The New York Giants have a couple of notable free agents heading into this offseason. One of them is safety Xavier McKinney. His rookie dealing is coming to an end,
and it seems like he wants to be paid what he is worth on his next contract. However, one rumor suggests the New York Giants may try a unique tag strategy on McKinney.
New York Giants May Use Transition Tag
According to Paul Schwartz of the New York Post, the New York Giants may have a unique tag strategy heading into this offseason. Rather than placing the franchise tag on McKinney, the Giants may decide to use a transition tag on McKinney instead.
For those of you not familiar with this tag, it gives McKinney more options to get paid. With the transition tag, the Giants have the right to match any offer that McKinney gets from other teams. In return, McKinney is allowed to continue negotiating with other teams to try to find a better contract in the open market.
So, how is this different than the traditional franchise tag? With the franchise tag, McKinney would have to take the offer that the Giants give him. However, there is a good reason why the Giants may want to avoid this.
Saving Money
Using the transition tag on McKinney rather than the franchise tag would save the Giants a decent amount of money. Considering that New York is projected to have less than $30 million in cap space next season, any amount of money the Giants can save here will help them. So, how much money can the Giants save by doing this?
Schwartz says the Giants would have to pay McKinney $16.2 million if they placed the franchise tag on him. However, it would only cost New York $13.9 million to use the transition tag on McKinney.
New York Giants Moving Forward
Xavier McKinney is considered a core piece of the Giants’ defense. Last season, he had three interceptions and two fumble recoveries. Best of all, McKinney is still only 24 years old.
The only catch with using any kind of tag on McKinney is that RB Saquon Barkley would hit the open market. However, considering that the franchise tag on Barkley would cost the Giants over $12 million, they are unlikely to pursue this option. For now, we will have to wait and see if this rumor comes to life.
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