The New York Giants have three players ranked in Pro Football Focus’ top 100 free agents.
Big Blue had a down year in 2023, only winning six games after winning a playoff game the year prior. The team struggled with a multitude of issues but the highlights were the inconsistency in quarterback play and the long-withstanding issues amongst the offensive line.
Due to these shortcomings, some talent (that was in the last year of their contracts) went to waste.
Here are PFF’s top players from the Giants who are slated to hit the market.
29. RB Saquon Barkley
The 29th-ranked free agent in the class is running back Saquon Barkley.
Barkley will be an unrestricted free agent this year similar to what he was last year. The running back was franchised tagged (before receiving a modified one-year contract) last season as he has been an integral part of the team’s success since entering the league.
The Penn State product has totaled 7,311 scrimmage yards and 43 touchdowns in six seasons with Big Blue. He has set several records, has won Offensive Rookie of the Year, and earned two Pro Bowl nominations. His ability to break tackles and create big plays has made him the player to scheme against in every game of his career.
The Giants would love to have him back because of how much they lean on him to carry the offense. Barkley has also expressed interest in being a lifelong Giant but as of now the odds of that being the case are not high as the Giants look to be moving in a different direction from needing a running back to win now. Nevertheless, Barkley will make a team very happy in 2024.
What PFF had to say:
Barkley held out for a short period this offseason before returning to play on his franchise tag plus a few incentives that he had close to zero chance of earning. Unfortunately for him, the Giants’ season has been an abject disaster from the start … that is, until Tommy Cutlets became America’s quarterback.
Barkley is still capable of breaking off an explosive rush at any moment and has made highlight-reel catches in 2023, including a wheel route touchdown that ended with a dive for the pylon in Week 2 against the Arizona Cardinals. There’s no doubt Barkley’s highs are as high as any running back in the game, but the position market is a tricky landscape to navigate in 2024, especially with Barkley missing extended time in three out of the past four seasons.
The good news for Barkley and all free agent running backs this offseason is that the 2024 running back draft class is not perceived to be strong.
43. S Xavier McKinney
The 43rd-ranked free agent is safety Xavier McKinney.
Despite struggling with injuries in his first and third seasons, McKinney has consistently been one of the better secondary players for the Giants. He brought his game to another level this season as PFF states below.
The former second-round pick would be a great player for the Giants to bring back as he has been a leader on their defense and is a young player with a bright future ahead of him. He has clearly shown that he can be an elite safety in the league and this was best shown in the last game of the season where he made two highlight-reel interceptions against the Philadelphia Eagles.
What PFF had to say:
McKinney’s coverage grades as a free safety (81.4) and in the box (79.4) are top-10 marks among safeties in 2023, and there is a big enough sample size of box play despite his general deployment as a deep player. Over the past three seasons, McKinney’s 7.0 yards allowed per target in coverage ranks top-25 among safeties, and his 17 combined interceptions and forced incompletions put him in the top 20.
While he could make more plays at or near the line of scrimmage, he rarely whiffs on open-field tackles. The 24-year-old has missed just 7.8% of his tackle attempts over his career, 11th-best among 89 safeties with at least 100 tackles over the past four seasons, making him a reliable enough last line of defense.
83. CB Adoree' Jackson
Adoree’ Jackson was signed to a three-year, $39 million deal with New York that many criticized as being an overpay. The criticisms were proven mostly true as Jackson did not live up to his contract and he did not take the expected leap to stardom.
Jackson had his best season with the Giants in 2021 where he allowed a mere 69.0 passer rating and 353 yards in coverage. However, since then, that number has increased each year ballooning up to a 95.5 passer rating allowed and 752 yards allowed. He has shown clear talent and is still on the younger end so it is just up to him to put it all together. It is unlikely he will stay in East Rutherford unless he takes a significant pay cut.
What PFF had to say:
Jackson cross-trained this offseason for a move to a full-time slot role but ended up moving back out wide after just two games. The first half of the Giants’ season featured an aggressive defense that ranked second in blitz rate but still couldn’t get home on the quarterback with any consistency, leaving their cornerbacks on islands with extremely difficult assignments on a regular basis.
Wink Martindale’s unit turned a corner over the second half of the year, and Jackson looked improved once returning from injury. Injuries have limited Jackson in four of the past five seasons, but he has true inside-outside versatility with good lateral agility and a knack for making plays on the football, often laying out for acrobatic pass breakups after goading quarterbacks into the occasional throw into his coverage area.
