The New York Giants have had a tough start to the offseason after losing players like Justin Tuck and Hakeem Nicks, but after signing names in Walter Thurmond, Rashad Jennings and Geoff Schwartz, the team is looking to potentially add more targets and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Jared Allen, Mario Manningham, Anthony Spencer, Tarrell Brown, James Jones and Antonio Cromartie could be in the mix for Jerry Reese and Big Blue.
The Giants came into the offseason knowing that they would likely allow Tuck and Nicks to go, but now that it's actually happened Reese and the front office have to find players to fill those holes and on top of that, they lost one of their premier players to Linval Joseph to the Minnesota Vikings. Some fans were upset that the team let those three players go without a fight, but the Giants plan is to get younger and a bit cheaper and while they liked Joseph after drafting and developing him into a very good defensive tackle, they felt he wasn't worth a $30 million contract after drafting Jonathan Hankins last year.
Nicks and Tuck signed for what amounted to $11 million dollars and three years and while that doesn't seem like much, the Giants did not have a lot of cap space to spend on all their needs and since those players would be returning, the G-Men were actually at a disadvantage in trying to keep them. It's always tough to lose players that helped the team win Super Bowls, but the Giants are trying to look forward and to do that they may actually look back to another one of those players, as ESPN.com is reporting that the team is meeting with Mario Manningham this week.
Manningham was a player the Giants parted ways with after winning the Super Bowl a couple years ago and now they could bring him back to help with the loss of Nicks at wide receiver. Manningham signed with the 49ers and had two unproductive years that were marred by knee injuries, but he could be a very solid option for the team as a third or fourth receiver if he can stay healthy. That obviously is a big question mark, but if Victor Cruz can be his consistent self with Rueben Randle as the number two, Manningham fits well alongside Jerrel Jernigan and that could help Eli Manning and the offense return to form under new coordinator Ben McAdoo.
The Giants have added Geoff Schwartz to an offensive line that was a mess last season and although they added JD Walton to play center, he hasn't played a full season in a while and there is a chance the team could continue adding on the line. Jennings coming to the team likely means that Andre Brown is not returning, but Reese could look to re-sign him as well since David Wilson is coming off of a neck injury and could be out of the mix for next season. The Giants have some money to spend and even though they won't be able to make a big splash, there are plenty of players on the market they could add after signing Walter Thurmond and Quintin Demps, who plays at safety and kick returner.
