draft. Why would you drop all the way to the mid-20s and pick from second- or third-tier talent? That just makes no sense to me at all.
Patrick Boliver asks: If the Giants go defense with the No. 6 pick what amount of draft capital would they have to give up to move back into the top 10 to get a quarterback?
Ed says: Now THIS is a scenario I believe is worth exploring. I’ve been looking at the Buffalo Bills, who have the ninth pick, and wondering if they might take the 17th pick, plus other assets to get to No. 9. I would try to offer 17 and maybe 95 and 108 and see if the Bills would bite. If I was really, really, really convinced on a quarterback — and I’m not sure the Giants would be if they didn’t take one at No. 6 — I would offer 17 and 37.
Paul Miller asks: If the Giants decide to wait until the 2020 draft to get their franchise quarterback do you think that they extend Eli’s contract after this year’s draft to insure they follow the Kansas City plan?
Ed says: I think they are on a year-to-year basis with Eli Manning right now. Depending on how the draft and the 2019 season play out I think it’s possible Manning could be back in 2020. Then again, if the Giants get their heir apparent this offseason and the season goes south, he might not last the year as the starter.
Bruce Frazer asks: As many scribes have projected the possibilities of Haskins to the Giants at No. 6 or perhaps Rosen for the No. 37 Round 2 pick, which choice in your view would be the better option, if indeed the Giants are committed to getting a QB at the top of the draft? Or, are they better served using the 6th and 17th picks on foundation players and then using No. 37 on the next best QB on the board?
Ed says: I have written about this a few times. The idea of trading for Josh Rosen is one I like — provided it only costs the 37th pick and maybe a Day 3 pick. That nets you a quarterback, and two potential first-round difference-makers. If Rosen costs the 17th pick, I don’t want to go there and I don’t think the Giants will. In that scenario, I think they would draft their own quarterback at 17 or 37, or possibly just build the roster and kick the can into 2020. I know that isn’t what they want to do, but there are 31 other teams and it could play out that way.
Bgblue56 asks: So, let’s play fortune teller for a second. If the rest of the off season includes the following...
1. Third rounder (plus a later round if needed) for Rosen, who sits for a year behind Eli
2. Two first rounders for the best pass rusher/RT (with Remmers signed as depth or early starter)
3. Rest of draft used to fill holes such as future free safety, edge, LB, corner, O-line depth
Considering all of this seems quite reasonable and, dare say, even possible/probable, what would you give Gettleman for an off season grade? Would you be comfortable with his past two off seasons and the future of the team as it would sit on opening day? What might you do differently then stated above? Lastly, do you think it would finally soothe the natives from their “hang ‘em high” current condition?
Ed says: I think I have established in some of my other answers that I don’t think there is any way the Arizona Cardinals move Rosen for less than the Giants 37th overall pick. As for the sum total of all of the moves that could happen I keep saying that we just have to wait and see. Let’s suppose the Giants end up with Rosen, a stud edge rusher, a starting right tackle and a couple of other promising defensive players in the draft. Things look a lot different than they do today. Dave Gettleman keeps saying there is time, and the roster-building season isn’t over. He is right about that. With 12 draft picks he is in position to have an impactful draft. He needs to have an impactful draft. Let’s see if he can.