NFL Free Agency Update: Giants Sign Drew Lock, Jalen Mills & Isaiah McKenzie Plus the Latest Rumors

In the latest NFL free agency update, the New York Giants have been active on the market, securing deals with quarterback Drew Lock, defensive back Jalen Mills, and wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie. Lock, formerly of the Seattle Seahawks, joins on a one-year, $5 million contract, aiming to revitalize his career after limited action in the previous season. Meanwhile, Mills, known as the "Green Goblin," brings versatility to the secondary with his ability to play corner or safety. He signed a one-year deal worth $1.2 million. McKenzie, also known as "Lil Dirty," adds depth to the receiving corps with his slot receiver prowess and special teams contributions, although specific contract details were not disclosed. In other Giants news, they chose not to tender restricted free agent Isaiah Hodgins, leaving open the possibility of his return at a reduced salary. Additionally, Xavier McKinney honored a handshake agreement but ultimately declined the Giants' offer, opting to sign with the Packers. The team also expressed interest in quarterback Jameis Winston before he landed with the Browns. Plus, contract details for Brian Burns' lucrative deal with the Panthers emerged, highlighting the Giants' competitive landscape in the free agency frenzy.

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Transcript

Welcome to Two Giant Goofballs, 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 the two giant goofballs new york giants podcast I am drew joined as always by oh yeah creation craziness I forgot I muted you you were coughing in the background while the intro was going yes son of a gun it's a me I rob unless I talk about that free agent frenzy over here oh yes we got free agent frenzy part two which let's be very frank it's not as exciting as part one but we're going to talk about some of the part one still in this as well so no it's sometimes it is like it could be a terminator two terminator two is like the exception that's always better plus the flintstones too No, I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Yeah! Although Ace Ventura was a sleeper. No. We lost you again, Rob. Where'd you go? The camera's gone. You have my cartoon face instead. Wait a minute. I got way more hair on my face. Oh, whoa. You just moved like camera zones and now you're all yellow. I don't know what's going on. Yeah, my camera's giving me some problems here. All right, well, let's break out into a little time to talk about some free agent frenzy here because, yeah, it's going on. And like I said, it's not as crazy as last time there, guys, but it's still going on. i don't know about you guys but I love I don't know about you guys but I love I don't know about you guys but I love that song it was glorious for that it was glorious for that it was glorious for that so for those who aren't aware you so for those who aren't aware you so for those who aren't aware you got to be careful obviously we do this got to be careful obviously we do this got to be careful obviously we do this kind of stuff what kind of songs what kind of kind of stuff what kind of songs what kind of kind of stuff what kind of songs what kind of music you use that kind of stuff so you music you use that kind of stuff so you music you use that kind of stuff so you don't get dinged and muted and don't get dinged and muted and don't get dinged and muted and excommunicated from youtube and all that excommunicated from youtube and all that excommunicated from youtube and all that kind of stuff kind of stuff kind of stuff uh this site called pixabay and I just uh this site called pix and oh my god like this that song came up and I was like this is the one this is the song for that video this there could be no other money so all right let's get into let's get into the free agent moves we make here so we're gonna go we're going in chronological order partially because that means I think one of the more exciting ones It goes last, which I kind of like there. Oh, yes. So the very first one we got here, guys, for you is a wide receiver, Isaiah McKenzie. Now, you may remember him because back in the day, he made fun of Giants fans, said that we only go to the stadium for the food, basically, and the beer. Well, guess who's coming along? Yeah. Guess our money's not so bad, Isaiah, huh? Yeah. He's coming here for the money and the beer as well. First off, we don't go to the game for the money and the beer. We go there for the free medium Cokes, okay? Goddamn it. Who wants to pay for a Coke there? $15 a beer? The whole reason. Oh, my God. No wonder why we tailgate before the game. It never ceases to amaze me how much a beer costs at a stadium. It's goddamn ridiculous. Goddamn ridiculous. Alright, so Isaiah, we got him on a one-year deal. I haven't seen anything numbers-wise here, but I have to imagine it's a very minimal deal. It's probably just like the veteran minimum kind of thing. I've actually even seen people suggest that he's probably going to be competing with Gunnar Osheski, basically, in camp for the same exact spot. I think I kind of like him better than Gunnar, though, because he at least provides something on offense. His nickname, by the way, Little Dirty. And I'm not sure if that's a football nickname or a bedroom nickname or what the deal is at that point. Or a bathroom nickname. Oh, gosh. 28 years old, 5'8", 173 pounds. Talk about a guy you would not expect to be a football player, professional football player. Yeah, that's a little crazy. Last year, he played with the Colts on a one-year deal, 13 games, two starts, 11 receptions, 82 yards, a 64.7 PFF grade. Only played 13% of the snaps for the Colts last year. The big thing for him with the Colts was his punt and kickoff returns. 23 punt returns, 204 yards. It's an 8.9 yard per average with six kickoff returns, 152 yards, which is a 25.3 yard average there per return. So not a bad returner. And again, he may be fighting it out with Gunnar Osheski for a spot there when they all says done here. But the big thing for me is he does provide things on offense. Obviously, last year with the Colts, he didn't provide a lot. If you go back to the year before, which was his last year with the Bills, 15 games, 8 starts, 42 receptions, 423 yards and 4 touchdowns, played in 54% of the offensive snaps. Yeah, he's a solid wide forward. Yeah, he's a bottom-of-the-barrel kind of receiver. I'm not trying to make him seem like he's going to be, you know, the second coming of OBJ here. But, you know, if you can get a guy who provides an offense while also being a returner, there's a value to that over a guy who's just a returner. Or you could also stick it up Isaiah's from the Bills. You know, I gotta say, I still have trouble when I'm doing show notes trying to figure out a spell. I don't know why. It's just the A and then the I and the A in the middle. It just confuses the hell out of me when I go to... I'm not a good speller. I'm not a good speller. What's that song back in the day? I forget the song, but... But it's like, yeah, I'm