State of the Team: Secondary - Corners & Safeties & NFL Combine Notes

Welcome back to "2 Giant Goofballs: A NY Giants Podcast"! In this episode, we're diving deep into the state of the New York Giants' secondary, focusing specifically on the cornerback and safety positions. As we break down the performance of each player and evaluate potential offseason moves, we'll explore how the Giants can strengthen their defense for the upcoming season.

Let's start by taking a closer look at the cornerback group. Adoree' Jackson and Deonte Banks headline the unit, bringing a combination of solid tackling and coverage skills to the field. Despite some inconsistency, Jackson has shown flashes of brilliance, while Banks has emerged as a reliable starter. Nick McCloud, Tre Hawkins III, Cor'Dale Flott, and Darnay Holmes round out the cornerback depth chart, each contributing in their own way. However, with Aaron Robinson and Kaleb Hayes potentially returning, the competition for roster spots will be fierce.

In terms of potential free agent targets, Kendall Fuller and Sean Murphy-Bunting stand out as viable options to bolster the Giants' cornerback corps. Fuller's versatility and experience make him an attractive candidate, while Murphy-Bunting's playmaking ability could provide a much-needed boost to the secondary. Considering the importance of solid cornerback play in today's pass-heavy NFL, acquiring a proven veteran could pay dividends for the Giants' defense.

Turning our attention to the safety position, Xavier McKinney emerges as the undisputed leader of the group. With his exceptional tackling and coverage skills, McKinney has established himself as one of the top safeties in the league. Jason Pinnock, Dane Belton, Bobby McCain, and Gervarrius Owens provide valuable depth behind McKinney, offering versatility and playmaking ability in their own right. However, with McKinney's contract situation looming, the Giants must be prepared to make a significant financial commitment to retain his services.

Looking ahead to potential free agent targets, Geno Stone, Julian Blackmon, and Alohi Gilman could all be intriguing options for the Giants. Stone's emergence as a reliable starter for the Ravens makes him an attractive option, while Blackmon's versatility and playmaking ability could add a new dimension to the Giants' defense. Gilman, meanwhile, brings a combination of youth and potential that could make him a valuable long-term asset for the team.

In addition to analyzing the Giants' secondary, we'll also discuss the latest news and rumors surrounding the team. From Saquon Barkley's uncertain future to the team's meetings with top quarterback prospects at the combine, there's no shortage of storylines to follow as the offseason unfolds. Plus, we'll provide updates on contract negotiations, potential trades, and roster moves from around the NFL, keeping you informed on all the latest developments.

Join us as we break down the strengths, weaknesses, and potential additions to the Giants' secondary on "2 Giant Goofballs: A NY Giants Podcast"!

#nygiants #giants #nfl

Transcript

A New York Giants podcast. Are you a goofball that loves Giants football? If so, sit back and relax as we talk about the team that both excites and frustrates us so much. And now, here are your goofball hosts, Drew and Rob. Welcome fellow goofballs to Two Giant Goofballs, a New York Giants podcast. I am Drew, joined as always by... I'm me, Rob. Alright, let's talk about some secondaries. Yes, and I apologize ahead of time, as you can all probably tell very easily. My throat is just a little bit messed up right now. Yeah, but we're going to go through. We're going to chug on through. I got some water here. We're going to get this going. We haven't missed one episode ever. We did delay it by one day once ever. That's it. There's no IR for the goofballs. There's no IR for the goofballs. Show must go on. Yeah, we're not Darren Waller. We can't keep going on there. So, today, guys, we have our last in our series of State of the Team. We're going over the secondary, going over the corners, the safeties, the last line of defense, literally, on the defense. So, let's start it off here with going over Aquinas. And it's an interesting group because... It was kind of a transition year, if you think about it. You know, we've had... Dory Jackson had the last three years as being our top corner. You know, we'll get rid of him. 14 games, 14 starts. So, as usual, missed a couple of games due to injury. 63 tackles, one interception, which happened to be a touchdown. But only a 48.6 PFF grade, guys. He was definitely not himself last year. Yeah, he was definitely fighting through a lot of injury. Like, he was... that they moved him, like, you know, who is outside slots. Like he was kind of playing different roles. Yes, I will definitely agree on that. That was part of it. That was definitely part of it. But I also wonder, is some of it maybe his age? I mean, he's 28 years old now. He's been a guy who's dependent on his speed his whole career. Let's be honest, he's not a great tackler, but he's got great physical tools. Those physical tools will go over time. So when you lose your physical tools, what you're left with is your technique. And if you don't have good technique, your career will not be long. So, you know, Dorian Jackson obviously is a free agent. We've already talked about this many times on this show that we don't think he's any back. That's been kind of verified by some of the beat writers lately. But, you know, we've been calling that basically since last offseason when they didn't really do much to try to get an extension going with them there. plus obviously a certain draft pick we'll talk about in a minute made that pretty obvious as well on top of that. Yeah. Great three-year run for Adory. He definitely falls into that category of once a Giant, always a Giant. A lot of respect for the guy, what he did here. But I do think, yeah, it is time to move on because if you sign him, let's say another three-year contract, he'll be 31, guys. 31. Now, don't get me wrong. He's not going to receive money he got from us in his next contract. But, yeah, he's definitely not going to be, you know, the same player towards the end of that contract. If he's not even now, we don't know. Was it the injuries? Was it the move from slot to outside to all these things, you know? Or was it just he's 28? We don't know. Yeah, he's been injury prone, you know, Trying to take that hip return last year definitely helped me. At least it wasn't a punt return this year, right? Yeah, yeah. It definitely didn't help his speed game with the knee injury. So, I mean, it's tough to say. He may still have a couple good years left in the tank, but does he have three? That's a solid question to ask. Not unless he moves to safety. And with his tackling ability, I don't think he's going to be a guy who turns to safety. I think he's a guy who has a somewhat shorter career because of that, honestly. Yeah. Unless he really works in that. I mean, the guy's a hard worker. There's no doubt on that. For whatever reason, he's just never been a good tackler. Well, the problem is, and like you said it too, he's got that physical ability, so he didn't have to get technical. So a lot of guys, especially when they're gifted, these high abilities to be very physical – It's also his size, though. He's 5'10", 185 pounds, guys. I was that size in middle school. Yeah, but not everyone's a freaking giant over there. But not everyone's NFL size either. You're right. I mean, let's put it this way. I'm like 235 at 5'10". So, Adore and I, yeah. He probably couldn't jack. He got 50 pounds on the man. He probably couldn't jack on me. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. That's part of the issue with him is he's just so light. Adoree, I live in New Jersey. I'll show you some techniques. Like I said, I hope his career goes for a little while longer there because I like the guy, I respect the work he put in. I just think he's kind of on the tail end there. Next up is the guy whose career is just beginning. Our first round pick of this past NFL draft there, Deontay Banks, 15 games, 15 starts, 64 tackles, 2 interceptions, and a 51.4 PFF grade. So an actual better grade than Adoree Jackson. And I think the whole story of him really is when he was CB2, he looked really good. When he was CB1, he looked really bad. Really bad, I think it's an unfair statement. He did not look good. And you could say bad, but very bad. Maybe a game. But I wouldn't even say the full game. Because there was plenty of times where, I mean, like you said, CB2, he looked pretty darn good. So he's been in that roller coaster, but he's also a rookie. It's his first year. Oh, yeah, and listen, we've talked about this before. It's a learning curve position he's playing. Most quarters are not going to go ahead and, you know, be Sauce Gardner their first year like Sauce was. I mean, that's just insane to even think that. I think part of the problem is because a lot of the big names that came out the year before, like Sauce, you know, like Tyreek Woolen, you know, you got guys that came out and just balled as rookies. That's not normal. So. Yeah, no. Definitely not no one. I think the future is bright for him. I think he's a legitimate NFL corner. What we're going to find out in the next year or two is, is he a number one corner? Is he a top corner? And that's what we're going to find out here. I don't have the answer for that yet. I don't think anyone here does. We're just specifying what we think. So I think that he can be a number one, but I'm not 100% positive he's going to be. Yeah. It's also, we got to think about it too. So he was drafted by the last defense, right? So we can friends, if you will, who, you know, they like that zoning corner. So, and that's what Banks was. He was a physical, athletic guy that was pretty good in the zone. Pretty good man, I should say. Now we've got a new defensive coordinator. Like, can he continue that trait? Like, will he look good? Will he be better? Well, I think if you look towards the end of the season, and I think this was a lot of the fight going on at Wink, honestly, is we talked about this before the show as well. There's a lot more zone coverage going on there towards the end of the season. You saw Banks play better. You saw McKinney play better. You saw Dean Belton making some big plays. I think as much as Wink wanted to play that all-out attack, leave the secondary on their own, I don't think this team is built for that. I don't think this team is built for your pass rushers are your pass rushers and your pass defenders are your pass defenders. And for whatever reason, Wink just didn't want to go there. But, I mean, again, that doesn't shock me. That's what Wink did over in Baltimore. That's what he is. That's who he is. He does not bend what he wants to do. So, you know, hopefully going forward, that's not a problem now with the new DC. But I think you're going to see a mix and match between man and zone coming up this year. And Banks can do both, and he can do both very well. He's proven that. Yes. He's a very athletic guy who's pretty smart. He's proven that he can learn the position in different traits pretty well with his abilities and his athleticism. Alrighty. And next up, we got a guy that I got to be honest with you guys. I'm not I'm not putting this in order like I usually do based on percentage of defensive snaps or offensive snaps. Obviously, this case defensive. I'm actually putting this in order of importance, I think, to the team. And the next step we have is a free agent that I think we've got to bring back, and that's Nick McCloud. 