The New York Giants traded outside linebacker Olivier Vernon to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for guard Kevin Zeitler on Friday — a deal that also included an exchange of draft picks and will become official on March 13.
The move solves one major issue for the Giants, but further opens another. Of course, that can be held for debate and discussion on another day.
Here’s a quick look at the Giants’ newest acquisition.
Former first-round pick with tons of experience
The 6-foot-4, 315-pound Zeitler was a first-round pick (No. 27 overall) of the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2012 NFL Draft out of Wisconsin. That season, he started all 16 games and was eventually named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team.
Over his seven seasons in the NFL, Zeitler has appeared in 104 games with 103 starts. He’s started all 16 games in five of those seasons, missing just eight games total (four in 2013 and four in 2014).
One of the NFL’s best in 2018
In 2018, Zeitler established himself as one of the NFL’s best despite not making the Pro Bowl or being named an All-Pro.
When all was said and done, Zeitler earned a Pro Football Focus grade of 74.5, which was good for sixth-best at his position in the NFL.
However, where Zeitler truly excelled was in pass protection. No one in the league was better at the position.
For the sake of comparison, Giants guards allowed 39 pressures in 2018. Zeitler allowed 11.
Zeitler has three years left on his contract
Zeitler signed a five-year, $60 million contract in 2017 and has three years currently remaining as he arrives in East Rutherford.
Zeitler will earn a base salary (and have a cap hit of) $10 million that would carry $3.5 million in dead cap if the Giants were to release him this year for whatever reason.
There is an out in Zeitler’s contract after this season that would leave the Giants with no dead cap hit to speak of, but the more likely scenario is they see the deal through. He is slated to earn $10 million in 2020 and $12 million in 2021.
Today is Zeitler’s birthday
On Friday, Zeitler celebrated his 29th birthday, which is significant because the Giants are getting a quality talent on the right side of the 30-year mark.
But why is that significant enough to note on this list? Well, because it was a rather interesting birthday. Mere moments before being traded, the Browns sent out a public “Happy Birthday” to Zeitler.
Awkward.
Bengals went downhill after letting Zeitler walk
With Zeitler securing the guard position, Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton felt comfortable for quite some time. However, that changed drastically in 2017 and 2018 after Zeitler joined the Browns.
Our friends over at Bengals Wire explained it best:
It all loops back to the Bengals failing to prioritize the guard position back when they should have, knowing full and well thanks to having Geno Atkins on the roster that interior pressure was the next big thing in the NFL. Zeitler got away and while he hasn’t been perfect, it sure beats rotating undrafted players in and out of the lineup and crossing the fingers.
That’s one less thing the Giants have to worry about now.