a bad speller. It is what it is. But anyway, slot receiver. He's got 50 career rushes as well. Spent five of his eight seasons in Buffalo. So he's got experience, obviously, working with Dable when he was there as an offensive coordinator. So, yeah, I mean, they're bringing another name, you know. uh they're bringing in a guy who provides something we need let's be honest our we had issues like crazy until gunner got here with punt returns our kickoff returns were never anything really that special still the whole season ray was a busted pick last year Listen, you know my theory on Eric Gray. Eric Gray never should have been drafted to begin with. He never should have been on the roster. He never should have been so many things. It's not even funny. I'm not an Eric Gray fan. I'd love to be wrong. I'd love for him to run for 1,000 yards this season and prove me wrong. Do it, Eric, please. Yes, if you're listening, do it. I doubt you will prove me wrong. Do it now. Listen right here. Give him the chopper. Get to the end zone. I don't think we expect much of him. I think that's fair to say that McKenzie, if he does make the team, makes the team as primarily a special teamer with the occasional option to come on the field and provide something. Yeah. This goes right along the lines of what the Giants have liked to do the last couple off seasons. They love little tiny receivers. I don't know what it is. We're just like, are you an undersized receiver? Do you have injury issues? Are you waiting to hit puberty? Come on to the Giants. It's weird. I get it. You want slot receivers. You want to have a quick, fast-paced offense and stuff like that. But it's just that's tiny, tiny. That's like take Dell tiny, but without the production. And look, Tank Tell didn't even make it through his first season. So, I mean. Season. Come in, especially last draft class. That's kind of what the NFL is looking like. Just smaller guys. Tiny, tiny, tiny guys. Yes, let's get into the next one here. We have defensive back Jalen Mills, nicknamed the Green Goblin, which if anybody who's a Marvel fan, you'll know that's the name of the villain there from the Spider-Man comics. One year, $1.2 million, 29 years old, 6 foot even, 200 pounds. Last year, it was all 17 games, 8 starts. 45 tackles, one tackle for a loss, one QB hit, 59.1 PFF grade, playing 40% of the defensive snaps for the Patriots there last year. The year before that, 10 games, 10 starts, 31 tackles, two interceptions, one tackle for a loss, one QB hit. Started at corner, actually, that whole season. which is primarily where he's played now. Played 75% of the snaps. So he played his first seasons also in Philadelphia. So if the name sounds familiar to you Giants fans, that's probably why. Like I said, five in Philly and then the last three that are New England. Plays corner and safety so he can play their position. And I think he's at that transition stage right now, basically. If you look at what happened to him 22 to 23 at that point, he played 75% of the snaps, played corner. The next year, go down to 40, plays, they just put him as DB. So, meaning he's been all over the place. He plays corner, he plays free safety, he plays slot corner, he plays wherever they need him at that exact play. Wherever we need the body. Yeah. He's another guy that, honestly, I don't have much high hopes for, per se. I think he's kind of starting to trend downward in his career. But I think he's a good veteran body. And listen, you can't have all young guys. You need to have some veterans on this team to help provide leadership, to help provide some experience. And Mills does fit that bill. And the other thing is... I think based on what you see so far, and obviously we're early in the free agency, we're early into talking about whether they're looking at the draft next month and that kind of stuff there. But based on what you see right now, if the season were to start, you'd probably place your money at Dane Belton starting at safety. Dane Belton does not have any experience, really. And what I mean by that is he can go out there and shine. He can go out there and just look okay and not embarrass himself. Or he can embarrass himself. We don't know what's going to happen if you put him out there as a starter. And to have a guy like Jalen Mills, who's got a lot of experience and the ability to go out there, maybe not play the best football of his life, because that's probably past him at this point, but at least not embarrass himself. You got a good option. It's a competition over there. Yeah. And I wonder, we'll talk about this guy in a minute too as well. The other guy I wonder about his safety is Nick McCloud, depending on what happens at the corner position. Because as of right now, he'd be the second corner probably, depending on what we do the rest of free agency. I still think we're going to look to go get a corner in free agency, but we'll see what happens there. We'll see what happens there. Last guy we got there is Drew Locke. Oh, yes, we got a quarterback. Lock it in. oh oh oh yes boo on the pun boo on the oh oh oh yes boo on the pun boo on the oh oh oh yes boo on the pun boo on the player but oh yay for the The opportunity and the cheapness. Listen, one year, $5 million, 27 years old, 6'4", 228 pounds. He's got the exact size you want as a quarterback. He came out the same year that a certain Daniel Jones came out. And if you remember, there was a certain coach we had there, Shermer, who was pulling for us to go get Drew Locke. That's what he wanted. He didn't want DJ, by all accounts, that I read. He wanted to wait to the second round and go get Drew Locke. And imagine how different the Giants looked then. We would have probably given up on the quarterback earlier. And we would have probably had the pass-rushing Josh Allen instead of DJ. Yeah, you're not wrong. I mean, also, different first-round pick that year, different scenario. Like, Everything changes. Drew Locke may have not been the answer for the Seahawks, but they were the answer once they traded him off in that deal to get Gino. Wasn't that the answer in a lot of places so far? There's been two teams and nobody's been overly impressed with them yet. Last year, he had his first action since 21. Four games, two starts, 63.2 completion percentage, 543 yards, three touchdowns, three interceptions, 81.2 QB rating, a PFF grade of 61.3. And I think what this all boils down to is, This is a guy who can step in and play a couple games for you and not embarrass himself, and that's all he is. The Giants were looking to go bring a quarterback in. They talked to other quarterbacks. We'll get into that a little bit as well because we have some of the rumors there to talk about later on. But the Giants seemed hell-bent on bringing in somebody to be a legit backup. now they they wanted to bring another tie ride that's not going to cost them nine million dollars yes who went to the jets by the way for those keeping track of the uh uh the frenzy has been who we lost yes Um, but yeah, so here's a guy who can go in and can start a couple of games, not too expensive per se, not going