Saquon’s Departure, Brian Burns’s Arrival, and Other Things Learned from Hard Knocks, Episode 3, Giants Offseason

The third episode of Hard Knocks: Offseason with the New York Giants focused on free agency.

New York Giants / courtesy of Giatns.com

The third episode of Hard Knocks: Offseason with the New York Giants is over. As anticipated, the episode focused heavily on the Giants' free agency activity, both gains and losses, and how every time a domino fell, it altered what they could potentially do.

As we learned from previous episodes, the Giants focused heavily on addressing their offensive line. They also toyed with the idea of trading pass rusher Brian Burns from Carolina. But those moves potentially cost the Giants any chance of bringing back running back Saquon Barkley or safety Xavier McKinney.

Warning: This article contains spoilers.  

The Breaking Point in the Saquon Barkley Saga

Episode 3 wrapped up the Saquon Barkley situation by providing more details about what happened before Barkley decided to go to the Eagles.

Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network and Barkley himself said that the Giants never made Barkley an offer this year. That proved to be true, as the last offer the Giants made Barkley was before the start of the 2023 training camp.  

Although Schoen might not have had a firm idea of Barkley’s market value, he did have a “walk away” price. Interestingly, while waiting for Barkley to find an offer, the Giants, instead of waiting, went about their business by working on their own free agents.   

Schoen had two different conversations with Ed Berry, Barkley’s agent. (Of note here is that unlike the conversation in Episode 2 in which Berry gave his permission to have his side aired, such permission was not granted for the third episode.)  

Schoen asked Berry what it would take to re-sign Barkley, and based on Schoen’s response to the agent after his question was answered, it seemed like Berry asked Schoen what he thought Barkley was worth. Schoen said that was the point of letting Barkley test the market.

Schoen pressed Berry for a starting point and was presumably told $12.5 million average per year (APY) over three years with $25 million guaranteed. Schoen’s response was the figure “may be above me.”  

Schoen then placed a call to team COO John Mara, who continued to express a desire to see something worked out with Barkley in this episode. 

“I told the agent if we match that deal, he’s going to be a Giant,” Schoen told Mara over the phone. “He’s like, ‘Well…’ He hemmed and hawed and said, ‘I’m not saying that. We have a lot of work to do if that happens.’”

When Schoen learned that it would take “having to go north” of the $12.5 million APY with $25M guaranteed Berry initially presented to Schoen, the general manager said, “We're not going to go there. We’re out.”

The Drew Lock Sales Pitch

Remember how Seattle general manager John Schneider suggested that the Giants sold quarterback Drew Lock on an opportunity to “compete to be a starter” and how Lock saw the opportunity with the Giants as potentially similar to what Baker Mayfield had with the Bucs?

The Giants’ actual sales pitch to Lock was to point out how Mitchell Trubisky and Tyrod Taylor, both of whom played for a year under Brian Daboll, went on to get nice pay raises and that maybe the same could happen for Lock. 

But as a bonus to convince Lock to choose the Giants over Seattle, it was mentioned how Lock would be walking into the Giants as the No. 1 quarterback in the spring, given that Daniel Jones was still rehabbing from a torn ACL. In that scenario, Lock would be the No. 1 quarterback until Jones got back.

Lock told reporters during the spring that having the opportunity to run the first-team offensive during OTAs and the mandatory minicamp was crucial. 

“I know what it's like to not get a ton of reps in OTAs and kind of feel your way through, not throw to the number one receivers, and then when you get out there in Week 11, you're throwing to DK (Metcalf) and Tyler (Lockett) for kind of the first time that year. So being able to just have those reps under your belt builds confidence going into the year.”

(Side note: the Giants considered Gardner Minshew and Sam Darnold. Minshew turned out to be too expensive–he signed a two-year, $25 million deal with the Las Vegas Raiders with $15 million guaranteed. Darnold, meanwhile, got a one-year deal worth $10 million from Minnesota.) 

Lock signed a one-year deal worth $5 million, with an additional $3 million in incentives tied to playtime.

As for Taylor, who signed with the Jets and whom Daboll said he wanted back to keep the quarterback room the same as the year prior, Schoen said that he stretched his offer to $7 million APY but added that, given Taylor’s injury history and the price point, it just didn’t work out.  

Let’s Make a Deal!

The episode wrapped up the Giants' acquisition of edge rusher Brian Burns from the Carolina Panthers. Schoen told his staff that if they acquired Burns, it might take them out of the running for other players they might have been interested in. Still, Daboll and defensive coordinator Shane Bowen were not as bothered by that, vowing to play Burns a “ton of snaps.”

