NFL free agency begins Monday.
Maybe the Giants will sign Aaron Rodgers. Maybe they’ll land Russell Wilson.
Of course, on April 24, they could essentially relegate Rodgers or Wilson to an afterthought, by trading up to No. 1 in the 2025 NFL Draft and picking Cam Ward to be their next franchise quarterback.
Rodgers and Wilson are diminished veterans in the later stages of their wonderful careers. Ward, meanwhile, is not considered an elite prospect. So this isn’t an ideal offseason to be a quarterback-needy team.
But no matter how free agency shakes out — and the Giants will sign a veteran quarterback (whether it’s Rodgers or Wilson or someone else less prominent) — none if this will matter unless they can finally find a way to fix their awful offensive line.
That’s the reality for the desperate, fourth-year regime of general manager Joe Schoen and coach Brian Daboll, as they enter a last-chance season in 2025.
So while they will need Rodgers or Wilson (or some other veteran) to properly mentor the new kid quarterback (perhaps Ward, via a trade-up move to No. 1), getting the offensive line right matters a ton.
The Giants' line was terrible again last season, when they finished 3-14. Their line wound up 28th in Pro Football Focus' pass blocking ratings and 23rd in run blocking.
Yes, elite left tackle Andrew Thomas' season-ending foot injury had a lot to do with that. He was limited to six games, a year after a hamstring injury limited him to 10. The Giants badly need him to finally stay healthy in 2025 — and play as well as he did in 2021 and 2022, when he earned a lucrative second contract that has flopped so far due to injuries.
But even if that happens, they’ll still have plenty of questions along their line. They’ll probably sign or draft a right guard to replace Greg Van Roten. He played solidly last season as a one-year, late-July signing (62.3 PFF run blocking grade, 64.9 pass blocking). But he’s 35.
Jon Runyan will return for his second season as the Giants' left guard. Jermaine Eluemunor is back at right tackle. And John Michael Schmitz — a 2023 second-round pick — is still the center.
Runyan, a prominent free agent pickup last year, was not great in 2024 — 52.3 run blocking grade, 62.6 pass blocking. Eluemunor was a better acquisition last offseason — 56.9 and 71.0.
And Schmitz continues to be inconsistent as a pass blocker (50.2), even though he made strides as a run blocker (67.0). But overall, the jury is still out on him.
Schoen inherited an offensive line mess from Dave Gettleman. Through three offseasons, Schoen hasn’t done nearly enough to fix it — largely because he has mostly whiffed on his significant offensive line draft picks (Schmitz in 2023 and Evan Neal and Josh Ezeudu in 2022).
Neal, the seventh overall pick, is a massive bust. OK, so maybe the Giants are finally ready to give up on him as a right tackle and move him to guard this offseason. But why, at this point, should anyone believe he will actually perform competently at guard?
Ezeudu, meanwhile, looks like a lost cause as a guard or tackle. But he was a third-round pick, so he isn’t nearly as disappointing as Neal.
Still, Schoen missing on Neal and Ezeudu is why he had to spend on his offensive line in free agency last offseason. And the Runyan signing hasn’t been worth it so far.
Ultimately, if Thomas stays healthy, the Giants should be fine at tackle with him and Eluemunor. But there are so many issues along the interior line — the play of Runyan and Schmitz, plus that vacancy at right guard, since it would be insane to slot Neal as the sure-thing starter there.
Another poor line performance surely will derail things at quarterback — regardless of whether the Giants wind up starting, for most of the year, an inexperienced kid like Ward or an aging star like Rodgers or Wilson.
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Darryl Slater may be reached atdslater@njadvancemedia.com.