to embarrass himself, not necessarily going to win you the game either though. Uh, but he's got your garden, Mitch, you have backups, but he's also not garden. We got $12 million. He got five. So yeah. Little difference in price. How sad is it that a backup, basically a glorified backup quarterback got as much money as Saquon? Think about that. There's only a million dollars difference there. Yeah, well, his scenario is a little different, but that's also... I'm just saying. I'm just saying. I'm just saying. I mean, this offseason has been a little crazy. It's been a little crazy. Yeah. But yeah, so you're looking at... Drew Locke comes in. He's a backup. I don't think anybody expects him to actually start. Well, if he does, then... But here's where I'm looking at. You got Drew Locke now as a legit backup quarterback. You got Daniel Jones coming off the injury. You got Tommy DeVito at that point still. And you still got the rumors that a lot of us, including myself, expect us to go ahead and draft a quarterback. That's four quarterbacks, guys. What does that tell you? That's an odd man out here scenario. One of these guys don't belong. Can you figure out which one doesn't belong? Yeah. I'm just saying. I think it's Tommy DeVito at that point. Which one of these guys don't belong? Can you figure out... I don't think the Giants need DeVito. I think they want to keep him on the practice squad if they can, but I think that's where the goal is. I think the goal, honestly, is to go ahead and put him on the practice squad, draft a quarterback, put Drew Locke in at that point as well, let the two of them compete out for the starting spot. And as much as they're saying they have faith in Daniel Jones... I don't think they want to see DJ on the field at all this year because here's the problem you run into. If he gets hurt in any way, shape, or form, his cap number doubles next year we cut him because of injury guarantees. You need him fully healthy at the end of next season. He's... You're not wrong in that statement, but I feel like he is going to start... And he's not going to be put in positions to run the ball, to be in positions to throw. He's going to be a quarterback that steps up in the pocket. And when he fails, they're going to put in Drew Locke or they're going to put in whoever they draft. And that's good moving forward. So this way, it's going to satisfy all the DJ fans out there. There's not many left, but there are some. So when he steps up to the pocket and he gets hit and he goes down, it's a concussion. Then they can put in someone else and be like, we tried. I'm telling you right now that Drew Locke is going to start the season as the quarterback. And whoever we draft is going to probably start by week four, week five. I will take... DJ will not see the field. They're not going to risk the $27 extra million they have to pay him if he gets one more neck injury, one more anything injury. It's not worth it. Drew, I didn't watch this year already. It's going to be your turn. I'm going to bet you a jalapeno on the show. Raw. Intense. If DJ sees the fields, you eat it. We've already done that. We've already done the jalapeno. But I will say this. The bet is not if he sees the field. The bet is if he starts. Because he can see the field because someone gets hurt. And they go, okay, I guess we have to put this bum in. I mean, that could also happen. But I want to... But if someone gets hurt and then he starts... I think it's going to be a cold day in hell before he starts. I really do. I think that's the plan is to just keep him healthy for the year. Let's move on next year. That 100% is the plan as far as I'm concerned. And like I said, Drew Locke, as much as Drew Locke hasn't looked great, you can make the case, the argument that Drew Locke, when he's played, has not looked any worse than Daniel Jones has. Minus the one year, obviously. I was about to say, DJ has looked better. That one miracle year. The one miracle year where he stayed healthy. They're going to make a movie about it and make Kurt Russell the coach. Miracle 2 on grass, on turf. It might be Bruce Campbell as the coach because it looks like his grandfather. I'd watch it. It looks like DJ's grandfather. I'm just saying, Bruce Campbell is amazing. Let's get into some of the rumors here. Rumors. Rumor has it. Innuendos and all kinds of fun things here. Got unsigned players right now currently being rumored to possibly go to the Giants. Number one, running back A.J. Dillon, which I'm sure many of y'all know the name. He's been a longtime Packer, but he's still 25 years old. I couldn't believe that. What the hell did he start playing? It feels like he's been playing for seven years already. The problem with him is before we start talking about his positives, I just want to bring up, he may have followed behind Lacey a little too much at the Golden Corral. It happens. But he still was productive when Aaron Jones was not around. Yeah. Let's put that out there. Not to throw any disrespect, because, meh. Coming off his worst year, basically, last year, just based on numbers-wise, 178 rushes, 613 yards, 3.4 yards per carry, two touchdowns. He's got a 4.1-yard-per-carry average for his career. He did have a 75.5 PFF grade last year, so PFF is saying basically that, yeah, a little yard per carry, but the blocking wasn't there. Well, I hope he likes that because he gets used to it because he's coming to Newark. Guess what? He's going to feel right at home there. That Golden Corral experience will help with the New York Giants experience as well. i just I just feel like if you can get a guy like aj dylan and you can get him cheap it's not a bad deal but my thing is I guess I was kind of hoping one or two guys maybe we draft and just get a couple young running backs and then another year or two let's single terry go and just yeah a couple guys rookie deals and just that's your running game I don't I don't I don't I mean, do I want to go out and sign a bunch of guys like that? I don't, but then again, we could get Singletary, we could get A.J. Dillon, and we could probably get one more guy for the same cost of whatever it costs us to sign Barkley. Maybe it's cheaper. I like to get one other guy, and that's part of it is the cheapness. Yes, especially for the cost because A.J. Dillon was a pretty solid running back in the league because he was number two to Aaron Jones. Who was number two? Well, at the time it was Aaron Rodgers and then it was Mr. Love himself. Yeah. They call him Dr. Love? Oh, or his love gun. I don't know. Somebody kiss references. Bobby, my thing is he's not going to become, he's not going to be a veteran minimum deal problem. Let's be honest. I think somebody's going to see some value in him and pay him some money. I'm not saying tons of money, but let's say we pay him $4 million. We already paid $6.5 million to Singletary, if I'm right, the numbers from Monday. So now you're talking $10.5 million. You're getting to the point where you might as well pay Saquon. I'm just saying, that's where we're at. You can see all your eggs are in one basket and it's not a wicker basket