Getty New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen could use the transition tag on safety Xavier McKinney ahead of 2024 free agency.
The New York Giants will not be utilizing the franchise tag on running back Saquon Barkley in 2024, according to NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport.
There is a “strong possibility” that they will be using the transition tag on safety Xavier McKinney, however, per New York Post reporter Ryan Dunleavy. This lesser-known tag option would cost the Giants $13.815 million rather than $17.123 million at safety.
On Xavier McKinney:
Franchise tag for safety: $17.123M
Transition tag: $13.815M
(Strong possibility)
Now $17M is a big number. But it would lock in good young player.
The $13.8M more team-friendly. Still gives Giants opportunity to match an offer, but no compensation if he…
ESPN’s Jordan Raanan explained what the transition tag would mean on X, relaying: “$17M is a big number. But it would lock in [a] good young player. The $13.8M [is] more team-friendly. Still gives [the] Giants [the] opportunity to match an offer, but no compensation if he leaves.”
Breaking News Update: Giants Do Not Tag Xavier McKinney or Saquon Barkley
As the deadline approached on March 5, it became apparent that the Giants would not be exercising a franchise or transition tag in 2024.
Rapoport announced the news on McKinney, informing: “The #Giants will not use a tag — franchise or transition — on S Xavier McKinney, per me and @MikeGarafolo. He’ll be a free agent.”
The #Giants will not use a tag — franchise or transition — on S Xavier McKinney, per me and @MikeGarafolo. He’ll be a free agent.
Dunleavy commented on the NYG 180 publicly, admitting that this was “not what I heard earlier today.”
Barring a late extension with the Giants, McKinney and Barkley both will hit the open market on March 13.
Giants Insider Details Transition Tag as It Relates to Xavier McKinney in 2024
The Athletic’s NYG insider Dan Duggan outlined the possibility of McKinney getting the transition tag on March 2.
“It’s been floated that the rarely used transition tag, which would cost $13.8 million, could be used on McKinney,” the media member noted at the time. “The transition tag certainly wouldn’t sit well with McKinney since it’s less than what he’ll be targeting in a multiyear deal and pays $3.3 million less than the franchise tag.”
“In theory, the transition tag allows a player to test the market for offers,” he continued. “But in reality, the transition tag would suppress McKinney’s market because some teams would be deterred from making an offer they believe the Giants would match.”
Per Duggan, Big Blue would have exactly five days to decide on matching another franchise’s offer for McKinney.
“The other team would have to budget for its contract offer to McKinney, which would restrict its spending,” he stated while explaining how the move could suppress the defensive back’s market. “And then if the Giants matched the offer, the other team would be without McKinney and would have missed out on alternatives who would have signed elsewhere in the interim.”
As you can see, this move would make it tricky for a new suitor to land McKinney without overpaying him significantly.
Transition Tag Would Also Delay Giants From Finding Xavier McKinney Replacement, Should They Lose Him
There is one natural negative to using the transition tag on McKinney — and it’s similar to Duggan’s comments above, except vice versa.
If the Giants deploy this strategy, there’s a real chance that they lose the former second rounder to an offer NYG refuses to match. Or in other words, an overpay.
In this scenario, the Giants are waiting on other teams to submit offers, and that delay could cause them to miss out on some of the top potential replacements in free agency. Meaning, if general manager Joe Schoen transition tags McKinney, he better have a few backup plans if things go sideways.
That could be waiting on a new safety in the draft, targeting the second wave of free agency or looking at veteran options that may have slipped through the cracks.
Jason Pinnock and Dane Belton would be the next men up on the 90-man roster behind McKinney, with 2023 seventh rounder Gervarrius Owens and the versatile Nick McCloud in the mix as well. That is not a very experienced group to rely upon if negotiations fall through over the next couple of weeks.