Shortly after the New York Giants signed veteran cornerback James Bradberry, he acknowledged the team “came out of nowhere” to offer him a deal, which essentially implied they were late to the party.
Of course, the Giants had been actively pursuing Byron Jones before signing Bradberry, but they were also behind the curve in reaching out to Jones.
How can that be, you ask? The answer is quite simple: the Giants are one of the very few teams in the league that actually wait for the NFL’s legal tampering window to open before engaging in contract talks with free agents and their representatives.
It’s true. It’s been that way for years and it’s often why the Giants aren’t among the team’s making those initial big-name splashes right out of the gate. And it’s also why they lose out on players like Jones.
Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News recently broke this down:
They are well known for waiting until the start of the league’s legal tampering window to pick up the phone and make that first offer.
This doesn’t mean the Giants never connect with free agents’ representatives earlier in the offseason or have preliminary conversations. But, as opposed to some teams who have deals already negotiated by the time that tampering window opens, the Giants prefer to follow the letter of the law and wait until that window actually opens to talk brass tacks.
Some league sources consider this detrimental for the Giants because they could lose players by not acting as quickly as other clubs willing to preempt the deadline. Many teams tamper and are rarely nailed for it.
Had the Giants violated NFL rules and engaged in early contract talks, it’s possible that they would have landed Byron Jones and some others. But that’s just not who the Giants are and that’s not how they operate — they will follow the rules as they are written and intended, consequences be damned.