that could break and fall apart any moment here. Still, I mean, You put Singletary in the back and you put A.J. Dill in the back. There's a little bit of different run style that's coming out there. And depending on who the starting quarterback is also depends on what's going to go on with how the defense reads the eye formation. So there's things you could do which will be way more beneficial than having Shaq in the backfield. Not to say any of these guys will run like he has in the past because... Let's be real. Barkley has been one of the best runbacks in the league since he came. But production-wise, with the two guys at a cheaper cost, it could be a net beneficial. But it gets to the point, if you're paying them both that kind of money, you're not necessarily saving that much. You save a couple million. It's not like you went and, you know. But, I mean, I don't know. At least... Part of me, like I said, if we're going to keep doing that, we might as well just sign him. Like I said, I'd rather go get a couple rookies, throw them in there with a guy like Singletary and call it a day. You could easily sign a couple of guys in the drafts. you know even if you just you know and maybe give gary brightwell a chance that I actually I don't know right well I'm not trying to say that gary brightwell is the greatest thing sliced bread but I do think gary brightwell can provide more offense that people give him credit for at times he's proven it in a couple games but there's out of the handful of selections he's had he's only had How many games has he played more than 10 snaps? Let's say five, six. Yeah, no, not many at all. And there was one not last year, but the year prior in, I think like week 12 and Barkley was a little banged up. And it was a TJ was banged up and he was back behind Jack. I forget what it was, but like right. Well, they pretty darn good. Yeah. I'm not going to suggest he's ever going to be a pro bowler or a legit starter, but I don't think he's as bad as some people think he is, which is kind of shocking because he was literally drafted just to be a special teamer. Um... So we got another guy you were also supposedly interested in as well. He's also interested in us. Came in for a visit even. Chris Manhurts, 31 years old. Excuse me? Tight end. He played with the Broncos last year. 16 games, 4 starts, 2 catches, 18 yards, and a touchdown. Played 36% of the offensive snaps for the Broncos last year. 56.5 PFF grade. This guy's a pure blocking tenant. I was going to say, you know what he does different from all the tight ends we have currently? What? He blocks. I don't even know what kind of tight ends we have lately. That's the problem. I figured I was going to go on Waller still. But again, this is a guy. He's older. He's a blocking specialist. He's not going to be a ton of money, guys. And it just shows you they're kind of going, wait a minute. We missed a blocking tight end, a pure blocking tight end last year. And depending on what they do with the offensive line, they might need some help there. I mean, I called that last year when I said they should have kept Majak as the third Titan. Majak. Sounds much worse. Yeah. So, yeah, I mean, again, this is a guy that will be a nothing kind of deal money-wise. You bring him in, you see if he earns a spot, and you call it a day. Again, 31 years old, blocking specialist, tight ends, don't get paid a lot of money. But I also wonder, when you're looking at a blocking specialist like that, and you got Bellinger already, who's, you know, basically was his bread and butter. It wasn't necessarily great last year, but it's his bread and butter overall. You go... No one on the offense had their bread and butter last year. But I'm wondering, like, if Waller retires, hypothetically, where they cut him, because they go, you know what? You're taking too long. We don't think your heart's in it. You know, that kind of scenario. Does Bellinger become the starter again? Or do they look to go get a guy, whether it's in the draft or, you know, in free agency? If they do, I feel it's free agency. I don't think they're going to go draft another guy because they saw what he did his rookie year. They know he's got the talent. They see what he's done. And obviously, they have to see what we don't see in the practices and behind the scenes. But, I mean, come last year, you spent all this money on this shiny new toy. Belger was kind of left in the sandbox and not utilized as much as he should have been. Yeah, it definitely, I think, affected his play. It doesn't do as good. He had a couple of bad timing penalties even that extended, you know, that took away plays from us there at that point. So, I mean, yeah, definitely not the best year for him, and I still am not low on him, but I'm wondering if he's got that guy who needs to be in the game often to kind of keep in the game, if that makes sense, you know? Like, he's got to get that rhythm going. Maybe. That could have been his problem coming out of college. Maybe he had to be the guy that had to be consistent in the game. You never know. Rhythm is a dancer. It's also the night. Rhythm is the night. You can feel it in the air. But if you're using them as a block and tight end. Anybody under the age of like 35 or 40 right now is like, what are they talking about? Listen, Rhythm is a dancer. Look it up. It was a good song in like the early 90s. It was fantastic. It was remade so many times to like the 2000s. it's a spectacular song okay it's like it's like a night at the rocks uh I don't know I couldn't tell you singing the song it's gary bartlett just into my head now um all right let's get into guys we lost here before we do that let's pay the bills real quick oh yes of course the comments of course those cools 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. Oh, yeah. All right. Into players we lost here. We lost two guys so far in free agency here. Tyrod Taylor. Oh, yeah. That's right. I forgot the comments. Way to call me out instead of putting in a private chat. Sorry. Wow. Dick. Yeah. Why did we start the show late, Rob? I don't know, maybe like a naff or something. I don't know. Yeah, yeah. Called you out. Maybe I was getting the Miss Peaches hoodie coming in. Is that a Miss Peaches hoodie? It is. You know, he just came actually down to Tampa this past weekend. It was a big thing around here. It was all throughout places near my house. Because Miss Peaches had a photo shoot down there. You know, and I can't help but I think of the peaches and I still go Jack Black. Peaches, peaches, peaches, peaches, peaches, peaches, peaches, peaches, peaches, peaches, peaches. Oh, my God. I can't believe shirts and everything. Don't let my wife see that. Well, I'm kidding. She'll want it. She shows me all of a sudden she cares about Barstool Sports because of peaches. So I was like, oh, with the charity. This piece just looks like my guy. Let's get into the comments, though. Deb says, what does the signing of Drew Locke mean for DeVito? Yeah, we kind of went over that after the interview, but again, I think DeVito is an afterthought. I don't think the Giants are