NEW YORK — Mitchell Trubisky’s name increasingly is being connected to the Giants.
And it isn’t exactly clear why.
Trubisky, 27, the Chicago Bears’ former No. 2 overall pick, backed up Josh Allen with the Buffalo Bills last season. So Giants GM Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll know him, and Trubisky knows Daboll’s offense.
But Trubisky coming to New York doesn’t make much sense for either side.
The quarterback should have better chances at starting and getting paid well in a thin quarterback market, where the Colts, Seahawks, Panthers, Steelers, Saints and Buccaneers are all in need.
And the Giants, who are cap-strapped, shouldn’t be undercutting their professed belief in Daniel Jones unless it’s for a markedly better veteran or a first-round pick in the NFL draft.
That’s exactly what they’d be doing if they acquired Trubisky, though. They’d be creating a quarterback competition in training camp with no inspiring or difference-making result.
As it is, Yahoo! Sports reported that one team in the backup QB market expects Trubisky to land with the Giants. And ESPN reported the Giants are expected to make a run at him, too.
The Giants undoubtedly need to improve on last year’s backup QB situation of Mike Glennon and Jake Fromm, which basically cost head coach Joe Judge his job. But they could sign anyone on the market and do that.
Jacoby Brissett and Tyrod Taylor are among the capable veteran options on the open market at this point.
O-line overhaul begins
Schoen made his first move to improve the offensive line on Wednesday. He locked up Atlanta Falcons tackle Matt Gono to a one-year contract that will become official next week, a source confirmed.
Gono, 25, spent all of last season on the physically unable to perform list after shoulder surgery during the 2021 offseason. He played in 21 games for the Falcons over the previous two years, including four starts and 16 games in 2020.
He can play both tackle and guard, though 232 of his 309 snaps in 2020 came at right tackle, per Pro Football Focus. Atlanta granted Gono his release in January.
Gono played at Cinnaminson (N.J.) in high school and Division III Wesley (Del.) College before signing with the Falcons as an undrafted free agent in 2018. These are the kind of bargain signings Schoen has to make to complement the draft in trying to fix the O-line in year one.
Engram good as gone
Evan Engram is unlikely to re-sign with the Giants. Never say never, but Engram is likely priced out of returning even if he wanted to. He’s basically at the top of the free agent tight end market after three quality tight ends were franchise-tagged on Tuesday: the Cowboys’ Dalton Schultz, the Browns’ David Njoku and the Dolphins’ Mike Gesicki.
Engram probably would be a better fit in an explosive and multiple offense that used his talents more efficiently, too. Imagine him as a complement to George Kittle in Kyle Shanahan’s 49ers attack. Some teams are even evaluating him as a slot receiver/tight end hybrid, and that could unlock even more of Engram’s talent in a forward-thinking offense.
Engram, 27, would also benefit from being in a more positive and appreciative environment, though he handled the pressure and vitriol maturely the last couple years in New York. Many Giants fans turned on him following his costly drop in Philadelphia in 2020. He was booed by the home crowd this season. And all he’s ever known here is losing.
Latest on Flores case
The Miami Dolphins recently filed letters with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell seeking to have Brian Flores’ claims against Miami pushed into a secret arbitration proceeding to which the public would not have access.
Experts previously have told the New York Daily News that the case likely will proceed into private arbitration due to Flores’ inclusion of the Dolphins in his lawsuit, since his contract with Miami as their former head coach included an arbitration clause.
Flores and his attorneys pushed back Wednesday against the use of arbitration in this case, arguing that the gravity of Flores’ claims demands a public forum and that hiding the facts would set a poor precedent.
“The claims that we filed involve important issues of systemic race discrimination and the integrity of NFL football games,” Flores said in a statement released Wednesday by his attorneys. “Unfortunately, the Dolphins and their attorneys, Quinn Emanuel and Paul Weiss, are trying to push the claims against the Dolphins into secret arbitration proceedings that lack transparency.
“There are currently ongoing legislative efforts to end forced arbitration for claims of race discrimination, which I fully support,” Flores added. “I would hope that the NFL and Dolphins would also support those efforts. Commissioner Goodell now has a choice to make. Will he allow this case and future race discrimination claims to play out in a transparent and public legal process, or continue along the same unacceptable path?”
