Giants 2025 Free Agency Primer: Everything You Need to Know
![Jan 5, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen before game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Jan 5, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen before game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field.](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_2250,h_1265,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/giants_country/01jjpy8z2f91fa37eyqd.jpg)
The New York Giants have a long offseason of work to get their roster back on track to being more competitive following a massively disappointing three-win season that was lowlighted by the offense’s struggles.
The Giants have some big roster holes entering the 2025 offseason. Here is an overview of some of those decisions and what fans need to know as the team navigates the offseason.
The Giants have some big roster holes entering the 2025 offseason. Here is an overview of some of those decisions and what fans need to know as the team navigates the offseason.
The Giants have some big roster holes entering the 2025 offseason. Here is an overview of some of those decisions and what fans need to know as the team navigates the offseason.
Roster Needs
- Quarterback
- Defensive Line
- Cornerback
- Offensive Tackle
- Receiver
- Safety
- Edge
Realistically speaking, it’s difficult for a team to fill every single roster hole it has in one offseason. But the good news is that the Giants, according to Pro Football Focus, rank sixth in the league in terms of assets (cap space, draft capital, and restructure potential) to make some significant roster improvements not only to the offense but to a defense whose personnel needs to be further refined to fit that of what defensive coordinator Shane Bowen has been trying to do.
In some cases, the Giants will probably “double dip,” adding multiple players either via a freer agency, the draft, or both. Quarterback is one such position that comes to mind as a prime candidate for “double dipping.”
Cornerback is another. This will all depend on how the team’s brass views the depth in the draft class versus the depth in the pending free agency class, but clearly, there are some positions on the Giants where more is needed than just a single player.
Cap Space: $$43.38 million (total); $32.062 million (effective)
According to Over The Cap, the Giants have an effective cap space total of $32.062 million and a total cap space total of $43.380 million. The effective cap space is the amount of room a team has to add players under the Top 51 rule, which begins on the first day of the new league year (March 12).
The Giants are still a tad on the top-heavy side of things, meaning that their top-five highest cap figures all exceed $10+ million, with three of those five (edge Brian Burns, defensive lineman Dexter Lawerence II, and left tackle Andrew Thomas) all carrying cap figures of $21+ million, which makes them all restructure candidates once the available cap space dries up.
In terms of dead money, $22.21 million of the Giants’ $27.299 million comes from the Daniel Jones contract, with the remaining $4.917 million coming from tight end Darren Waller’s retirement last year. So, while that overall total looks like a large chunk of change, in the grand scheme of things, it’s not bad for a Giants team needing to make some prudent moves in free agency.
Unrestricted Free Agents
- Jason Pinnock | SAF
- Darius Slayton | WR
- Isaiah Simmons | ILB/SAF
- Drew Lock | QB
- Jamie Gillan |P
- Greg Van Roten | IOL
- Adoree’ Jackson | CB
- Azeez Ojulari | Edge
- Casey Kreiter | LS
- Chris Manhertz | TE
- Gunner Olszewski | WR/PR/KOR
- Aaron Stinnie | IOL
- Matthew Adams | ILB
- Christopher Hubbard _| OT
- Tim Boyle | QB
- Elijah Riley | CB
- Ty Sumers | ILB
- Armon Watts | IDL
- Ihmir Smith-Marsette | WR/PR/KOR
- Patrick Johnson | Edge
- Greg Stroman | CB
Restricted Free Agents
- None
Exclusive Rights Free Agents
- QB Tommy DeVito
- Dyontae Johnson | ILB
- Tomon Fox | Edge
- Divaad Wilson | CB
Key Players Entering a Contract Year
- Kayvon Thibodeaux | Edge [Starter]
- Evan Neal | OT [Starter]
- Micah McFadden | ILB [Starter]
- Cor’Dale Flott | CB [Starter]
- Wan’Dale Robinson | WR [Starter]
- Jermaine Eluemunor | OT [Starter]
- Rakeem Nunez-Roches | IDL [Starter]
- Dane Belton | SAF
- Daniel Bellinger | TE
- Joshua Ezeudu | IOL
- D.J. Davidson | IDL
Potential Cap Casualties
- Graham Gano | K
- Rakeem Nunez-Roches | IDL
Overview
The Giants do not need to make any salary cap-related cuts as they are in good financial shape. That doesn’t mean, though, that they won’t consider moving in from guys who aren’t in the long-term plans yet and carry a high cap figure for the coming year.
One player who could be a cap cut is defensive lineman Rakeem Nunez-Roches, who has a $5.033 million cap hit. Trimming Nunez-Roches, who is in the final year of his contract, from the roster would yield a $3.6 million savings with only a $1.433 million dead money hit.
This move would make the most sense as the Giants, looking at a very deep defensive line class in the draft, are widely expected to dip into that talent pool as they continue their quest to find a running mate to plug in alongside Dexter Lawrence II.
The Giants will likely spend a large chunk of their cap space on a veteran quarterback and a veteran cornerback, both of whom are glaring roster needs. Currently, with the Steelers, Justin Fields has a projected market value of $8.853 million based on a one-year contract. However, we don’t think the Giants will sign a bridge quarterback to a one-year contract, regardless of what they do in the draft.
Sam Darnold of the Vikings, most frequently linked to the Giants, has a $40.1 million APY market value based on a four-year, $160.494 million deal. If they want Darnold, the Giants are likely to have some competition for his services—assuming he even wants to return to the New York market to play.
Regardless of who the Giants bring on board to be their next quarterback, this is a position where the team will likely double-dip.
Currently, only Tommy DeVito, an exclusive rights free agent, stands to be brought back by the team, as head coach Brian Daboll typically likes to have continuity in the quarterbacks room.
That said, the Giants typically like to bring four arms to camp, so regardless of whether they draft a quarterback this year, another lesser-priced free agent could be brought on board.
Regarding cornerback, D.J. Reed of the Jets remains a very intriguing candidate. It could help that the Giants hired Marquand Manuel, previously the Jets safeties coach, as their new defensive backs coach if they intend to pursue Reed, who is coming off a three-year, $33 million deal with the Jets ($11 million APY).
In the coming days, I’ll provide a more detailed, step-by-step breakdown of how the Giants can crush this offseason, well ahead of what’s expected to be a very active free agency period for them.