planning for DeVito. If he's there, great, but I don't think they have any set plans like, oh, we need DeVito for this. Unless we're having a chicken farm night. Yes, we need, like, we need, yeah. Other people can make hand motions. We're okay. Connor says, rushing yards. Texans based on first, second downs. Is Singletary good for us? Chase Young, good fit for Giants. And what's to prevent a team? Tell a guy, you come here, I'll pay you on the side. Since Cap can't pay, I'll pay you. All right, let's go bit by bit because Connor gave us a couple questions here. I know, sheesh. Usually Connor's just doing lyrics with us. That's it. Rushing our Texans bad on first again. I mean, the Texans were definitely not a good running team last year. That's for sure. No. The one thing that I can say as far as Singletary as far as good for us is he is better at breaking tackles and getting bouncing off tackles than Saquon was. Again, that was never Saquon's forte. Saquon was the speed guy. That's just what he always was. As far as how good he's going to be for us, listen, I think it's going to be a running back by committee. And whoever else you bring in, whether it's A.J. Dillon or some rookie or whatever, it's going to be a running back by committee. And game by game, it may be different who is the guy for running. Yeah. Whoever's having more success. And it makes sense. It's smart. It is. And let's take it back a little bit. Not to compare to what's going to happen this year to what happened. I'm not about to say. But there was a certain running back great that left the Giants. His name kind of sounded like Kiki. Do you know me? Is it Beaky? Maybe, maybe Beaky. But he left and I was like, what are we going to do at a running back position? And then we got earth, wind and fire. And Drew, I don't, I don't recall, but what happened that year? We won a Super Bowl. Let's not put that hope on this season. Let's be very honest. I was about to say, let's not put the hope on this season. Also, no Giants that time also put the hope on this season. But I'm just saying, let's not... Tyler's noose is because Barkley's gone. Like a lot of people did with Tiki. all right let's next question he had was all right let's next question he had was all right let's next question he had was about chase young chase young about chase young chase young about chase young chase young to me is not a good fit at all for chase young to me is not a good fit at all for chase young to me is not a good fit at all for the giants the giants the giants is he a fit talent-wise sure if you is he a fit talent-wise sure if you is he a fit talent-wise sure if you could tell me I can get chase young could tell me I can get chase young could tell me I can get chase young as a as a backup sure who wouldn't take as a as a backup sure who wouldn't take as a as a backup sure who wouldn't take that deal but you have to pay him a ton that deal but you have to pay him a ton that deal but you have to pay him a ton of money he's not going to want to of money he's not going to want to of money he's not going to want to come I mean, this guy's got 16 and a half career sacks, guys. Okay. Five years in, 16 and a half career sacks. I'm sorry. Four years in, I apologize. Still, you're talking, that is what, four? Four sacks a year? Brandon, he got a lot of injuries. I was about to say, he missed a year because ACL. He came back missing half that year. after acl so like he's missing 43 43 games 16 sacks that would put him on a pace for about one sack every three games which would put him on pace for five to six sacks a game if he was healthy the whole season That's not that good, guys. I don't think he's that good. I think he's overrated. And I don't think he's overrated because of talent. You hear a lot of rumblings about personality issues with him. You heard about that with San Francisco even this year, talking about him taking plays off and stuff like that. Obviously, he's got the injury issues as well. So, you know, it's just... Not a guy that I'd be interested in, honestly. There's a reason that the Washington Commanders did not pick up the fifth-year option for this guy. There's a reason they traded him away instead of trying to keep him. He's just not as good a player as people think. He's still got that name recognition. He was supposed to be the DCLT player. Yeah. And if you have that kind of talent... If you have that kind of talent... Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, definitely pick up that fifth year. If you think he had that kind of talent, he didn't. So let's just say the hype might be a little bit overshot. Yeah. I mean, the scary thing is, too, if you take out his rookie year, he had seven and a half sacks. So that puts him at nine sacks the rest of his career in 28 games. That's terrible. It's not good, guys. Probably in your practice squad. I get it. Sacks aren't everything. I'm not trying to suggest sacks are everything. But, I mean, you can look at he's also had 20 QB hits in that time frame. 20 QB hits in 28 games. It's not horrible. I'm not saying he's not a legit NFL player. I'm not saying he has no talent. This is not some groundbreaking next level. Even as a starter, I think he's a starter still. I think he's a mid-range starter is what he is. I really do. He has talent to be top tier. He's just not there. He does. He does. Sometimes talent isn't what makes a player great. Sometimes talent takes away from a player. And it's crazy to say. But sometimes guys with talent get lazy. Yeah. And they don't do what they should. And they're used to being the dude. They're used to being the apex predator. Big Lebowski. And they're like, I'm good. I'll get it. Don't worry. But they don't care. It's those guys that were never the dude you got to worry about. They become the dude. Because they're going to put the hard work in. Oh, yeah. He also said, what's to prevent a team to tell a guy you come here and I'll pay you on the side since Cap can't let us pay you? Simple. Huge fines. Huge fines. Loss of draft picks. That's the kind of stuff that would happen. If you remember a couple of decades ago now, the Broncos got caught cheating on the salary cap. And they actually went over the salary cap. They kind of fudged the numbers a little bit before they sent him in. And they got in trouble with the league. They lost draft picks. They got fined. That does happen. And when it happens, the league takes it seriously because they don't want that uncompetitive advantage. They want at least the appearance of everybody having a shot. Oh, the audits. Big blue for life, 57 Ortiz. Rob, what's going on, fellas? What's up? It says, let's go Giants. There we go. Positive message there. A lot of positive Giant fans nowadays. Timothy says, hey, Drew and Rob, should the Giants sign Eric Armstead if they restructure Andrew Thomas and Dexter Lawrence's contracts? I don't think so, personally. I don't think it's quite a fit. I think the issue is just that we have so many holes right now that if you're going to tell me we're going to free up some money, I'm going to go get a corner. I'm going to go get a, you