17 games, three starts, 28 tackles, one interception. Odie played in 28% of defensive snaps, guys. That's a low percentage for a guy that we thought might be starting at safety even this year. He lost half the job to Jason Pinnock, but went back to playing more of a corner role. Guys, he had a 74.8 PFF grade. Again, PFF is not everything. It's not the end all, you know. But if you look, he had by far the best grade of any of our corners in this entire year. And he's a guy that, again, he's versatile. He plays a lot of positions. And I think he was underutilized big time last year. I'm a big Nick McCloud fan. It's not just because of 23. It's because of what he did in 22. He came out of nowhere, and when he had to, he hung his own as a corner, and he did his job. He did a good job, I thought. And every time I hear his name, I think about the Highlander. McCloud! Here we are! Can't do it with my voice right now. That's what I say. Don't do that. Why would I even try to do Queen? I'm sorry, Freddie Mercury, wherever you are. You definitely can't hit that note at this time. I can't even hit that note with a good throw, let's be honest here. Touche. But yeah, Nick McCloud had a great 23. Like you said, 22 out of nowhere. He came out and he has proven himself to really need to be a giant next year. Yeah. And it's not like he's going to be an expensive piece. No, I can't imagine that. You know, I think there's got to be a certain level of respect he has for this team and this front office. Because keep in mind, again, two years. So he was brought in by this front office. He wasn't a Gettleman guy. He was a Shane guy. And he was brought in off the streets basically after Pittsburgh cut him. And they gave him a chance. And he took the best opportunity he could with that chance. So, you know, kudos to him. It doesn't go all on Shane and Dable at that point in Wink. But, you know... When you get a guy that you give a shot to and he succeeds, not only do you want to keep him because you feel a certain bit of ownership of that, and obviously I don't mean me and Rob, but I mean the two giants obviously in the end. It wasn't us. I wish I'd take credit for that. But I would think Nick McCloud also would want to stay here because when you go to places and you don't succeed – And you go somewhere else and you do succeed. Two things. One, like you said, there's a respect. There's definitely that. But here's the second thing, and I get it. Athletes are also very, very cocky. Very cocky. And that's fine. They've been the best at what they do for years. But at the same point, they're also very superstitious and they're always worried about change. There's a reason people give a hometown discount. It's not because they don't like money. It's because they're succeeding where they're at and they don't want to mess that up. And it's Is the grass always greener on the other side? Yes, you might make more money. But it's not just athletes. People do it in general. But I'm saying, how often do you see somebody move to a different place and all of a sudden the success is not there? Well, I'm just saying, same thing in careers with people that just listen to this podcast and watch the NFL. There's plenty of people that won't take that $10,000, $50,000 year pay increase because they know what they got. They know what they're doing. Hold on. $15,000 a year increase? I'm in there. What kind of job is this? I'm just saying so people won't do it. I mean, they know what they're doing. My boss is listening. He's making a ride. My boss is listening. Please, $15,000 to increase. Match it or else. Next up, we got a guy that I have such mixed thoughts on, really. I really do. So he was the star of training camp, the absolute star. People are like, oh, my God, the Giants got a lead around stud. I mean, it wasn't just Giants beat reporters. This was like national news. Trey Hawkins III. Now, when Trey got drafted, he was drafted to be a project. He was not a guy who had all this huge amount of experience. You know, he played just a little bit there at Old Dominion. Before that, he played at Trinity Valley. Does anyone know where Trinity Valley is? No, of course you don't. By the three points? Yeah, no. I'd have to look it up myself even where it is. That's how bad it is. So, you know, he doesn't have a ton of experience like that. And even Old Dominion is not a powerhouse team. So you expect when you get a guy late around from a small school to keep him at an even smaller school. that you're going to have to spend some time and develop this guy. And if there's one guy on this roster that I trust of coaches, it's Jermaine Henderson. I'm so glad we kept him. I'm so glad we gave him a title increase and probably a pay increase to go with it because I have a lot of respect for that man. I thought he actually should have been defensive coordinator. We'll see if Shane Bowen proves me wrong in that one. But, you know, he's a guy that – look at the secondary guys. It hasn't been an issue. Of all the issues we've had in this roster, and there's been plenty of them, mostly in offensive line, I know. A lot. But for all the issues we've had, the secondary has not been an issue for multiple years now, guys. They've held their own. Whether it shows up stat-wise or not, it shows up on film. Because sometimes they're giving up plays because nobody's got the quarterback in 10 seconds. You're going to recover for so long. So Trey Hawkins, though, 17 games, three starts, 35 tackles, zero interceptions, 52.6 PFF grade, 31% of the defensive snaps. And my only concern with him is we came in with such high hopes all because of the media. And I'm not blaming the media when I say it that way. He looked that good in practice. They're just telling us what they saw for whatever reason. It didn't translate to the regular season. And it really looked bad at times. Us as Giants fans as well, we always take on those project piece players. This is the next coming of Joe Mantegna. Joe Mantegna? Joe Mantegna. You're going back to Joe Mantegna here. I was trying to avoid a reference there. Anyway, everyone jumps on board. They see the project player playing well in the preseason and everyone goes crazy. Like, look at this guy. He's the next coming. He's going to be the next great guy in the corner position. He's going to be the stuff. There's that Joe Montana. Beautiful. But, and that's what happened. And like the whole media got caught up in it. Oh yeah. But, but just like you said, where's all the, you know, point out all the media on the map, close your eyes, point it out. And tell me where, you know. I know the band. And tell me where, you know. It's a good band. Tell me where his other school was as well. That's what I'm saying. I mean, ultimately nobody's heard of him. Well, that's what I'm saying. No one really knew what he actually really was when he comes in. He's playing NFL level. But is it NFL starting level? If you listen to guys who coached him in college, and I listened to a couple interviews that some guys had with his college coaches when we drafted him, he was said to be a project by them even. He came in very, very raw to Old Dominion, very raw. So three years at Old Dominion, he's still raw, guys. He's still raw. And he's getting the best coaching he's ever had. And I'm hopeful in a year or two he's a legitimate piece of the secondary. Now, how far does he go up? I don't know. I'm not going to set a ceiling or a floor for this kid because, you know, he could become a starter. He could become, you know, a bust in a couple of years. We don't know. We've got to find out. It's that high of a range. When you take him, what, sixth round? Yeah, I mean, exactly. That's when you get projects. Look at you, Eric Gray. That was fifth round. I just like to mock him. I'm telling you, Eric Gray's never going to come on the show, that's for sure. Eric Gray will never. Then again, I said that last year about the Scottish Hammer, and he would come in now. Probably would. He's like, they love me. They love me now. Next up, Cordell Flott, who was the who, what, what, what, who we get when we get drafted into the third round a couple years ago. Third round. And I'll never forget because this was before you and I started doing the podcast and I was listening to Talking Giants do it. And I will always associate this moment with this man. And it was a friend of the show, you know, former guest star on the show there, Bobby Skinner of Talking Giants, who came on to their live feed. And when he heard it was Cordell Flott, he got so ticked off, he left the room. Because he's like, I put so much work into all these players. I have no notes in this guy. He's a fifth or sixth round great ahead of him. And we took him in the third. And a lot of people