After failing to return to the playoffs and finishing with a 6-11 record, the New York Giants enter the 2024 offseason facing even more uncertainty than last year.
While their best chance to add high-end talent might come in the NFL Draft, the Giants have the 17th-most cap space among teams ($27.8 million) to fill out the roster with impactful contributors.
With that, here are three 2024 free agents that the Giants should consider pursuing this offseason.
Tee Higgins, wide receiver
The Giants will need to decide whether to upgrade their dismal passing attack by bringing in a new quarterback or a legitimate No. 1 wideout. Considering they’ve ranked 30th in receiving yards and touchdowns since 2019, adding a free-agent wide receiver while leaving the door open for drafting a signal-caller seems like a logical move.
Tampa Bay’s Mike Evans is arguably the top wideout heading to free agency, but Higgins would be a better investment since the Giants were the NFL’s second-youngest team in 2023.
The 24-year-old will likely receive the franchise tag this offseason, so New York would have to trade for him, which may seem unlikely since the Bengals have the sixth-most cap space for 2024. However, with QB Joe Burrow’s extension kicking in for the 2024 season and WR Ja’Marr Chase set to negotiate a contract that could reset the market, the Giants could offer Cincinnati an offer it can’t refuse.
Injuries to himself and Burrow limited Higgins to 42 receptions for 656 yards and five touchdowns this season, all career-worst marks. Even so, Higgins’ 63.5 career receiving yards per game is nearly 20 yards more than that of Darius Slayton, New York’s leading receiver in four of the last five seasons.
Since the Giants don’t have a receiver of Chase’s caliber to compete for targets with, Higgins could easily develop into a Pro Bowler if the team acquires him.
Mike Onwenu, offensive lineman
After allowing the second-most sacks in a single season in NFL history (85), New York is expected to do a near-complete overhaul of its offensive line. Last week, the Giants hired former Raiders O-line coach Carmen Bricillo, whose unit was tied for the sixth-highest pass-blocking efficiency rating in the league this season (86.3), to kickstart the revamping process.
Before Bricillo was hired by Las Vegas, he spent three seasons coaching for the New England Patriots and briefly served under offensive line guru Dante Scarnecchia.
Bringing in Onwenu, one of Bricillo’s former Patriots linemen, seems like a move the Giants should take a close look at, given the connection.
Although Onwenu allowed three sacks and a career-high 23 pressures in 2023, he enjoyed the best season of his career in 2021, when Bricillo was his position coach. That season, Onwenu surrendered just 11 total pressures, four QB hits and two sacks. Perhaps a reunion with Bricillo could help him return to this level of performance.
Jadeveon Clowney, edge-rusher
The Giants were great at allowing sacks this season, but collecting them was a different story. New York’s 34 sacks were the fourth-fewest in the NFL in 2023, marking the second time in three seasons the team racked up that underwhelming total.
The Giants must acquire another edge-rusher, as OLB Azeez Ojulari took another step back in 2023. While former fifth overall pick Kayvon Thibodeaux notched 11.5 sacks, he posted fewer QB hits and pressures than as a rookie.
Enter Clowney, who New York could’ve signed to a steal of a deal last offseason after he posted just two sacks with the Cleveland Browns in 2022 instead of re-signing Jihad Ward and Oshane Ximines.
Clowney, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, signed a one-year, $2.5 million contract with Baltimore and revitalized his career under DC Mike Macdonald, posting 9.5 sacks with nine tackles for loss.
Although sacks can give a false impression about an edge-rusher’s abilities (much like Thibodeaux’s case), Clowney has excelled on all fronts for the Ravens.
According to Pro Football Focus, Clowney was the 15th-highest-rated edge in the NFL this season (85.7), and not only were his 71 pressures a career-high, but they were the 11th-most at his position.
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