know, maybe another guard. I'm going to go get maybe a, you know, I wouldn't say a top-run flat receiver, but Calvin Ridley, my heart's been broken today, and he got signed to the Titans. But, you know, just somebody that could improve an area that's already bad. Now, we definitely need some more defensive line help. Don't get me wrong. But I think we're not looking at that top tier. Our top tier defensive lineman is Sexy Dexy. We already got that. We're done. We got him. We got the two, you know, really good edge rushers. You just want to get some guys that can play the defensive line and play solid. You don't need to play average too much. Yeah. Yeah. Play an average above average and they still be a top tier. Armistead's going to get paid probably $20 million a year. We can't afford that. Yeah, he's that good. We don't got that kind of money. I was still shocked we somehow pulled $30 million a year for Brian Burns, but we'll get more into that in a little bit there. Connor says, you wanted the best, you got the best. The hottest band in the world, KISS, exactly. See my vest, see my vest. Oh, yeah, he made a mistake. He said best, not best. I just corrected it. Conor says, get Brock Bowers or Stover in draft for tight end. You know, honestly, I don't want anything to do with Bowers because every single first round tight end seems to be a bust. I don't know what it is. It's just we've talked about it last year as well. The guys who do well are typically the fourth round tight ends. So go to the fourth round, get whoever you think is the best one available, and move on. That's my advice at that point. Katie says, laughing, and I think she was doing that by our talking about rhythm is a dancer, by the way. Yeah, that was definitely us saying a dance to it. Listen, it's still a spectacular song. By the way, Snap is the name of the group that did that. Oh, snap. Yes, the rhythm is a dancer. It's a soul companion. You can feel it everywhere. As he looks up the lyrics. I do. I was looking to see who did it. I was curious. That's one of those things. It'll drive me nuts not knowing who did it. And I have to look it up. Otherwise, I'll be thinking about it the whole time. Connor says, oh, what a night. Late December back in 63. What a very special time for me is I remember what a night. Oh, what a night. Oh, I didn't even know her name, but I was never going to be the same. Oh. Oh, what a night. There's the lyrics. I can't see that part. My voice doesn't go that high. Let's see. Aaron Boucher's banter. What's up? Singletary is a good runner between the tackles. Would you like Kareem Hunt with Devin this season? I don't want anything to do with Kareem Hunt. No. Especially guys that kick ladies when they're down. But what's up, Aaron? I have issues with him as a person. I just don't want anything to do with him on the team. I really don't. And he ruined my fantasy football team when he did that. I was going to the playoffs. So it's personal and double personal. The other thing is, I feel like he went into Cleveland where they thought he was going to be kind of the new Nick Chubb because they kind of needed somebody to be the star. He wasn't the star. He had 411 yards rushing on the season there. Average three yards per carry. And guys also are forgetting his age, too. He's going to be 29 years old, guys. Wasn't he there prior? They cut him because Nick Chubb was the dude. Then they brought him back because Nick Chubb decided he would. They cut him. Nick Chubb wanted to sign him. He ended up getting re-signed. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Yeah, he got re-signed after two games because the second game was when Nick Chubb hurt himself. I'm saying he's going to be 29 years old, guys. Yeah, I don't think Nick Chubb did it to himself, but I got what you're saying. No, no, I'm saying Kareem Hunt, though. Yeah, I know. Kareem Hunt, though, is going to be 29 years old. Okay, well, you know what I mean. 29 years old, coming off a season where he averaged three yards a carry. You know, I just, I can't, I can't. And like I said, personality issues and all that kind of stuff there. Yeah, and then we already talked about, like, this thing that happened with Barkley. May have been a blessing to the skies because look at his age, look at his injury history. Let's talk about an older guy who also has some injuries. Look at his age. Look at his medal. Look at his age. What does it say? Contracts unique. How many incentives do you see? what are you doing I have no idea uh you don't even know what song we're doing are you he was like randomly he's like let's just break out a musical randomly uh yeah anyway um deb says maybe we can get ron dean off the couch just kidding yeah I don't think ron didn't get himself off the couch blast I saw he's kind of a much much bigger guy than he was in his playing days at that point he's uh Let me put it this way. If he was to be a dog, he'd be a bulldog. Not a badger like you played. I have to look to see. They still list him at 250 pounds, but I think they're probably listing his playing weight, not his actual weight he is now. Last I saw, he was a big guy. He's a big guy. It's been 25 years, guys, since he was a Heisman Trophy winner. People forget it's been that long. 25 years. I feel old. I feel really old. All right, let's get into our guys that we were linked to as possibly having interest. I know we already did that. Sorry, I'm sorry. Players we lost to this free agency here. A'shawn Robinson signed with the Panthers three years, $22.5 million. Not too upset, to be honest with you guys. I thought he was a good player, not a great player. If somebody wants to pay him a lot of money, then far be it for us to be that guy. We're not going to be that team. We're not going to overpay for guys unless they're really, really good. We will overpay for the really good. We will not overpay for a guy who is just good. So, yeah, hopefully we can just find someone to replace him at that point there. I mean, let's be very frank and say the Giants will probably also draft somebody because that's what the Giants do. We draft defensive line every year. Yep. Defensive line, defensive backs. one of the few spots we tend to draft well in too so you know I'll take it um tyra taylor as you mentioned before is off to the jets there so he didn't want to change parpins so he just decided to stay put and go with the green former seven blue two years 18 million dollars so remember woody johnson said that they didn't have a backup last year just totally slapping the face of zach wilson well they got one now tyra taylor um tyra taylor's family likes central park so yeah kudos to them Let's get into some Giants news, guys. We do also have some Giants news to go over there with you guys today, too. It's not just signings. There's also news. It's time for the news. Oh, yes. Giants are not planning to tender Isaiah Hodgins, according to Jordan Ronan. If they kept him via the restricted free agent tender, his contract would have been $2.98 million this year. Honestly, I don't think that's that bad of a deal per se. But yeah, they haven't rolled