had him that low of a grade, really. That was a reach in a lot of people's eyes. But I think he's done better than we expected based on that reach. Now, has he done third round good? I don't know about that. I would say he's probably done my fourth round good. He's been a decent backup player. But a third round, she was pushing for a starting job. Now, he did have seven starts last year, 14 games overall, 36 tackles, one interception, a 53.3 PFF, played at 56% of the defensive snaps. But while he got the opportunities, I can't say he did anything great to take a spot. I mean, let's be very frank and say they want to hand this kid a job. They drafted him. They want to say, here you go, Flott. Here's your job. We want you in the field doing this and doing it often. That's what happens when the team that drafted you is still there on the Giants. Yeah, I mean, I guess new DC, new opinions. We'll see what happens going forward. Because, I mean... I don't know because you got Henderson still there. That's the interesting part about having a new D.C. It'll be a new scheme, but you'll still have the same position coach. The only position coach is that change for a linebacker. Touche. It's more like they head out and held on to Henderson and obviously Andre Patterson is another guy we have a lot of respect for. But I'm curious to see what this change does to Cordell Flott as well. Because if I remember correctly, this is what, year 3-4 now for him? He's getting to that point now where it's time to put up or shut up. And if he does this, yeah, so it's two years in. So, yeah, three years. It's three years coming up. Year three is usually that year where you know what you got. Yeah. You give it one or two years to kind of develop. Year three, it's time to show who you are or that's who people just think you are now. Yeah. Look at it. You have a Neil. Burger flipper. Yeah. He's going to be working at Wendy's in no time, getting that search going on. Yeah, surge pricing. Oh, even better. Did you hear what Burger King did? What would they do? They're not going to keep a habit their way without a charge. Oh, no. With that big response. I have to look into details, but they're giving away Whoppers. Giving away Whoppers. Yeah. So they heard the surge about the Wendy's. In the price frames, I think they're going to be giving away Whoppers. I'm intrigued. I am getting at that. Evan Neal, Burger King is going to need more line cooks to flip those burgers. You got a job. You don't flip the burgers at Burger King. I worked at one when I was a kid. You actually just put it on a conveyor belt, and it just rolls down and spits it back out. If you look at the burger at a Burger King burger, it's got one side of the lines, and that's it. interesting which is the sign you put up by the way so if you take off the flip it put the bottom button off you'll see no lines at the bottom of the burger interesting it's literally it's literally on the fire for a total two minutes it's just they use fire to reheat it that's it I'm giving away all the trade secrets I didn't sign an nda god damn it that's also fast food I will all say it's like 20 years ago I worked for them so who knows what's changed since then and it's also fast food that's what and it's also fast food that's what and it's also fast food that's what that's yeah what fast food is it's that's yeah what fast food is it's that's yeah what fast food is it's reheated food reheated food reheated food let's get to somebody else who might be let's get to somebody else who might be let's get to somebody else who might be working in fast food soon darnay holmes That's a great segue. It is what it is. Let's be honest here. The guy has somehow made it on this roster now. Was it five years now? We thought no way in hell would he come back last year, and somehow he did. This is a guy that when he got drafted, Neon Deion Sanders, Coach Sanders, said this was going to be the best slot corner in the draft. There was a lot of people that thought very highly of him. He just never has lived up to it. What he is very good at is holding calls. He can get a holding call like no other. He's very good at that. um but yeah oh no it's four years so now it's this is the end of his rookie year is what it is I knew he was a free agent yeah he took the pay cut last year that's what it was to stay on the roster so that's right yeah yeah I think I it's it's it's got to be time to move on guys I mean it's got to be time to move on I mean we got two corners in the draft I know we're getting rid of you know two guys now potentially this year now dory jackson and darnie holmes Hey, just saying. The math makes sense. The math makes sense. Get two more this year will be good. Math. We have to do the math. Yeah, the weird thing is the PFF grade wasn't that bad, but it was a very small sample size. 16 games, no starts, 18 tackles, two interceptions, 63.9 PFF grade, but just 12% of the defensive snaps. And like I said, I'm at the point where I'm done with it. Let him go. Let him go somewhere else. Let him get defensive holding calls somewhere else. Let's move on. Hmm. I'm not against it. I mean, unless you're desperate. I mean, if you're desperate, he knows the defense. I guess it could be somewhat worse, but I just put it this way. If he comes back for a fifth season, something went wrong. Most likely, or you get him at a cheaper deal. Listen, I don't care about cheapness at this point. I want quality. I want quality. Until we have to talk about the captain. Listen, at some point, you have to figure out how to do it. It is what it is. The Saints are $83 million over the cap every year before free agency is still signed freaking multi-million dollar contracts. That's kicking the can down the road a long way. And they keep kicking it, and they never have a problem. Obviously, it's working. Just saying. Until it's not. Yeah. Look at the quarterback. Listen, look at our quarterback. Those are glass houses. Yeesh. Literally a glass house with that neck. Which one? Both. Next up, we got two guys who really didn't even play the whole year. Aaron Robinson, A-Rob, who, remember, was the, for those of you guys who have been with us since the very beginning, was the source of my hatred during throughout the entire preseason in 22. Was, you know, looked like one of those, like, gates you put up to the saloon in the old Wild West. People just went on by him and no problem at all. But when you look bad in preseason, that's an issue. That's an issue. I'm not even talking bad against starters. You're so bad they kept you into the backups and you still look bad. That's where Aaron Robinson was. He got better as the season started, but then got hurt. I was about to say, somehow he put on a little show. I don't know. He looked better. He looked worse playing against third string receivers than once the actual season started. Now, I will say this. I don't mind bringing him back on a prove-it deal if we can have that option. If nobody wants to give him any guaranteed money. He's still 25 years old. He's shown some ability in the past. But I can't trust him to stay healthy, and that's the problem. So it's either he cuts down his contract to where there's no guaranteed money and a minimum deal, or he's gone. Because if you look at his track record in two seasons, He had nine games his rookie year, two games his sophomore year, and then this was a wash. There was no season, basically, for him. So you're talking, what, 34, 50 possible games he could have played in. He's played in 11. Yeah. You can't tie up roster on that. You can't. No. And we talked about him. I said it before, and it's super corny, but the best ability is availability. Yeah. It's legit. You could have the unicorn Darren Waller, but if he's not playing for you, what good is he? And we talked about Aaron Robinson, obviously, on our off-season plan episode, which if you haven't watched it, you should. Just saying, or if you haven't listened, depending on what you're on. But his current cap hit right now is $1.6 million. And we saved almost $1.4 million by cutting him. There's no way in hell we don't cut him. Unless he restructures the deal and goes down to a nothing contract. We already paid him $1.4 million last year to sit in the hospital. I'm not doing it again. Yeah. I'm not doing it. I mean, he also sat on sidelines. I'm sure he sat in some couches. It wasn't just a hospital. Now, you know what's interesting? When I Googled him, his age was 25. When I go over the cap, his age is 27. I thought he was a little bit older when we got him, but I'm curious. I'm going to take a look at this again. Born in 1998. Yeah, he's 25, so over the cap. Over the cap is wrong. Well, it's November, so over the cap is just wrong. That's why I want to check to see. Yeah, so he'll be 26 this year. Anyway, another guy I didn't play, Caleb Hayes. Didn't play, not because of injuries, just because of lack of talent. Didn't get to the game. So not much to say there. Again, if you want to bring him in as a camp body, whatever, I don't care. I don't worry about that stuff. See you later. Bye. Yeah, that's where we're at. So let's get into our safeties, and obviously we're going to have the big discussion on a certain guy, and of course it's Dean Belton. I'm kidding. Xavier McKinney, X-Man, 17 games, 17 starts, 116 tackles, three interceptions, half a sack, two forced fumbles, one QB hit, and an 87.8 PFF grade, the fourth highest grade among safeties. But he was ranked number four in the safety division. And I wasn't so sure of bringing him back. Honestly, guys, part of this offseason, the second the cap went up $10 million, I want him back. And the only reason I say this is because we're not as cash-strapped as we were. And I think it's going to cost around $17 million a year to keep him. I really do. And I think if you do the job right with the contract, you can fit it in no problem. And I think he's going to look better next year because he hated Wink. Let's be very frank. He hated Wink. Well, he openly said he was not going to be a giant if Wink was here. Yeah, not to mention the fact that he also, during the season, bashed the coaches. It was found out to be that. It was Wink that he was upset with not listening