Getty The New York Giants could go after a Dallas Cowboys' All-Pro in 2024 NFL free agency.
The prospect of the New York Giants having almost $60 million worth of salary cap space next offsesason makes guessing at the team’s plans for 2024 NFL free agency an exciting experiment. Especially if those plans involve the Giants stealing an All-Pro talent from NFC East rivals the Dallas Cowboys.
Trevon Diggs is slated to be a free agent a year from now, and Dan Duggan of The Athletic thinks the two-time Pro Bowler is a fit for the Giants at cornerback. It’s a position where Duggan believes “the Giants will have a question mark” across from 2023 NFL draft first-round pick Deonte Banks.
Although Duggan didn’t go into specifics about what would make Diggs a smart signing, he named the 24-year-old as one of three possible options. The others are Sean Murphy-Bunting of the Tennessee Titans and Cincinnati Bengals’ corner Chidobe Awuzie.
Diggs is the headline name of the trio after leading the league with 11 interceptions in 2021, the same year he was named first-team All-Pro. Diggs also make it back to back trips to the Pro Bowl last season.
The numbers are impressive, but Diggs may not be the best scheme fit for the Giants, despite his ball-hawking tendencies. If not, the Giants ought to follow Duggan’s note of caution that “a weak free-agent market could make re-signing Adoree’ Jackson more attractive,” even for a team “projected to have $59.4 million in cap space next offseason, the ninth-highest figure in the league.”
Dallas Cowboys’ Star May Not Fit with Giants
Few players have an instinct for the ball to match Diggs. He’s recorded 17 picks and 49 pass breakups since entering the league as a second-round draft pick in 2020.
Diggs snatched one of those interceptions against Giants’ quarterback Daniel Jones in Week 3 last season. The game also included consecutive pass breakups by No. 7, who was dubbed “squatty” and someone who “drives on things underneath” by retired two-time Super Bowl winner Peyton Manning for NFL on ESPN.
Peyton is waiting for the Giants to test Trevon Diggs 🗣️
Manning identified a “double move” as a way to beat Diggs, and it’s a route that’s borne fruit for other teams, like when A.J. Brown of the Philadelphia Eagles scorched Diggs with a double move in Week 15.
Minshew to AJ Brown for a huge gain! #FlyEaglesFly
📺: #PHIvsDAL on FOX
📱: Stream on NFL+ t.co/Gd75wO7QMX
For all his dynamic ball skills, Diggs can be beaten for as many big plays as he creates. He allowed 55 completions from 85 targets and 12.2 yards per completion last season, per Pro Football Reference.
Leaving Diggs on an island is a risk, but it’s also something that might happen often if he were to suit up for Big Blue. The Giants still run a lot of man coverage under defensive coordinator Don ‘Wink’ Martindale, who isn’t afraid to leave his cornerbacks exposed behind heavy blitzing up front.
Swarming pressure and Diggs’ natural talent for getting to the ball could either be the perfect combination or a recipe for disaster. There wouldn’t be much of a middle ground between the two outcomes.
The boom or bust style of Diggs’ game might make re-upping a veteran like Adoree’ Jackson the more prudent move next March.
Veteran Cover Man Still Has Value
Like Diggs, Jackson is a free agent a year from now, but there’s merit to offering the latter a new deal before then. Jackson would need to stay healthy to earn another contract, but he had trouble remaining upright in 2022.
The 27-year-old missed seven games with a knee sprain, after being out for four games thanks to ankle and quad injuries in 2021. Jackson missing 11 games in two years might make Giants’ general manager Joe Schoen think twice about re-signing a defensive back who counts for $19,076,563 against this year’s cap, per Spotrac.com.
Schoen would be right to proceed with caution, but he’d also need to remember Jackson remains an accomplished cover man. He limited quarterbacks to just a 69.0 rating in 2021, before allowing a modest 51.7 completion percentage last season, according to Pro Football Reference.
Those are the numbers of a solid cornerback, so the Giants might find it more cost-effective to retain Jackson, rather than sacrificing major free-agency dollars for Diggs.