out. They're bringing it back. They just don't want to bring it back at that number. So. I mean, let's be real. I mean, when we got him from Buffalo, he was off the practice squad. We got him at the league minimum. We brought him back because he was the hero when we picked him up. Wanted to be the best receiver behind Satan. Somehow. I don't know. I'm still confused. He was like the Giants version of Jeremy Lin. Listen, don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Everyone underestimated him, I guess. He was Kevin Moss. So then you bring him back the next year, last year, and he was... Yeah, I mean, 230 yards, three touchdowns. I mean, he wasn't nothing, but he wasn't a big part of the offense, that's for sure. We'll lose you again, Rob. Anyway, so yeah. He's not going to be back at that point there, at least on that number. We'll see if they bring him back once the free agency for those kind of guys start up there as well. Nick McLeod, though, will be tender. So he will definitely be back as the New York Giant next year. Talked about him. Like I said, it's the guy who could potentially be a starter at safety or corner this year, depending on how things go right now. A guy that I'm pretty high on. Definitely want to keep him overall. uh xavier mckinney apparently there has come out now that he did honor the handshake agreement he had there with the giants by giving them a chance to match the packers offer obviously they declined so uh but yeah can't blame we can't blame him for not being a giant this is not a saquon scenario he didn't go to one of our you know our big rivals there he uh you know, gave us a chance to match and everything. And just the giants decided they didn't want to do that. So, um, we'll see what happens there overall, but yeah, you can't blame a guy for honoring that handshake. And then just, it just didn't work out because the giants didn't think he was worth it. So, uh, at least kudos to him on honoring them. Um, before signing with the Browns, we talked about their, uh, the, uh, true lock deal at that point there, uh, Before signing with the Browns, the Giants are apparently very interested in QB Jameis Winston, which is the guy we talked about there during our free agency preview episode we did there. Jameis Winston, again, to me would have been a great fit for the Giants. He's a guy that You look at it and go, you know what? The Giants were good at fixing the turnover issues with Daniel Jones. And maybe, you know, we could have done something special with him there. But he took more money. He's like $8 million and went off to Cleveland to do the backup. there. Joe Flacco has gone to the Colts. The QB carousel continues there. Brian Burns, we talked about his contract. We talked about, you know, what a lot of people weren't reporting on for some reason. Again, 150 was the max. That's if he had every incentive known to man, which we don't even know what these incentives all are. Could be 10 sacks, could be 12 sacks, could be Pro Bowls, could be, you know, playing every game. Who knows? Could be, you know, tying your shoes correctly. I would want the tying my shoes correctly. That's just me. That's a good bonus. That's a good bonus. Wearing a mouth guard. $100,000. So, anyway, the numbers are out. As expected, $150 million is the max. Five years, $87.5 million guarantees. Turns out the contract itself is $141 million before any of the incentives. That puts him at an average of $28.2 million per year, guys. That is a lot of money. That's the second highest annual salary at the edge position. To give you guys a good comparison, Daniil Hunter, who is considered the top free agent at the edge position this offseason. Guy just had 16.5 sacks last year, guys. Two years, $49 million deal with the Texans. Now, granted, he's a little older. I think he's like 31, to be honest. So that definitely goes into part of that equation there. But he went $24.5 million. So we're paying almost $4 million more for Brian Burns. Listen, he's got a lot to live up to with that contract, guys. A lot to live up to. If he puts out an eight-sack number, guys, then it looks like a good edge. I don't think he's a bad player. Don't get me wrong. But if he looks just good or very good, not great, he is not going to like his time in New York, guys. He put a target on his own back with that contract. And that's the demands he had. He said he wanted $30 million a year. He was very vocal on that. That's why the Giants didn't announce the 141 number. They announced the 150 number when they traded for him. They wanted to give him that feeling of they're giving him $30 million a year. It's all the optics up there. God damn, guys. I was expecting $125 million would be the contract, which would put him at $25 million a year, and I'm cool with that. I definitely think we overpaid. I don't know. Maybe Scanlon saw it different when they decided to pick up from him. I think we overpaid, but we also could be pleasantly surprised because let's not forget he was... Fairly highly sought out in the draft. He was. He went to a very bad team and had no development. A terrible GM. Terrible ownership. Terrible coaching. And still produced. So now you're telling me this guy could come into a better team Better coaching. I mean, he could surprise a lot of people and be like the dude that should be top eight. Like I said, I'm curious. But that's me being optimistic. I don't like paying on potential. I like paying on actuality. You know. That's what you're paying. Sometimes you get a bargain shot. That's what we basically did. We paid as if he's a guy who's going to beat 11, 12 sacks a season. Guaranteed. The one thing I will say nice about him is the guy has produced every year. He hasn't had the 4 or 5 sack season. He's been consistently 7, 8, 9, 12 sacks kind of guy. It's not that I dislike him. I just think we're way overpaid guys. That goes back to my conversation. He's playing with... Tell me who set an excellent line that played well last year, the year prior. Derek Brown, Gross Matos. How well did he do last year? The team's horrible, of course. Let me ask you this. How good is our team? I'm just saying we're in no position to call a franchise crap right now, guys. I'm not saying we're crap. At least our defensive line, like Sexy Daxi. You want to say he's crap? No, you say Derek Brown's crap, though? I'm not saying Derek Brown's crap. I'm just saying, if you want to pinpoint one good player on our team, I'm going to pinpoint one good player on theirs. I'm just saying there's... There's a potential in New York for him. Oh, there's a potential because he's playing a long time. If you let him and Thibodeau both just pin their ears back and go after the quarterback on a nonstop basis, which is what sounds like the plan, that's not going to be so much fun for offenses to try to stop, especially with Sexy Dexy coming through the middle there at that point. I think our defense will probably look like the Raiders – third quarter defensive last year where I just or at the end of this year like we got you know max crosby won the best you know the guys in line you have a lot of