to him. It leaves him in an island by himself in the deep part of the field where he's not used. You don't put him in as the deep island guy. That's not what his role is. You want him up where he can go rush the passer occasionally, hit the runner because he does hit the runner. You know, part of what that is, if you look at him and Justin, I always want to say Justin Penick, Jason Pinnock. He's talking giants to get out of the brain. Jason Pinnock is so similar to him. I think that's part of the problem. It's like, okay, we got two guys that are really strong safety. Someone's got to play free safety. X-Men, you can do better. I mean, that's part of what the conversation's got to be in the long term is, are these guys really the best pairing? Or do we need to go get ourselves a true center fielder? And it's not a knock on Pinnock. I like him a lot. That's a guy I'd love to keep. But if I got to keep one of the two, I'm keeping McKinney. Money aside, obviously. So, yeah, like I said, I'm hopeful to get it done. I know, you know, I was listening because I had that work trip this week. So I was listening to a little more of other people's podcasts than I typically will. And I know LPG was on Talking Giants. I ended up like third mention of Talking Giants here today. But he was on with them, and he was saying that he wouldn't be surprised if the McKinney deal is done prior to free agency. They were talking, the three of them together, saying they think conversations are going we don't know about. And that's fair. I mean, we don't need to know. We don't need to know. But if you think that they're going to let them wander off into free agency without a conversation, that's bullshit. I got a bridge to say, too. Very nice. Fancy. A lot of people died making it. Was it the Brooklyn Bridge? No, the Manhattan one. Anyway, yes, hopefully McKinney's here for a long time. He's still very young. He's very talented. That's the kind of guy you want to keep, even though the one thing that gives me a little bit of hesitation is just positional value. It's safety. It's an important position, but it's not nearly as important as edge, nose tackle, corner. But he's, I mean, Grant, like I said, previously, recently, yeah, Grant, he's one of the 26 captains on the team, but one of the 53 captains on this team. Yes, everyone's a captain. The water boy's a captain, I heard. I heard the water boy's a captain. But he really actually is a secondary captain. He really is a defensive captain. He really gets that team brow together. And it's his play. Yeah, it's his play. But you watch him, even if you follow him on social media, he's got a lot of respect in that backfield. And he calls a lot of play from the back that people listen to. So... The next step is the guy we just talked about briefly there for a second ago, kind of jumped the gun a little, but had to talk about him because he's the other starting safety, Jason Pinnock. 16 games, 16 tackles, 85 – I'm sorry, 16 games, 16 starts, 85 tackles, two interceptions, one for a touchdown, two sackles. Two sackles? That's what I say, sackles. Two sacks. This is what happens when I'm trying to power through this with my voice right now. Two sacks for loss. Four QB hits. A 67.7 PFF grade. Solid player. Chief contract. Good guy to have on the team for that reason. And like I said, I think until he becomes an issue contract-wise, he has a place. The second he becomes an issue... And I wouldn't be shocked even if they go, you know what? We got one more year with him, if I remember correctly. Yeah, one more year with him. And his cap is actually pretty decent this year for what he's made in the past. He's got a $3.1 million cap hit this year. That sounds too shabby. No, no. I mean, don't get me wrong. It's not nothing McKinney's in. It's worth that, obviously. But I wouldn't shock me at all if the Giants go out and draft potentially or get a young safety that they think in the long term can replace Pinnock. And if they do, it's going to be that center field kind of guy. Because we're missing that. We don't have that. Let's be very frank. You don't want to go get another guy in free to see the draft that we already have. You want to get something new. You want to add. New shiny toy. Yeah, and I know during the combine they were talking to, ironically enough, Darnie Holmes' cousin, whose name escapes you in a minute, but he's that perfect kind of safety that's great cover guy, great fast guy, can't tackle very well, isn't great against the run, perfect guy for that kind of role. And he's going to be a fourth-round pick there. I'm going to look him up, see if I remember the name there. I don't want to talk too much on who the Giants talk about specifically at the combine because, guys, so much stuff changes between now and then. To be honest, the guys who analyze every single move that happens at the combine, they're just trying to get your filler stuff until the stuff comes up. That's where it all boils down to. but that's, I think what you're going to see eventually, I think you're to see a center field guy get drafted. Um, and I think you're going to see eventually he's going to go bye-bye because he's just not able to do that role. And he does such similar to X-Man that it's kind of hard to do that. Um, But at least for now, one more year, he'll be here. I like him here. And I'll tell you, honestly, even if they keep him long-term and pay him like he's being paid this year, and he becomes the third safety in the three safety set we used to do back in the day, I'm cool with that. Yeah, 100%. I like Pinnock. I have a lot of respect for the man. I just don't want to overlap. I don't want to keep on having these guys do the same thing. Yeah. You also... When you go down to the center position, you become a rectangle peg. And it's the freelance safety where he's at. He's a circle. You just don't plug him in there properly. It just doesn't work. I shouldn't say it like that. You can make a little bit of work, but that's not your niche. That's not your expertise. You need a different person to do that. So, like you said, three-person safety. Yeah. be perfect yeah yeah um next up is dane belton finishing his second year off 17 games two stars 33 tackles two interceptions one sack um three tackles for loss two qb hits played 26 percent of the defensive snaps 51.7 pff grade which is pretty low um Honestly, I think people lose because if there's one thing this kid has, it's big playability. Like I said, plays in a quarter of the snaps, got two interceptions. It doesn't take a genius through the math and say they have seven or eight interceptions if you play it as a starter based on that theory. If I told you right now, that he had 120 tackles, eight interceptions, four sacks, 12 tackles for loss, eight QB hits. You'd be like, wow, that's a season. And if he played 100% of the snaps like Xavier McKinney did, that would be his numbers based on the snaps he took. Yes. But those stats, and this is why I use the PFF grade with you guys and try to give you guys this. What it doesn't tell you is when he's out of position. When he's not good in coverage. Those aren't in that. Unfortunately, that's an issue for Dean Belton. He has not been good. He's been burnt many times. He's been out of position many times. I think that You know, I wasn't very high on him when they drafted him. And just nothing's changed my mind so far. He's not the worst in the world. Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to make him, like, you know, the worst pick ever and how dare we make this pick. I just don't think he's got a very high ceiling. And I think you'll see him go through this rookie contract and then just be gone. Yeah, you're probably right. Unless, yeah, some of the big changes this year, next year. But, like, I... Listen, guys have shocked me before and put the work in, and it's not that personal with Dean Belton. I don't have anything against him, obviously. I root for the guy. He's a giant. I want him to prove me wrong. Just my personal opinion of the guy right now. I mean, you're probably going to get him back cheap after his rookie deal, but there might be a team that actually might pay him. You don't want him back cheap at the rookie deal because you can get a rookie that's cheaper that has promise. That's the whole point. I hear you, bud. Yeah. You just want to be the positive guy, the good cop, bad cop here. A little bit there, but I really couldn't say anything that's too positive. I'm calling it out. I'm calling it out. Next up, Bobby McFerrin, don't worry, be happy. Bobby McCain, 10 games in, zero starts, one tackle, only played 3% of defensive snaps, played 50% of the special team snaps, had a 49 PFF grade, which I'm not sure how, with 3% of defensive snaps, they even gave him a PFF grade, but that's where he was at. Let's be very frank. We had higher expectations of this guy. We thought he'd be the third safety, potentially even pop up in a slot corner position occasionally. And it was very early on realized by the coaching staff that he did not fit the defense, did not fit the team, should not be there, and just, yeah, wasn't going to work. So kudos to him for sticking out. It had to be a rough season for him because he succeeded in multiple places before with no problem. For whatever reason, it just didn't work out here. And I think it's safe to say that this is the end of Bobby McCain's run as a New York Giant there. I'm pretty sure it was a one-year deal that we signed with him. Yeah, I just double-checked. Yeah, it was a one-year deal that we gave him at that point. So, yeah, he gone. Appreciate the effort. Just didn't work out. Time to move on. Don't want to be mean about it, even. Like I said, the guy's been a pro's pro. He's been in the league a long time. So, next up. Last up. Another guy who was a training camp wizard. We heard so much about him in training camp. Didn't even make it to preseason to still hear anything. We still heard about at least Trey Hawkins was still being talked about during the preseason as a potential good player. This guy was lighting it up all over the place during the training camps, and then just disappeared the second actual football pad started. Javarius Owens, three