New York Giants looking at Austin Ekeler, Tony Pollard in free agency

We’re less than 24 hours away from NFL Free Agency Frenzy ’24 and the New York Giants are locked and loaded for action.

General manager Joe Schoen has approximately $40 million in cap space to play with and plenty of holes to fill on his roster. Not all of Schoen’s moves will be via free agency, though.

He will undoubtedly use the draft to bolster the roster, as well as explore the trade market.

The rumor mill has been warming up the past week. The Giants met with the recently released Russell Wilson and could be eyeing signing him as an upgrade to the oft-injured Daniel Jones.

As per ESPN’s Dan Graziano, it wouldn’t cost the Giants very much to take a shot at Wilson:

The key thing to understand with Wilson is that he is practically free. He is owed $39 million fully guaranteed from the Broncos this season no matter what, and any money he earns from another team this year will be offset against that $39 million — meaning the Broncos basically get that amount back. Wilson has no motivation to do the Broncos any favors, so he has no motivation to take anything more than a minimum salary deal. If you want Wilson on a one-year deal, the most you would have to pay him is $1,377,500 (the $1.21 million minimum salary established by the CBA and $167,500 in additional veteran salary benefit compensation that Article 27 of the CBA allows you to exempt from your salary cap).

With Saquon Barkley headed for free agency and likely out of the Giants’ price range, they will have to look at alternatives at running back.

ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports that the Giants are “looking” at veteran backs such as Austin Ekeler and Tony Pollard.

The Giants are still in the mix on a potential re-sign (of Barkley) but are also looking at other options, such as Tony Pollard and Austin Ekeler.

The Giants are angling for inexpensive options at running back as they move towards a backfield-by-committee approach.

As for potential trades, a trade for Carolina edge rusher Brian Burns is a possibility. Burns was assigned the franchise tag by the Panthers, which will pay him $21.3 million for 2024.

Our Dan Benton recently went through how such a deal for Burns would transpire. It is also becoming more favorable with time.

The reality is, Schoen wants to get some studs on the offensive line. It looks as if he would like to land one of the top guards in this free-agent class and augment the group with some draft picks.

Graziano says that free-agent guards are ‘likely to do well’.

Kevin Dotson’s new deal with the Rams opened a lot of eyes. His average of $16 million per year is much higher than many anticipated, and the hope among the top free agent guards such as Miami’s Robert Hunt, Detroit’s Jonah Jackson and Baltimore’s John Simpson is that it will push up the ceiling for their own deals.

Schoen better pack a lunch, as there will be a lot of competition for those players mentioned come Monday.