The New York Giants are entering a crucial offseason, one where if they get it wrong will lead to major changes in the organization — again.
They don’t have a ton of players hitting free agency that are worth re-signing, so here’s a list of five they shouldn’t bring back.
Leonard Williams, defensive lineman
This is my opinion, which means little since they will absolutely pull out all the stops to keep him in the fold, including slapping the franchise tag on him if need be. That would be a shame since it could be somewhere in the neighborhood of $17 million which is way more than he is worth. Spotrac.com values Williams at $8.3 million per year. I don’t think the Giants should pay much more for him, but they will since general manager Dave Gettleman already has so much invested in him.
Mike Remmers, offensive tackle
Remmers was a one-year, stopgap player who filled a need last year. Hopefully, they won’t need him to do that again. The Giants must vastly upgrade at both tackle positions this offseason if they have any designs on Daniel Jones toeing the next step in his career. That doesn’t bode well for Remmers, since they can’t dump Nate Solder.
Deone Bucannon, linebacker
It’s not that I don’t like Bucannon, but he’s a niche player and works well at the “money backer” position. Hopefully the Giants will have a ‘money’ backer by the name of Isaiah Simmons or Cory Littleton instead of Bucannon, who was cut mid-season by Tampa Bay last year and received no other interest except by the Giants.
Antonio Hamilton, defensive back
Hamilton was basically a special teamer and a good one at that, but when thrust into in the defensive lineup he didn’t look like an NFL player. I don’t see the Giants bringing him back as they are looking to bring in more well-rounded players.
Jon Halapio, center
“Pio” is a restricted free agent, so the Giants would have to not tender him for him to become a UFA. Don’t count on that happening, but maybe it should. Halapio is a good guy and a nice story, but this is the NFL and the Giants need a better option at center other than him and Spencer Pulley. They’ve been interviewing centers at the Combine, so you can pretty much see them going in a different direction here already.