games, zero starts, one tackle, one fumble recovered. Doesn't even have a PFF grade because he played that little. And he was a seventh-round pick. I'm not going to beat up a seventh-round pick. Yeah. A seventh-round pick from a small school. He's a project. We all knew he was a project. Hopefully he develops into something. He's got a lot of physical tools. But if he doesn't, it's a seventh-round pick. It is what it is. I'm not going to cry over a seventh-round pick. You take your chances. Y'all can't beat Joe Mantegna. Just saying. Make that a thing of the show now, Joe Mantegna. Joe Mantegna? Real quick here, before we get into how we can improve these groups here, if you do have some ideas here, we're going to pay the bills real quick and we're going to go through a couple of comments there. I know Connor's lighting up the comments here like crazy. I know I see y'all in there. I can see how many people are watching. We've got Ninja Watchers left and right. There's plenty of Ninja Watchers in there. Yes. So come on in the comments section. Let us know your thoughts because we want to hear what you guys all think too. You guys are all giant fans. We want to hear what you all think. So let's get to pay the bills real quick. Enjoying the show? Looking for more goofball action? Consider a membership at buymeacoffee.com slash two giant goofballs. Memberships start at just $5 and give you additional goofball access. One-time support payments also available starting at just $3. Buymeacoffee.com slash two giant goofballs. Alrighty, Connor starts it off with, are you sick or do you sound different? No, I'm just trying something new. No, I'm sick. My throat's all jacked up. It's weird. I'm not sick. All it is is my throat. Honestly, it's all it is. I don't have a fever. It's not COVID or anything like that. Obviously, I just had that a month ago. It's just allergies draining down the back of my throat and messing my throat up. It is what it is. Stuff that hangs in the back of your throat. Can't help it. Connor says, back away, Roberto, so you don't catch it. And yeah, this is definitely one of those episodes that Rob is glad that we're in different states. Except I can show him the temperature real quick and he might not be so happy. He says, hey, Roberto, I just read plastic water bottles have millions of micro pieces of plastic floating in the water, but since we're from Jersey, we drank Jersey water, we should be okay. No, Jersey water first off. It's a spectacular cavalcade of flavors. Okay. I love Jersey water. I miss Jersey water. You don't understand what it is until you lose it. I'm telling you right now. It is so good. By the way, if you look up the weather right now, it's 66 degrees currently. Currently at almost 10 o'clock at night. The high today was 77. That's great. The height today was like at 45. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Connor says when he was replaced by C-3PO, he wasn't believable, so they told him stick to focusing on football. I feel like I'm missing something there. Connor, feel free to cue us into what that was. He says, you think Kayvon would be better at end left or right? You know, some people are very good at going back and forth. Some people, it's so much a muscle memory thing, they got to stick to one side. So listen, wherever Kayvon is going to be effective. Leave him there. That's exactly what I mean. I don't mean this. I don't say leave it there. Because what I mean by that is if he's going to be effective by switching back and forth, and so is his co-star, so to speak, at the other edge position, then go for it. But if either one of them are better at one side, I mean, you want Kayvon to develop into a Batman. So whatever the better side is, you stick them there and you keep them there. If he, if he's not able to switch both sides and neither is his co-star there, he's Robin. Whoever going to get out of the Robin here. Um, As we talk DC Comics, he says, what do you guys think of Superman Henry Cavill becoming the new star as Highlander? I hadn't heard of that one. I heard he was in it, but I assumed he was going to be the Russian. I'm not a big fan of him overall as an actor. Yeah, he's not a good actor, guys. Everything I've seen him in was Enola Holmes or that or what's that one on Netflix where he's in the video game thing, The Witcher or whatever. Yeah, The Witcher. I never watched that. He's not a good actor. What he is is he's a chiseled person who fits certain molds like that. I mean, he does make a very good Superman appearance-wise. Let's be very frank about it. I thought he did a good job as Superman. But Superman doesn't also show a ton of emotion always. So he fits that. If you put him in a role like Highlander, Highlander shows a lot of emotions. Yeah, I mean, you're saying... Not that Lambert was the best actor ever, but I mean... I was about to say. You're talking about the movie where a Scotsman played an Egyptian living in Spain while still having a Scottish accent. That is depth. And you had the French guy play the Scotsman. Well, he's French-Canadian. I'm just saying. I don't think he's the right guy for it. I'm not saying who wins or who loses. I assumed he was playing the Roos. I assumed he was playing the guy after Hyland. When I heard that. You mean the Kurgan? The Kurgan, right? He's supposed to be Russian. The Kurgan was the main villain. Yeah. Yeah, so you know what I'd love to see play the Kurgan? Because I'd like to see him in this role just to prove he could play a villain because I've never seen it. The Rock. The Rock could be a damn good Kurgan. I mean, he did it for the WWE for years. He did, and he did it obviously a little bit in Scorpion King, but half his stuff is CGI and really bad CGI of him as an actual scorpion. Yeah, it definitely did that each well. No. It didn't come out well to begin with. They even said it was rushed and everything when they did it. But anyway, that's what I thought. If he's the Highlander star, that's not good for the movie at all. I would watch it. Connor says, I'm cocky, but she's okay. Connor says, sad how jobs get pay raises unless you get big raises. It's just more tax. You barely get anything. I remember one job boss said, going to give you a 20 size and raise. I says, just gives me five hours a week from you. Cheap took us to put it nicely. Yeah. 25 cents is not. Yeah. I mean, it depends on what you're making the beginning with, I guess. I mean, I don't know what occupation you got Connor, but you know, Well, listen, like when you get your first job, minimum wage, I mean, minimum wage is way different when we were getting through compared to now. Way different when Connor was a kid. It was like five cents back then. Yeah. So, I mean, we got a quarter raise at that point. That's pretty darn good. Yeah, and that's what I'm saying. It depends on the job, I guess, to a certain degree. But, I mean, you know, I used to say that kind of stuff as well when I got the annual raises at, you know, jobs I had as a kid. It's like, ooh, 15 cents an hour. Ooh. You know? Yay. Whoop-de-doo, Basil. I would say this. Negotiate, negotiate, negotiate. And always know your value. Always be looking at things because you'd be surprised how often you go around to find options, right? and doesn't mean it to leave your job but at least you know if you're getting paid correctly it's fair it's fair you know um connor says a whole dollar a week smack fake my head with this smack again I won't repeat the rest he said he says wendy a-holes it's true about whoppers you have to buy something first also wednesday is three dollar whoppers damn it tomorrow's friday You know what the bad thing is about Burger King, though? They get the worst, and this is, okay, we can say this, I think, without getting in trouble because I'm pretty sure it's true. Someone verified to make sure. I heard they have the worst health cleaning record of any of the fast food places. I'll say this, though. They're burgers. They're burgers, unless you want to go to the upscale fast food like the Five Guys and those kind of guys and Culver's, which I don't think you guys have Culver's out there, do you? No. Okay. Culver's is like a Midwest thing. They do really great burgers like Five Guys, but they also have custard and they do cheese curds, which is like they give it like a cube of cheddar that's breaded and fried. Kind of like a Wisconsin mozzarella stick. Oh, that's like, the Italians have a word for that too. That's what they call it there. Anyway, they're really good as well. But otherwise, if you go like the regular cheap, like low quality, like the McDonald's, the Wendy's, the BK's, BK has the best burgers of that genre. Their fries taste a little off always, but their burgers and their Hershey's Sunday pie is amazing. I don't eat that much of those fast foods. I was a Taco Bell guy growing up. I only eat it once a day. You only eat it once a day? All right. I'm bad. It's there. It's lunch. I'm busy at work all the time. I got to start meal prepping. I was more of a Taco Bell guy. Oh, I... They have new items on the $3 menu, by the way. It's actually pretty good. They got a stacker thing. It's like the beef and the cheese, and they fold it up and stuff. They have a quesadilla, so you fold it in half, but then you fold it once over again and then once over again. Oh, my God, it's good. And they do a chicken and cheese on a gordita wrap. It's pretty good, too. Anyway, I'm kind of hungry. I can't wait to see if Deion goes to a team as a head coach and wants guarantees they pick his son as QB. I don't see Deion doing those long coaching hours. I don't see why he'd not. He did it in Jackson State. Yeah, college coaches put way more hours in. That's what he's saying. He thinks he wants to leave because he doesn't want to put in the hours. He did that at Jackson State. Why would he not? And if anything, he doesn't have to put in the hours as much as other guys do. People want to play for Dion. He's Dion. It's true. You've got to keep in mind, the kids that he has in there at his school have never seen him play. Never seen him play. You have to be about 40 or so to understand truly how good he was. But he's just that much of a legend still within the football