Rather quietly, the New York Giants have been big spenders in free agency. Their huge investment in Kenny Golladay made headlines, but he's one of just three players the team has handed out massive contracts to. The others are on the defensive side of the ball, raising the prospect of this being a 2021 sleeper.
One year ago the Giants signed Panthers free agent cornerback James Bradberry to a three-year, $45 million deal. Bradberry went out and performed as one of the league's best shutdown corners. Now they've handed former Titan Adoree Jackson a three-year, $39 million contract. Big money (and for a player who was hurt most of last season), but the Giants have earned some leeway after the way the Bradberry signing panned out. If they're right again, they'll have one of the league's very best cornerback duos.
Earlier, New York had given lineman Leonard Williams a three-year, $63 million contract. Some of the money for these players perhaps won't be seen, but that's $147 million in contracts for three defensive starters.
All of this could help the Giants Defense continue its steady trek toward fantasy relevance. Not so long ago (2010-2016) it was a top-12 defense five times in seven years, but it fell off to finish 20th or worse from 2017-2019 (1 point for sacks, 2 for takeaways, 6 for touchdowns).
Last year, though, it was 12th, finishing 12th in sacks (40) and 10th in takeaways (22). The Jackson signing, ideally, will enable this defense to take another step up; more sacks by improving the coverage in the secondary, and potentially more interceptions.
Jackson had two very good first seasons with Tennessee, with 70-plus tackles each year and a total of 27 passes defensed. But the last two years he's battled injuries, missing 5 games one year and 13 in 2020. In his last 14 games, he hasn't intercepted any passes. That's an area they'll need him to step up, as it's been a problem for the team lately.
The last two seasons, New York has intercepted a total of 21 passes. That's better than only eight teams. So even with Bradberry intercepting 3 and being named to the Pro Bowl last season, the team as a whole underperformed.
| INTERCEPTIONS, 2019-2020 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Defense | '19 | '20 | Total |
| New England | 25 | 18 | 43 |
| Pittsburgh | 20 | 18 | 38 |
| Kansas City | 16 | 16 | 32 |
| Minnesota | 17 | 15 | 32 |
| Miami | 13 | 18 | 31 |
| New Orleans | 13 | 18 | 31 |
| Indianapolis | 15 | 15 | 30 |
| Seattle | 16 | 14 | 30 |
| Buffalo | 14 | 15 | 29 |
| Tennessee | 14 | 15 | 29 |
| Washington | 13 | 16 | 29 |
| Green Bay | 17 | 11 | 28 |
| LA Rams | 13 | 14 | 27 |
| Tampa Bay | 12 | 15 | 27 |
| Cleveland | 14 | 11 | 25 |
| Atlanta | 12 | 12 | 24 |
| San Francisco | 12 | 12 | 24 |
| Baltimore | 13 | 10 | 23 |
| LA Chargers | 11 | 12 | 23 |
| Cincinnati | 11 | 11 | 22 |
| Jacksonville | 10 | 12 | 22 |
| NY Jets | 12 | 10 | 22 |
| Carolina | 14 | 7 | 21 |
| NY Giants | 10 | 11 | 21 |
| Chicago | 10 | 10 | 20 |
| Denver | 10 | 10 | 20 |
| Las Vegas | 9 | 10 | 19 |
| Philadelphia | 11 | 8 | 19 |
| Arizona | 7 | 11 | 18 |
| Dallas | 7 | 10 | 17 |
| Houston | 12 | 3 | 15 |
| Detroit | 7 | 7 | 14 |
Just below the Giants on this list are the Bears and Broncos -- one that just lost its top cornerback in Kyle Fuller, the other having signed him. Fuller had just 1 interception last year, but 10 in 2018-2019; could help Denver also improve in this area.
In any case, the Giants look like a team to monitor over the rest of the offseason. Kenny Golladay and Kyle Rudolph on offense, now Jackson on defense. Might be a team ready to take a step toward relevance in the wide-open (a nice way of saying weak) NFC East.
--Andy Richardson