The New York Giants have been fairly consistent when it comes to retaining their young talent. General manager Joe Schoen made several moves this offseason to ensure that the team’s core remains in place for the foreseeable future.
Former first-round picks Dexter Lawrence and Daniel Jones were kept off the free agent market with long-term extensions and several other internal free agents such as wide receivers Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton and linebackers Jihad Ward and Oshane Ximines were re-signed.
Running back Saquon Barkley was assigned the franchise tag and has until next Monday to strike a long-term deal with the team.
Other young core players such as left tackle Andrew Thomas and safety Xavier McKinney appear to be on deck for the next round of mega-contracts.
From Dan Duggan of The Athletic:
The Giants have time on their side with Thomas’ rookie deal carrying him through 2024, but as noted in my plan, the cost should only rise as the 24-year-old nears free agency. I pegged a five-year deal worth $100 million as a realistic goal for Thomas, but that’s underselling him. It’s more likely Thomas will command at least $25 million per year in his eventual extension.
But McKinney, a second-round pick, is heading into the final year of his rookie contract and Duggan believes the Giants should act sooner rather than later. That is if they are going to act at all.
There are no indications the Giants have initiated extension talks with McKinney, who is entering the final year of his rookie deal. That’s understandable since he missed eight games last season after breaking his fingers in a bye-week ATV accident. But this could be the time to strike.
McKinney’s leverage is at a low point due to his self-inflicted miscue. As a 2020 second-round pick, McKinney hasn’t had a huge payday yet, so he might be more inclined to a team-friendly extension. I used the three-year, $36 million extension signed by Cardinals safety Jalen Thompson last year as a potential comp for McKinney.
It’s not clear what McKinney will be seeking, but extending him now would eliminate one major variable from next offseason.
Very true. McKinney should be the next in line but it looks as if the Giants want to him recover from that hand issue before putting any more chips down on him.