community that he's respected. Neon, neon. Yeah, that's just what it is. I mean, it's like if Peyton Manning in 10 years went to go be a head coach in Tennessee. People still respect the man. So that's where he's at. All right. He says, hey, Roberto, Waterboy wants to know if there's some high-quality H2O. If no, start a new batch for you. Of course, it's high quality. So what happened to the tough guys that played with, they were hurt but said things like, I feel the pain after the game. I get paid for the. Here's the problem, Connor. It's a business. It's a business. So you can say that all fine and dandy, but when these guys get hurt and go out there and play hurt and they can't play ever again to the same level and lose millions of dollars, things change. And that does happen. So I don't blame these guys at all for that. What I just do blame on is, and not the players, let me make this very clear, but the teams that keep the guys get hurt every single goddamn year. It's like, just move on. You're done. He can't stay healthy. And the Giants had that tendency to get those guys. You need guys who are available to show something personal. It's business. Connor says Sean Connery forever. Alba go broth, which is kind of ironic because he's dead. So therefore he says, I love the Baconator or double bourbon bacon burger. I get the double Baconator myself on her. And you know what I love? They do. They do a version of that at Wendy's with the pretzel bun. It's really good. Very good. Anyway, let's get back to football here because Conor has got us in a whirlwind of fast food here. So let's get into things we can do to upgrade this roster here. Let's go. The top corners are Jalen Johnson of the Bears and Jerry Sneed of the Chiefs. They're not going anywhere, guys. The Chiefs have already said they're going to tag them and tag Sneed if they can't get a long-term deal to trade him. They're not going to let him walk for a third-round pick when they can get good, good return on him. Jalen Johnson, same thing with the Bears, except they have the money, so they'll figure it out. I'm going to give you two options, guys, that I think are good options. Two veterans. One of them takes from one of our divisional rivals, I guess. Guess arrival The least rival us of our rivals another one Played with our defensive coordinator just last season and he's got a good history of being a decent quarter for the most part So first off is Kendall fur puller Kendall Fuller, my damn throat, plays corner but also does play safety. 29 years old, 15 games last year, 79 tackles, two interceptions, 83.1 PFF grade, guys. This is a consistent veteran. Like I said, can play everywhere. Plays outside, plays slot, plays safety. I have no doubt that if you get this guy at 29 years old and you sign him to a three- or four-year deal, he just becomes a safety. Yes. You can pay him a longer contract than you would your typical 29-year-old corner because you're not worried about that. He's going to play. He's not going to walk away. and be like, okay, I'm done because I'm slow now. He'll just go play safety. He's not as fast anymore. And he's always been a guy that depended on his technique, not his skill. He's like the opposite of everything we said earlier about Dory Jackson. And if you think about it, you only need him for a year or two until you develop whoever's going to be the second corner. And he's also a good veteran guy to have around Deontay Banks there. Yep, that's what I say. Leadership for your young guys. And I know they're not the biggest rival in the division, but you're taking from the division. You're hurting an opponent that you play twice a year. Nothing wrong with that. Ain't nothing wrong with that. Second guy. Had a little bit of an off year this year, I thought. Played very well in previous years. And that's Sean Murphy Bunting. We talked about him last year during our off-season stuff there. So played last year with the Tennessee Titans under Shane Bowen. Prior to that, he was a buck for several years. 26 years old, 14 games. Here's the one issue. Hasn't played in 16 games or more since 2020. So he's like a dory. He's going to get hurt once a year if he misses a couple of games. So just something to keep an eye on when you do that analysis of which one you want to go with. If I had to pick between these two, I'm taking Fuller all day long. But I think Florida's going to be a lot more expensive. And that's what you got to think about, too. Because someone's going to say what I just said and go, you know what? I can use him a year to a corner. And once he slows down a little bit, I'll move him to safety. No biggie. And they'll pay him $10 million a year. I was about to say, you probably have more guarantees with Florida. Oh, yeah. Well, it's not just his position playing, but his leadership and his veteran ability to help train the younger guys below him, even though that's not his job. At a certain point, it is your job in the NFL. I'm sorry. Because you know what? Someone did it for you when you were young. I don't buy that theory of him. I had that same mentality myself in my own job. So, again, I don't get too much of my business and what I do for work there too much here. But like I said, I went to a meeting this week for it. One of the guys who used to work under me got promoted to the same position I'm at. And the first thing I did was walk over, congratulate him, and say, if you need something, you got my number, you call me. I got you. I understand. That's what you're supposed to do. But, I mean, granted, that's what I said. But, like, you don't have to say that. You do. You do. I'm sorry. You're a jerk if you don't. And there's plenty of jerks. If you don't actually mean it. There's plenty of jerks out there. But, anyway, Sean Murphy bunting. 57 tackles, two interceptions, a 57.6 PFF grade, which, like I said, off for him, he's usually higher than that. But again, he had a year in the system that's being brought now to the Giants. He's got a track record of being a good player. He's got a Super Bowl ring. He comes from a winning team for the Bucs. You know, I think it's a good pickup for us, depending on how much it costs. If you can get him for $5 million, it's not the worst deal to move because he's probably going to want to prove a deal anyway. He's not going to want a long-term deal coming off this season. Probably. His only problem is he sounds like he should be playing baseball. Sean Murphy, wanton. Okay. Okay. The one thing I'll say is I don't know. I admit freely that I don't watch Titans games on a regular basis. I do watch some Bucs games, being that I live here in Tampa. But I don't watch a lot of Titans games. So I don't know what the problem was last year. Was he not a fit in Shane Bowen's defense? Because if that's the case, obviously that's the last place he wants to go. Was it the injury he had? He missed a couple games. Was he battling another injury? I don't know. But if it's not an issue with him and Shane Bowen and the defense, like I said, we can do a lot worse. We can do a lot worse, guys. So let's get into the safety talk here. And the big topic is going to be what if. What if... And it's what if we don't re-sign Xavier McKinney? Because that's an option we have to look at, guys. That's something that's going to potentially happen. And nobody wants to think about that. PFF, we talked about they listed him as the fourth best PFF grade. They also listed him as the fourth best free agent safety, which I thought was kind of funny. He was the fourth best safety overall last year. The fourth best available at a free agency? What does that tell you guys? It's stacked top heavy. So, Antwo Winfield Jr. with the Bucs, who's going to get tagged. Kyle Duggar, which we'll talk about in a little bit there. I know he's not from 12 kids and counting. Former Patriot there. And Cameron Curl from the Commanders are also all free agents that PFF actually lists as better free agent options than Xavier McKinney. So what I mean by that is if McKinney wants to go too crazy price-wise, guys, there are other options. I'm not suggesting other options. I'm just saying Joe Shane should not feel pigeonholed into paying like $20 million a contract and breaking records to bring back a safety when there's other options. And that's a ridiculous price to pay. The highest paid safety is $19 million a year, guys. And to be very frank, he's overpaid. And that's Derwin James of the Chargers. Another guy who has health issues and all that kind of stuff. After him, the second highest paid is Jamal Adams. Former Jet, now Seahawk. Again, can't play ever. Gets hurt all the time. We saw him come back in our game against them. It's just not a position you overspend on. So other options, guys. My preference is to bring back the guy we know, the guy we like, but there's other options to look at. I'll give you a couple other options here that are lesser talked about here. Geno Stone, we've talked about him before, 24 years old, 17 games, 11 starts, 68 tackles, 7 interceptions, guys. This is your center field kind of guy. Because honestly, if we're going to go ahead and get rid of McKinney in this scenario, again, not that I want to get rid of him, but if we do, because somebody wants to overpay the hell out of him, then you might as well get your center fielder and let Jason Pinnock play the strong safety. Yep. So seven interceptions. This is his first year he's ever had over 41% of the defensive snaps. So he's never been a long-term starter. But it's not because they didn't like him. They have guys like Kyle Hamilton and other guys there that just blocked him. They have some really good safeties there, guys. He had a 71.9 PFF grade. Not too shabby. Julian Blackman. With the Colts, 25 years old. Also plays slot corner. So, again, speedy guy, coverage guy, center field kind of guy. 15 games, 15 starts, 88 tackles, 4 interceptions, 68.3 PFF grade. Last one. Olahai Gilman, the Chargers, 26 years old. 14 games, 14 starts, 49 tackles, 2 interceptions. 