Given the investment the Giants were contemplating, some questions about whether it was smart were raised. Assistant general manager Brandon Brown made a strong case for why it was, telling the assembled brass that it was “rare” for a young edge rusher under 28 with good character still ascending to hit the market. 

Had the deal not gone through, Schoen mentioned having to look for an edge rusher in the draft. It was also felt that acquiring Burns would help take some pressure off the Giants’ young defensive secondary.

An inside look at the final negotiations for the @Giants trade for @Fire_Burns99 📞👀

New episode of #HardKnocks Offseason with the @Giants airs tonight at 9pm ET on @StreamOnMax. #Giants100 pic.twitter.com/lUNGbonMrW

— NFL (@NFL) July 16, 2024

Initially, the Giants offered No. 39 to the Panthers, who rejected that. Schoen then upped his offer to No. 47 and a 2025 pick. Ultimately, the deal was No. 39 and a 2025 fifth-round pick. If the Giants had two fifth-round picks, they'd send the Panthers the higher of the lot, plus an exchange of fifth-round picks in 2024.

Panthers general manager Dan Morgan tried to squeeze Schoen for a seventh-round pick in 2025 (the Giants didn’t have a seventh-round pick in 2024, having traded that to Arizona for Isaaih Simmons last year). Schoen talked Morgan out of that, and the deal was agreed upon.

In the meantime, it was revealed that the Giants were losing out on other players they were interested in while waiting for the Panthers to decide. 

The Offensive Line

The Giants zeroed in on three offensive linemen in free agency: Jermaine Eluemunor of the Raiders, Jon Runyan Jr of the Packers, and Robert Hunt of the Dolphins after Daboll said he needed “inside” players for the offensive line.

The Jets were also interested in Runyan, trying to sell him on reuniting with quarterback Aaron Rodgers and offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett. The Jets offered Runyan $9 million APY with $17 million guaranteed. 

Ultimately, the Giants offered Runyan $1 million more ($10 million APY total) than the Jets to seal the deal. That offer took the Giants out of being competitive for Robert Hunt’s services.   

Also, Chris Rosetti happened to drop a tidbit about Eluemunor, saying that if they could get him, they’d have either their starting left guard or their starting right tackle. 

This is noteworthy because when the Giants acquired Runyan and Eluemunor, it was initially thought Runyan would play left guard and Eluemunor right guard.  

A Surprise Quarterback in the Draft Mix?

In the second episode, Schoen visited the New England Patriots to inquire about trading to the third spot in the draft, presumably because he had his eye on former North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye.

The Giants might have been eyeing another quarterback: LSU’s Jayden Daniels. In the preview for Episode 4, Schoen and Daboll were at LSU’s pro day, which featured Malik Nabers among the group. 

The scene then cuts to Schoen in the Giants' facility meeting with top brass, and he asks the group if they have seen enough of the former LSU quarterback to be comfortable trading up to get him.

“Daniels?” Daboll responded. “I would.”

The preview ends with Schoen in his office just before Day 1 of the draft, telling team ownership, Daboll, and other top personnel staff, “If we don’t get a quarterback here, we’ll roll with Daniel (Jones) and try to get him a weapon. We good with that?”

The clip didn’t show who, but someone responded, “Yep.”

Conclusion? The Giants did indeed contemplate moving off Daniel Jones despite their ongoing insistence all off-season that once he was healthy, he would be their guy. 

Had the Giants drafted a rookie quarterback, Jones likely still would have been the starter this year while the rookie sat. But after that, it could probably be assumed that the team would have looked to move off of Jones and to the rookie once the guaranteed money on Jones’s contract was paid out.  

Quick Hits/Miscellaneous

In considering running backs, the Giants seemed to have narrowed down their choices to Devin Singletary, whom the team ultimately signed, and D’Andre Swift, formerly with the Eagles.  

Schoen seemed surprised at the $17 APY safety Xavier McKinney signed for when he heard the news.  

The Giants initially wanted to offer Eluemunor, who also drew interest from the Arizona Cardinals, a three-year deal, but he wanted a two-year deal instead. So they gave him the two-year deal with all the guaranteed money in the first year of the deal. 

---

• Follow and like us on Facebook.
• Submit your questions for our mailbag.
• Follow on Instagram.
• Check out the Giants Country YouTube Channel.