offensive lines and a lot of offenses don't want to play the raiders this coming up here that could be it could be the giants We'll see. I mean, that very well could be, especially depending on what we do at corner, in the second corner there, have some guys that can block and stop the pass there at that point there and force the quarterback to hold on the ball an extra second. Like I said, it's going to be interesting, that's for sure. I just don't like paying a potential, and that's what we just got. And I agree with that. And like I said, my big concern is that if we can't get who we want quarterback-wise because we gave up the second-round pick, that'll take care of us as well. Well, I mean, I'm not that I'm okay with it, but I guess we should look like the Atlanta Falcons of last year. Suck it up. Have a really good defense. Yeah, but the difference is we play in a good division. They play in a shit division. They do. If we play in the NFC South, we would have won the division last year, potentially. Potentially. That's not even a crazy statement, guys. I know it sounds crazy on paper, but if you take out the two games with Dallas and change it for the Carolina Panthers, you take out the two games we had with Philadelphia, and you trade it out for the New Orleans Saints. So we did lose two of the season, but they're not as good a team as the Eagles were, at least the first half of the Eagles. and then change out the commanders for the Bucs. It's kind of a wash. I guess the Bucs would have been the Eagles. I'm just saying that as an example. It's not the same team. It's not. That's not what I'm trying to compare it to. I'm just trying to say a good defense. The Falcons had a really good defense last year. Terrible offense. Yes. They had weapons on offense that they were missing pieces for. Like a quarterback. Which they kind of look like they may have fixed their issues. I mean, granted, they just signed a 35-year-old quarterback. I don't know if we want to go down this rabbit hole. But I'm just trying to say, like, the Giants... I wouldn't be so upset if they got to this position. Granted, I... want better for the team but I'm just trying to say if we look like the land of falcons where we're competitive in our division with a really good defense and then come in the following year with a really good moves at offense granted I want the good quarterback this year I want everything to happen this year Eagles are going to fall off. So, hey, Dakota, in the conversation over there. Eagles are on their way off. They're falling off. Look at what the Cowboys did this offseason so far. They, what, made three moves? Two moves? A couple cuts, and that's it. Yeah. I mean, the Cowboys don't really do too much. I mean, last year was kind of an anomaly. They got Cooks, and then they got, you know, Gilmore. Well, I mean, you had Jerry Jones coming out like two months ago, like, oh, we're going to go. crazy this offseason. We're going to do so much. Well, in all fairness, they're crazy, the Cowboy fans. They're delusional. They just won five rings last year. Yeah, that's pretty much what they did. But, yeah, like I said, it's just my main concern. I don't want to overpay for somebody based on what they could do. But I get to see the benefit of Burns and Thibodeau both rushing the pasture full speed. Just like I said, it scares me the way that we did this. I would have rather gone to, you know, Daniel Hunter and say, point blank, I'm going to pay you $55 million for two years. Is it... Hmm. If all boils down to it, does anybody else want to come here? Let's be honest. We're not exactly the premier destination right now. We've played bad for the last 10 years. Our coach has got issues apparently with being a hothead and taking off every single coach underneath him. We play in a tougher division. We don't have a quarterback. Is it really a premier destination? Is it like going, oh my God, I hope the Giants sign me? Yeah. Unless they grew up a Giants fan. Yes and no, because listen, you come over here, you play your heart out on defense as an edge. You get TV advertisement, you get radio advertisement, you make that much more money on the side. You can never cut out New York market to come here, no matter how bad you are. Granted, you want to rank your competitor, but if you're An above-average player that knows that you're not elite. I'm not saying that's the case over here. I think it depends on the player, honestly, and what they're looking for. I don't think that every player wants to go into media and stuff after they're done with playing. I'm not even saying that. You can go into advertisement. Like, hey, I just want to be in front of the camera. Yeah, I'm not so sold on that. There's the Carl Weathers of the world. Oh, God. I guess it is. I don't think we have a car. We don't. Came out of one of the big movies. Guarantee you'll sign up in a heartbeat. He'll be in Creed 17. Alrighty, guys. Well, that's all we got here for you guys tonight. So we're going to have to kind of keep an eye, see what's going on. Obviously, we'll be back again tomorrow night for you guys there. We'll end up doing one of two things. We're either going to be going ahead and giving you guys more updates on stuff or... What we'll do is we're going to update for you guys what our division rivals have done there. Same as we did last year. That's a way to kind of keep an eye on because we do have to play those guys six games out of the season there. That's a third of the season, a little more than that. It's good to know what the Eagles, the Cowboys, and the Commanders are up to at that point. Like I said, one of those two depends on what happens tomorrow. We will run down for you guys. Or maybe we'll do both depending on if the Giants just make one signing and the rest of the time we can talk about you know, who everybody else picked up there. So, as always, we are live on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter slash X, Twitch, Instagram, and of course, Rob's favorite. Oh, yes. My LinkedIn profile. He loves my LinkedIn profile. And, of course, as always, we're available the next day on all the audio podcast platforms as well. So we're on iHeartRadio, Spotify, Apple, Amazon, all the big ones there. And, of course, if we're not the one you listen to, guys, you're on the wrong one. We're at like 165,000. And if you're on the 165,000... Oh, my God. It's so ridiculous how many hosts there are for this stuff here. So, again, guys, we'll see you guys tomorrow, 9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time there. So, look forward to having you all there. Anybody who's new to the show or maybe just kind of checking it out for the first time there, if you can hit the like, hit the subscribe. Keep in mind, you can go to all the different platforms you mentioned. Hit that like and subscribe so you never miss a show. I appreciate all listening in. And also ring that bell if you're on YouTube. Oh, yes. Ring the bell on UE2. Ring my bell. Ring my bell. Ding, ding, ding. All right, guys. Appreciate you guys listening in. 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.