86.1 PFF grade, guys. Only his first year with more than 47% of defensive snaps. I think he's going to be a surprise wherever he gets him. I really do. I've watched some tape of this kid. I liked him a lot. But because the Chargers had such an atrocious year, nobody knows about him, really. Nobody's watching the Chargers games last year. Even Chargers fans weren't watching Chargers games. Watch him be one of the steals of free agency, I'm telling you. There's a lot of options, though. We've got Fed options, too. We've got Jordan Fuller of the Rams, Jordan Whitehead of the Jets, C.J. Gardner-Johnson of the Lions, Deshaun Gibson of the 49ers. There are plenty of safeties, guys. And this is part of why I'm cautiously optimistic about keeping McKinney. I want him. I don't want to overpay for him. There's no need to. There's plenty of options. It's just a matter of what is overpaying for him in this market. And does his people and our people agree? So we'll find that out. Safety, I'm sorry, draft-wise. You've got a couple options in the second round. I don't really think second or third round I think is when you should see the Giants, depending on what we do as far as trade-wise, I think it's when you should see the Giants take a corner, develop another guy. Again, unless we trade both of our second-round picks to go to the end of the first to get a quarterback or something like that. There's barring a trade. So you've got Kamari Lassiter of the Georgia Bulldogs. You got Kenyon Mitchell of Toledo who has been like, was the guy in the senior bowl, guys. That's the guy that people should be excited about. And if he's available and we're picking, and it's appropriate, it's probably that second, third round, guys. He's got to come up as an option. TJ Tampa, we talked about him during our, again, our complete offseason playing because he was available. We took him in the second round at Iowa State there. Enos Rextraw Jr., from Missouri, and Kalen King out of Penn State, who you're seeing him drop a little bit. So that's a guy that was talked about as a potential late first, early second, and he's been dropping because he hasn't been as good at the senior bowl and stuff like that. So keep an eye on him because sometimes that just means technique or something like that. And to get the right guy to fix it, you've got to steal. So like I said, that's where I think we're looking at is that kind of range, that second, third-round range. Uh, safety wise, to be very frank, I really don't want to spend necessarily capital on a safety. I'd rather go out and get the one to replace McKinney if need be, or just roll what we got again. Now, if one of them drops and he's a steal. Okay, sure. Like I will never be upset about that. You got a third round grade and a guide. He's available in the fifth round. Go for it. That's a, that's a good value. Otherwise, that only could draft. Yeah. Hyatt in the third round. Yeah. Like I said, otherwise, I'm good with skipping that position for the most part and just rolling the dice what we got again. That's it for the safety stuff, guys. Let's go into the Giants news and the news from around the league. It's time for the news. Delete, delete, delete, delete, delete, delete, delete, delete. All right, a giant stews here. So Texans continue to be rumored as a possible destination for Saquon Barkley. He's also recently been in communication with CJ Shroud. Well, it's no secret the Texans want to pick up a running back. But guys, don't get too worried about that kind of stuff. You're going to hear a lot of rumors with Saquon. A lot of rumors. It doesn't matter. All that matters is where he signs the dotted line. That's all that matters. I could want Saquon on my team so bad if I was the GM of the Texans. That's the way I'm going to give him $13 million a year, $14 million a year, something crazy like that. And also, who was our best player last year? Yeah. And what market are we in? Everything I'm hearing right now with the Giants is going to be $8, $9 million his offer. That's what it's going to be. But that's also what you're hearing. So we went through this last year as we were trying to cover. Rumor has it. As we're trying to cover this, guys, every journalist, every sports writer out there is going to be talking about every little thing. You know, Barkley traveled down to Tampa. Meanwhile, I was on a beach. He's not visiting, you know. Yeah, but I think the thing is they see what we talked about. This running back group is so oversaturated for agency. So you have a perfect storm for guys to be cheap because you have guys, you have a position that's already undervalued. It's a repeated last year. Then you have a ton. No, it's worse the last year, I'm telling you, and it keeps getting worse. We're going to talk about it in a minute, but another one got cut. Another running back got cut just today, just a couple hours ago. Yeah. So, like, this is where we're at. There are so many running backs. I'm telling you, none of these guys are going to get paid good at all. None of them. None includes King Henry. So, speaking of Saquon, though, his reps and the Giants met today at the Combine, as they said they would do during the event. Josina Anderson of CBS Sports reported the meeting as good. About as broad as you get. Good. Just swell. Yeah. Thanks. She said they discussed a lot of options, including memorializing Barkley's potential legacy as a New York Giant pending an agreement on mutual terms. I'm kind of curious what that means. Like, are they going to promise him a statue or something like that if he comes back? What does that mean? I mean, it could be a lot of things. Like, You stay a giant, we guarantee you a coach's job. You stay a giant, we guarantee you'd be a face. You could be like an Eli Madden. We'll get you into media outlooks around the area. We could guarantee you a future salary. I'm wondering if it's like a guaranteed ring of honor spot. I mean... You don't have to guarantee it, but you can say that. I guess it's a good selling point. He is number four right now overall in rushing yards as a Giant. That's where he's at. I'm saying he's going to get it with or without guarantee. 185 yards to pass Joe Morris. He needs 1,686 yards to pass Rodney Hampton. That's where he's at. And this is, again, this is modern-day football, guys. That's probably what you guys got to remember that anybody that's younger doesn't remember this stuff because they weren't around for it. Not to be that old guy and say, get off my lawn, but in the 80s and 90s, when guys like Rodney Hampton and Joe Morris were playing, Guys, they rush the ball nonstop. It's like nowadays. That's like a secondary thing to the pass. You know? I mean... Yeah. It's... If you look at the yards per attempt, his yards per attempt is 4.3 in his career right now. Joe Morris, 4.0. Ronnie Hampton, 3.8. When he retires, he'll be probably the second best running back to ever put on a uniform. That's where he's at. And that's even considering his decline. Because that's going to happen, guys. He's going to continue to decline. I'm sorry. I know people hate when you say this. But he's already in the process of a decline. He is. He's not very far into it. Noget's outside of Father Time. We're all going to get stuck there. Father Time is just... That's just life, guys. So, you know, we'll see. But I'm wondering, I think that's what it's going to be. It's going to be something more along the lines of that. I really do. I think you're going to see, you know, that kind of reaction with it. Like, you know what? Here you go. He's also, I looked it up out of curiosity, 33 all-time on the all-time receiving yards. So he's got a long way to go to get to that kind of good graces. But let's say if he gets another 1,000 yards, hypothetically, he's already up to 23. So he's at that spot where he's just pigeonholed with so many people. He gets 2,000. Let's say he plays four more years, hypothetically, gets 2,000 yards, which I don't think that's going to happen. But if it did, he'd be at number 16. He'd be sandwiched in between Sterling Shepard and Jeremy Shockey. Interesting company. What I'm saying, I don't think people recognize sometimes how much of a, because of the position he plays, how much of a generational talent he really is. And unfortunately, injuries have made it where he's not even probably have the career he could have had. Because he looked like freaking a goddamn Barry Sanders when he first came out. Yeah, it's sad. I mean, you got to think about it. He's missed over a third of his career due to injury. Yeah. Thus, so far. It's just, I wonder if that's what it is. Like, hey, we're going to put you in the ring of honor. Hey, we're going to do this for you. We're going to do, you know, that kind of thing. Because you're going to retire as a giant, and you're going to be that kind of player in our history. It's true. Which guarantees you down the road. staying in this market they do it oh yeah they do a giant psych meet the players meet like the the best of guess what they have to call it barkley and they pay him you know what the show's face I look at it like amani tumor okay as a good example amani tumor obviously is the all-time receiving yards leader for the giants played primarily during bad times let's be honest my tail end with carrie collins a little bit there and uh you know his last couple years which was the beginning of eli's career including the one ring that he got the first of eli's right but the first half of his career he's like the first half of his career was like dade brown years and danny cannell and those kind of guys like it was not good He's not remembered in the same breath as a Plexiglas Burris because he was at the end of his career during those good years. I wonder how much Saquon, because of when he played for the Giants and how bad the years were, how that's going to affect his legacy. But I look at Imani Toomer. He's been with, I think, MSG. He's been working for him for a while and stuff like that. Yeah. He's been back with the Giants for many things, for different things. You look at a guy like Tiki Barber. Obviously, he's been very involved with the media. Let's be very frank. He rubs a lot of people the wrong way. Especially fashion, Eli. I'm just saying, he does. Like I said, I mean, I think... I don't know. I got the chance to talk to him one time. Yeah. He was nice to me. I got to be for the guy. You know, he answered some questions. He definitely answered it with an egocentric kind of mentality, but that's fine. Again, he's an athlete. They're going to have that ego. For those who are wondering, the big question I asked him, I mentioned multiple times on here in the show, is if he, you know, how he thinks the comparison between him and Marshall Falk, because I've said forever, he had a 10-year career. Marshall Falk had a 12-year career. But if we look at our... yards per year, they're very similar. The difference is Marshall Falk is more of a receiver, whereas Tiki was more of a pure runner. Tiki was very quick to point that out. He's like, I remind the yards the hard way. Like I said, typical Tiki kind of thing. He's got an ego. That's fine. He's also the best running back to ever play for the New York football Giants. You can have an ego when you can talk about that. The man should be in the goddamn Hall of Fame. I'm still saying that. He should be in the Hall of Fame right now You can have an ego whether you have those things. 