Giants can fix their offense with two huge free agent signings
By John Buhler
If the New York Giants were able to add Jack Conklin and Joe Thuney in free agency, this offensive tackle tandem would magically fix this team’s offense.
The New York Giants may need to tackle better, but they also need better tackles.
No, we shouldn’t expect the Giants to contend for a playoff spot next year, but they have to be better than they’ve been the last few years, right? They parted ways with Pat Shurmur as head coach in favor of former New England Patriots special teams coordinator Joe Judge. There are pieces we like on New York’s roster, but the offensive line can’t resemble a turnstile again.
The Giants have the sixth-most available cap space this offseason at roughly $73.3 million. They already have a dynamic running back in Saquon Barkley and a promising young quarterback in Daniel Jones. All the Giants need to do is upgrade their offensive tackle spots and this team could be respectable in a weak NFC East.
Though it would require cutting ties with left tackle Nate Solder, the Giants need to pursue Joe Thuney as his replacement, as well as see if they can get a former first-round pick to occupy the right tackle spot in Jack Conklin.
Thuney comes from the same New England system as Judge. Interestingly enough, so does Solder. Though Dante Scarnecchia isn’t walking through that door, perhaps Solder can be what he once was in New England under a Bill Belichick disciple? But if Judge and his staff have seen enough, go get Thuney in free agency before someone else does.
As for Conklin, it’s still beyond head-scratching why the Titans didn’t give their former first-round pick the fifth-year option. He was an All-Pro as a rookie in 2016. Even though his 2017 and 2018 seasons weren’t great, Conklin played well down the stretch in 2019 when the Titans went on a deep postseason run.
Conklin will garner a lot of attention in free agency. Tennessee may not have the financial flexibility to bring him back, as the Titans have to figure out what they’re doing with running back Derrick Henry and quarterback Ryan Tannehill. If the Giants don’t go after Conklin, then a team like the New York Jets will end up with him in the same media market. That’ll be awkward at MetLife.
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Overall, these offensive line upgrades are important because they give Barkley more running lanes to explode through, as well as give Jones a bit more time to make plays from the pocket. Again, these two guys are the future of Giants football. Any offensive move the Giants make going forward should be done with these two former first-rounders in mind.