ESPN's Bill Barnwell lists the Giants among the teams with the worst offseason

[MightyGiants]

I believe the article is behind a paywall.  Bill lists both the positives and the negatives.  I will post the negatives that had Bill putting the Giants among the teams with the worst offseasons

What went wrong: The organization appears to have bought into its own hype. An unexpected trip to the postseason and a road victory once they got there was a pleasant surprise for the Giants, who had been treating 2023 as a year to get their salary cap right and begin a rebuild. Their underlying performance wasn't quite as impressive; they were outscored on the season and finished 21st in DVOA. They went 8-4-1 in games decided by eight or fewer points and were lucky to draw an even worse playoff opponent in the Vikings, whose DVOA ranked them as the sixth-worst team in the league.

In response, the Giants appear to be running it back. They franchise-tagged Saquon Barkley and committed to Jones, signing the same player who wasn't worth a fifth-year option 12 months earlier to a four-year, $160 million deal with $81 million guaranteed over the first two seasons. They brought back Slayton and Shepard, who seemed to be on the way out, and while those weren't major deals, the move for Jones certainly was just that.

Jones ranked sixth in Total QBR last season, so I won't be arguing that he played poorly. In terms of Jones' development, though, coach Brian Daboll squeezed just about everything out of him. The 2019 first-rounder threw the shortest average pass of any quarterback (6.0 air yards per attempt), which helped drop his interception rate to an unsustainably-low mark of 1.1%. Jones was incredible as a scrambler, but his 708 rushing yards nearly doubled his career rushing total from Years 1 through 3. He averaged just 6.8 yards per attempt and still managed to take sacks on nearly 9% of his dropbacks. Plus, he attempted just 29.5 passes per game.

On a rookie deal, that sort of production is incredibly valuable. At $40 million per year, it wouldn't be a good use of resources. Jones has to improve as a passer to justify that sort of contract, and the steps he has to take as a downfield thrower and a post-snap processor likely open him up to the turnovers he avoided in 2022.

The cap space the Giants were supposed to be clearing last year went to Jones and Barkley, which limited what they could do to upgrade a defense that ranked 29th in DVOA last season. I liked the addition of A'Shawn Robinson to one of the league's worst rush defenses, but a four-year, $40 million deal for off-ball linebacker Bobby Okereke was too aggressive at a position where the majority of useful players settled for much smaller commitments. Schoen used the team's first-round pick on much-needed cornerback Deonte Banks, but this secondary is going to struggle against an NFC East full of imposing receivers.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/insider/insider/story/_/id/37714148/ranking-best-worst-2023-nfl-offseasons-teams-improved-declined-signing-draft-trade#NYG

[Ed Vette]

My first inclination was to pose a JimV sarcastic question of, who is Bill Barnwell.

He does however make good points. The Defense is going to have to improve significantly for the Offense to take more aggressive chances. Otherwise those turnovers will be costly.

[DaveBrown74]

He makes a fair point about the Okereke contract.

I like Okereke a lot and am glad he is here as he is a good player who fills a huge void, but when you look at what TJ Edwards (who had a 2022 PFF grade over 10 points higher than Okereke's) signed for, I can't say it feels like we got a steal with him.

[MightyGiants]

My first inclination was to pose a JimV sarcastic question of, who is Bill Barnwell.

He does however make good points. The Defense is going to have to improve significantly for the Offense to take more aggressive chances. Otherwise those turnovers will be costly.

You wouldn't be the first person to ask who Barnwell is.  That's why I put his employer in the title line 

[DaveBrown74]

Barnwell is a familiar name to anyone who reads Football Outsiders or who reads the NFL section of ESPN. He's been doing both for a while (originally an FO guy). Where you won't see him is on TV. That doesn't seem to be his thing.

[MightyGiants]

Barnwell is a familiar name to anyone who reads Football Outsiders or who reads the NFL section of ESPN. He's been doing both for a while (originally an FO guy). Where you won't see him is on TV. That doesn't seem to be his thing.

Interesting, I was unaware of his Football Outsiders origins.  I think that gives him a little more credibility than your pure football journalist with a degree in journalism

[Ed Vette]

You wouldn't be the first person to ask who Barnwell is.  That's why I put his employer in the title line 

Jim would ask that question to discredit the author. Although there were times he really didn't know.

[nb587]

He makes a fair point about the Okereke contract.

I like Okereke a lot and am glad he is here as he is a good player who fills a huge void, but when you look at what TJ Edwards (who had a 2022 PFF grade over 10 points higher than Okereke's) signed for, I can't say it feels like we got a steal with him.

I could see both sides to this.  First, I agree that Okereke is a good player and for sure a major upgrade over what we had (and have).  But, he signed for way more than others including Edwards who are pretty good.  I'm wondering if Okereke's skill set aligns more with our needs and maybe we were competing with others for that skill set.  On the other hand, there is a possibility that is disturbing.  There's a term for this but I don't know what it is.  Sometimes a player plays so well against your team that you overvalue how good he is because he doesn't normally play that well. Okereke had a really good game against the Giants and I see the possibility that that game has resulted in an inflated contract and that would reflect negatively on Schoen if true.

[Gmo11]

All reasonable points.  Mostly predicated on the Jones contract.  Given what we've seen from Jones to this point it's fair to say.  Giants are gambling that with more talent around him that Jones can take a leap and given the other option available it's not an unreasonable gamble to take.  Especially since if he falls flat on his face they can get out of this in 2 years.

Having said that, if Jones does make a leap thanks to improved receiving targets and improved play from  center and right tackle then the Giants could certainly become one of those frisky teams that nobody wants to play in November/December and maybe sneak into the playoffs if things break right.

[Bob In PA]

Bill Barnwell can go salute himself.  Who cares what Bill Blowhard thinks, anyway?  Bob

[Ed Vette]

Bill Barnwell can go salute himself.  Who cares what Bill Blowhard thinks, anyway?  Bob

[Bob In PA]

Ed: It's a line from the old TV show M*A*S*H which has stuck with me throughout the years. Bob

[ralphpal1]

In fact he wrote they had the 24th worst off-season
Which actually means it was one of the best
Also it's a sad day when you have to explain MASH
I must be very old

[Painter]

It doesn't matter who Barwell is, and whether we know or care what motivates him, his statement is gratuitous which depending on definition can mean uncalled for, lacking good reason. or simply free of charge. Whichever you choose, it seems to me to be not worth debating or at most minimal comment.

Cheers!

[Rosehill Jimmy]

I could see both sides to this.  First, I agree that Okereke is a good player and for sure a major upgrade over what we had (and have).  But, he signed for way more than others including Edwards who are pretty good.  I'm wondering if Okereke's skill set aligns more with our needs and maybe we were competing with others for that skill set.  On the other hand, there is a possibility that is disturbing.  There's a term for this but I don't know what it is.  Sometimes a player plays so well against your team that you overvalue how good he is because he doesn't normally play that well. Okereke had a really good game against the Giants and I see the possibility that that game has resulted in an inflated contract and that would reflect negatively on Schoen if true.

Well we will never know if that was the case but I doubt it's true.  I tend to believe the 100+ tackles in the last two years is what attracted Schoen/ Daboll/Martindale to BO.  It's not like he pulled off the performance of his life vs Giants last year.  His production belies that notion. If anything, they got first hand confirmation of just how good a player he is.