100%. Barkley has an ego himself. He hides it better than Tiki ever did. But don't tell me Barkley doesn't have an ego. If Barkley didn't have an ego, he would have taken $13 million he got offered last year. He's got an ego. And that's fine. Again, nothing wrong with that. I'm not knocking them in. I don't mean there's a negative. Egos also drive people to succeed because they expect it of themselves. It's not always bad to have an ego. Correct. There's a difference between having an ego and being cocky. Let's say he goes to Houston. We talked about it a minute ago. They're not going to build him a statue. They're not going to put him in their horn of honor or whatever they do there in Houston. They're going to use him to try to get a ring. Yeah, and they're going to maybe hide some massage issues or something like that. Or offer a massage. No, Saquon would not do that. He's not. But I'm just saying, plus there's been all kinds of rumors about the owner of the Texans and his issues with people that don't look like him, if you catch my drift. So a lot of players that want to play there. But look at a guy like T.J. Watt, who is the best defensive player of his generation, basically. And he's on now with CBS, I think it's on. Is that what he's on, CBS? Not one of them. He's not one of them. Probably. But when he was playing, you didn't see him with commercials everywhere. You saw him occasionally because he's still the best player, best defensive player in the NFL. But you didn't see him everywhere. That's what the difference is between New York and Houston. Barker's going to see that. He's going to see the revenue he can make there. He's going to see the legacy he can leave there. I think he's going to stay, honestly. I really do. I think the legacy he's going to draw, I really think that. I know a lot of people think he's gone. I don't think he is at all. I think he's back. I think he's back at a lower deal to be where I think he's going to take. And that's why. It's because the market's saturated, and he obviously can leave a legacy here and have a long-term income stream coming from it. Exactly. And validation of his career. Next up, so the Giants throwing the combine. I said we're not going to talk too much about the combine there, but they did go ahead and meet with all three of the top QB prospects. So, you know, we'll see if that means the drops about them. You know, the rumors about them dropping down in the draft, I don't know if that's true or not. I'll say this. The Giants do that every year. They talk to all the top people because they want to see if they're worth trading down for. So don't take extra precedent to that this year because that's what they do. I don't think it means anything extra except they're doing their due diligence, which they were going to do anyway. I'd be more pissed if they didn't talk to those guys. 100%. What kind of scouts would you have if they didn't talk to the top people at specialty positions? Be god-awful. Exactly. All right. Next, our annual report cards came out for all the teams, same as last year when they give a special hidden envelope to the players. I don't know if it's probably online, I guess. Having them rank the team and how they're doing as far as treatment of the players, which is one thing that I'm telling you, if you don't think players look at this in a free agency, you're kidding yourself. The Giants ranked number eight out of 32. Not too shabby. That's still top quarter. I'll take it. Could be better. You got an A-. Yeah. Well, we're going to have the A- thing in a minute there. It's not one specific person. The only category that was very low was nutrition slash dietitian, 27th overall out of 32. That's not very good. Meanwhile, though, they were second in training staff, third in team travel, and Brian Dable. why he didn't rank top five, top 10, because some of the coaches did get an A plus. He got an A minus on the report card, which proves he hasn't lost the locker room guys. Just more proof, because I know people love to start talking about that kind of stuff. How long before he yells at the players? They don't like him. He treats the players different. He always has. If anything, he's soft on the players, to be very frank. It was very soft in his offseason. They loved it, I know, but I thought it was soft. A little more hits this offseason. All right, let's get into the NFL news, and then it's time to get out of here. All righty, so Vikings have cut Alexander Madison, so the running back market continues to get more and more saturated, as we talked about earlier. One got cut. That was him. One year's starter, about 700 yards. I mean, they had more running back by committee, but he was their lead guy of that committee. Patriots rumored that made a long-term contract to safety Kyle Duggar. We talked about him before. Interested to watch what that'll be, because, guys, if he signs a contract, that automatically sets the market for McKinney. And if he signs a $13, $14 million contract, that's bad for McKinney. If he signs a $19, $20 million, that's bad for the Giants. That's where we're at. Bucs are unlikely to retain linebacker Devin White. Artie will also cut Shaq Barrett as well, edge rusher, who hasn't been quite the same since some injuries have taken place there. So Bucs are shedding some people from the last Super Bowl run they had there. Jets gave Zach Wilson permission to seek a trade. He offered his mother to somebody else for their mother, and they turned him down. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. No one's trading for Zach Wilson. If they do, it's nothing major. If you needed a backup, maybe. He's going to be the backup for Atlanta Falcons. I would take him as a backup, maybe, but I don't think anybody's going to give up anything of value really for him. I don't know. I mean, I feel bad for him. I really think the Jets did him wrong. You want to talk about the Giants doing Jalen Jones wrong. Zach Wilson's been done wrong. You know, Robert Sala's like, I love you. I hate you. I love you. I hate you. I love you. I hate you. He was in an abusive relationship with Sala. He really was. Especially this year. The divorce had to happen. Colts are also prepping to tag Michael Pittman Jr., the wide receiver. So there goes that option for the Giants. Well, they came out and said that, didn't they? Yeah. So that brings us down to Calvin Ridley as our last possible option of the big three receivers. And let's see here. Jags are in contract talks with Josh Allen and Calvin Ridley Jr. If one is locked up before free agency, they can then put the tag in the other and keep them both. So, yeah, guys, this is what I said all season long. People are like, oh, all these receivers are coming out in free agency. The big names, the good names don't typically make it out of where they're at. If you're really, really good, unless you're cash-strapped, they'll find a way to make it happen. The Bears are expected to make their Justin Fields decision before free agency, guys. Now, free agency starts in about two weeks. So, tick-tock, they're on the clock. uh chiefs released marquez valding scandaling now that is a contract move based on money but guess what guys he wasn't that good this year it's also what it boils down to with the best quarterback oh yeah um We got the end of some wide receiver rumors as well. People last week were all excited. So Devontae Adams of the Raiders, Justin Jefferson of the Vikings are said to not be on the trading block according to their prospective GMs after the rumors. To the contrary, guys. So those of you guys that were doing all these Twitter and Facebook posts of Justin Jefferson in a Giants uniform... This is why I'm telling you right now, the second I see that kind of stuff, I'm like, I don't need to take anything this person says with a grain of salt. If any of you thought Justin Jefferson was actually going to be traded, no. Just keep on scrolling. Just keep on scrolling. You don't let the best wide receiver in the entire game leave your room when you control him. You don't. Not going to happen. You figure it out. Yeah. All righty, guys. So we're going to go ahead and head on out here for the evening while I still have somewhat of a voice. Appreciate y'all for listening in. Again, apologize for the quality, sound quality here of my voice the way it is. We record again on Monday, so I should be good to go by then. I would think three days. As long as I avoid the karaoke bars this weekend. Make no promises. This might help my screamo. Might help my screamo. That actually hurt doing that even, so no, that's not going to work. So yeah, we'll see you guys again. As always, we are live on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter slash X, Twitch, Instagram, and of course, Rob's favorite, my LinkedIn. Oh, yes. And we're always, of course, available the next day on all the audio podcast platforms. Usually hits around 5 a.m. That's on iHeartRadio, Spotify, Amazon, all the big ones there. So appreciate you guys listening as always. And as always, Giant fans. Go G-Man! Go G-Man! Go G-Man! Thanks for listening to Two Giant Goofballs, a New York Giants podcast. We appreciate your support. Thanks so much.