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| E-GIANTS FREE AGENCY: 2013 GIANTS By Aaron Klein
This seems like the perfect time to begin an examination of the Giants' off-season. Free agency begins March 12, less than two months from the time you are reading this column. Something we all learned watching the 2012 season is that the team has some holes and thus needs to make hard decisions in order to improve the franchise and get back in the hunt. It may get ugly. Since there is a long list of free agents on the roster, both Restricted and Unrestricted, let's break this down and focus on the offense this week. We'll look at the defensive free agency picture next week and follow that with a look at potential free agents from other teams. (The salaries that follow are estimations or reported and not absolute.) QUARTERBACK Eli Manning’s current contract runs through 2015. Backup David Carr will be a free agent in March unless he's re-signed and that’s not a given. Signing Curtis Painter to a reserve/futures contract shouldn't give you all great comfort as it may only mean they want an extra arm in training camp with Carr staying as the No. 2. Probably. RUNNING BACK Ah, now it gets interesting. Ahmad Bradshaw, under contract through 2014, is due just under $6 million next season and to cut him could cost the Giants about half of that. Restructure, you say? A possibility, though a player has to be willing, and the player and his agent will have to weigh the options, which could include an outright release and require a quick assessment of the free agency market. He has spent parts of the last few seasons with foot, knee and neck problems and many wonder how much longer he can hold up before an even worse physical breakdown. Still, when he plays he's as tough a runner as there is in the league. Odds are that Bradshaw will stay with a new, more cap-friendly deal. Andre Brown is a restricted free agent. His 2012 salary came to about $465,000, a bargain regardless of the fact that he broke his leg and missed the last six games of the season. There's no reason to think that Brown will be anywhere but with the Giants come training camp and he's certainly earned a raise. For what it's worth, Da'Rel Scott has a contract through 2014 but that won't keep the Giants from moving on if they must. The emergence of rookie David Wilson could weigh heavily on Reese’s mind when he considers Bradshaw's future. Wilson could overtake Bradshaw as the starter in 2013, but going with Wilson and Brown but without Bradshaw could be a scary proposition. Ryan Torain and Kregg Lumpkin are also unrestricted free agents. WIDE RECEIVER The picture in this group as simple as it is complicated. Victor Cruz is a restricted free agent and, we all assume, will get every cent of the money he has earned after a stunning, out-of-nowhere 2011 campaign that led to a Super Bowl ring. He followed that with a solid yet frustrating 2012 performance that saw too many drops early. Despite four more receptions in 2012, his numbers dropped off, mostly because of the absence of veteran Hakeem Nicks, which made it easier for the opposition to cover Cruz and the rest of the receivers while Nicks was sidelined with knee and foot problems. As a restricted free agent, Cruz can receive a qualifying offer from the Giants, which would mean the team could match any offer he might receive from another team or simply accept the compensation, which in this case would bring a draft choice, possibly a first-rounder. Would the Giants take a first-round pick for Cruz? Would another team give one up for him? The answer is likely "no" on both counts. Cruz, along with Reuben Randle, is the future of the franchise. No player is untouchable, but let's be serious. Meanwhile, both Ramses Barden and Domenik Hixon are unrestricted free agents. Odds are that Barden be allowed to leave. He just never lived up to any expectations, even when other receivers were hurt. Hixon's future is not so clear. While he won't cost the team too much (he earned just over $600,000 in 2012), and though he was healthy after missing the better part of the previous two seasons, and he was sometimes clutch in 2012, increasing his salary in order to keep him in 2013 may not be good business. TIGHT END As of now, the only tight end under contract is rookie Adrien Robinson, who just finished his rookie season as a virtual ghost. Martellus Bennett and Travis Beckum are unrestricted. One would expect to see Beckum elsewhere in 2013 and it's widely expected that the Giants want to bring Bennett back and that he is eager to return. Bear Pascoe creates somewhat of a problem. He earned about $1.8 million in 2012 and will command a marginal raise as a restricted free agent. Sure, he's versatile yet only serviceable as a receiving tight end. It's not our money to spend, but the team will have to consider Pascoe's worth as a No. 2 tight end; he could wind up as a No. 3 if Robinson becomes the player the team expects. OFFFENSIVE LINE The stickiest unit on the offensive depth chart. Tackles Will Beatty and Sean Locklear and guard Kevin Boothe are unrestricted free agents. Center/guard Jim Cordle is restricted. Easy, right? Re-sign Beatty and Boothe. Let Locklear go into free agency as he suffered a serious knee injury and might not be ready to play, and sit on Cordle with a simple tender. Easy? Many of you rightly bristled at a suggestion I made last week that the team might have to consider Beatty’s future. That was fair since he graded out well this season and finally put together a decent season. The only reason to think the team might let him walk -- with a franchise tag -- is that he will command a hefty salary as his four-year, $3.1 million rookie contract has expired. Five million? Six million? The team has two choices, sign him to a negotiated contract or hit him with the franchise tag, which protects him but also ensures a deal worth the average of what the top 10 tackles in the league earn. Expect him to re-sign. The hard truth is that once a player is tagged, the rest of the league usually backs off, especially with a player like Beatty, who could just as easily regress as he could explode. Boothe could command nearly $4 million in 2013, a number the Giants are doubtlessly mulling as we speak. He was better in 2011 than 2012, but the same could be said for the entire line. He'll most likely be re-signed. The bigger problem along the line is not who is without a contract but which contracts could be restructured or simply terminated at a price. What the team does with the contracts of guard/tackle David Diehl, center David Baas and guard Chris Snee will be as interesting and important. Diehl has one year left on his contract and, if the team decides to release him, could cost roughly $3 million against the cap (bonus). All teams carry dead money every year, but the smart ones carefully consider the value of a cap hit as opposed to using whatever the player has left in the tank. However, Diehl is reportedly due a whopping $4 million base in 2013 along with over $3 million in bonus cash. The Giants might re-write the deal but could just as easily absorb the cap hit and cut him. Remember the release of both Sean O'Hara and Rich Seubert? Like that: Hard to swallow but maybe necessary. Baas, who had a decent 2012 despite some poor moments, has an even bigger cap value, estimated to be near $7 million on a five-year deal that expires after the 2015 season. Baas' contract may mark the low point of the team's free agency history and the Giants could work out a restructured deal. Snee is worth plenty, nearly $9 million in 2013,but the warrior's cap hit is not huge by today's standards ($2.5 million bonus). He may not only have wiggle room in his contract but also desire to do whatever it takes to stay with the team. One should expect Snee back at right guard, a criminally undervalued position in the Giants' offensive scheme. He's still too good to cut but he's not what he was three, four years ago and is instead slowly nearing the end of a great career. He'll be back while the team grooms his replacement (Selvish Capers? Brandon Mosley? A draft choice?). And that decision might come earlier than the Giants would like. Snee is "only slightly" pondering retirement, and once he returns from the Pro Bowl will schedule hip surgery to repair a torn labrum. It isn't a major bit of medical magic but it is surgery and since he is a nine-year veteran, perhaps the risk factor is slightly higher. Have something to say?
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