These are not your Brian Daboll, Joe Judge, Pat Shurmur, Ben McAdoo, Dave Gettleman New York Giants. They really aren\u2019t even your Joe Schoen-led Giants. Things have changed with the arrival of Super Bowl-winning head coach John Harbaugh, and the power he has been given after 18 hugely successful years with the Baltimore Ravens to reshape the Giants.<\/p>\n
The Giants certainly are not viewed the same way they have been for the last several years by free agents and their representatives.<\/p>\n
Here is what one agent told Matt Lombardo of \u2018Between the Hashmarks\u2019<\/a>:<\/p>\n \u201cWe view the Giants as a soon to be top contender across the league,\u201d a veteran agent who represents several of the top free agents about to hit the market tells Between The Hashmarks. \u201cIt for sure has become a more desirable destination.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDawn may actually be an equally important, if not a bigger acquisition than Harbaugh,\u201d the agent explains. \u201cHer years of expertise in the front office for teams, and working for the league in their Park Avenue offices is unprecedented.<\/p>\n \u201cAt this point, the Giants have the chemistry to make a Super Bowl run every year in the not so distant future, at least in our opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n Here is what one player rep told me when I asked how the perception of the Giants had changed since Harbaugh was named head coach.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the Giants are looked at favorably as Coach has been a winner, a communicator, and a builder of unity and culture, and that\u2019s exactly what the Giants need,\u201d said Deryk Gilmore of Day1Sports. \u201cHopefully he\u2019s the one who can bring the Giants back to where they were in the \u201880s and \u201890s.\u201d<\/p>\n Tyler Linderbaum Sweepstakes<\/p>\n Are the Giants really going to commit a market-setting $20 million or more to a center? I don\u2019t know, and everyone has a different take. For me, it is possible until it isn\u2019t considering Harbaugh\u2019s commitment to upgrading the trenches and being more physical, and the Linderbaum-Harbaugh Baltimore connection.<\/p>\n The market beyond the Giants is not what I thought it would be a few days ago.<\/p>\n The Los Angeles Chargers signed Tyler Biadasz.The Chicago Bears traded with the New England Patriots for Garrett Bradbury.The Patriots are expected to move Jared Wilson to center.<\/p>\n From here, it looks like the Detroit Lions, Tennessee Titans, Las Vegas Raiders, and Cleveland Browns might be the Linderbaum market outside New York and Baltimore.<\/p>\n The Baltimore sources I have contacted think it\u2019s \u201c50-50\u201d that Linderbaum stays with the Ravens. Long-time NFL columnist Gary Myers said over the weekend he has been told Linderbaum could be \u201cmuch too expensive<\/a>\u201d for the Giants.<\/p>\n Myers could be right. The Giants have released linebacker Bobby Okereke and offensive tackle James Hudson and gotten running back Devin Singletary to take a pay cut. At this point, though, Spotrac lists the Giants with $21.9 million in cap space applying the top-51 rule. That still isn\u2019t really enough to play in the deep end of the free agency pool. I do expect more cap-clearing moves to come before Monday.<\/p>\n If it isn\u2019t Linderbaum, I do believe the Giants will sign at least one major free-agent offensive. lineman beyond making a strong effort to bring back right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor. Could that be a guard like Wyatt Teller, Dylan Parham, or Alijah Vera-Tucker? Right tackle Braden Smith if Eluemunor moves on?<\/p>\n Your guess is as good as mine.<\/p>\n A wild, unpredictable week ahead<\/p>\n Everybody wants to know what the Giants are going to do this week Lots of people, some credible and some not, have been posting their guesses.<\/p>\n There have been reports that the Giants have checked in on just everybody in free agency. As they should every year. That\u2019s called due diligence, and it\u2019s what teams are supposed to do. They find out who is interested in playing for them, what the price is, and make decisions from there.<\/p>\n Even some of the most well-connected media members aren\u2019t sure what to expect.<\/p>\n Linderbaum? Future Hall of Famer Mike Evans? Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker? The Giants have been connected to all of them. Maybe they land one. Maybe they sign or trade for someone we didn\u2019t see coming. In fact, I would bet they do. Trey Hendrickson, anyone? A wild trade for Myles Garrett, who seems to be ghosting the Cleveland Browns?<\/p>\n New head coach John Harbaugh isn\u2019t rebuilding the Giants from scratch in some sort of multi-year, piece-by-piece long-term plan. He wants to contend. Now.<\/p>\n Buckle up. It\u2019s going to be an entertaining, discussion-worthy week.<\/p>\n Did the Giants really bid on Trent McDuffie?<\/p>\n When the Kansas City Chiefs traded All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie to the Los Angeles Rams the Giants were said to be the other team in serious negotiations with the Chiefs<\/a> for McDuffie.<\/p>\n Setting the record straight: Just heard from a trusted source that @Giants<\/a> were never in the Trent McDuffie trade market. They never spoke to the Chiefs about him. The story came out of KC, so perhaps @Chiefs<\/a> were trying to create leverage with Rams by claiming others interested. Besides, draft capital price was way too high. Rams of McVay\/Snead have history of trading #1 picks.<\/p>\n That corresponds with Jordan Ranaan of ESPN saying the Giants\u2019 interest in McDuffie was \u201coverblown,\u201d<\/a> and that the Giants are \u201cnot looking at high-end cornerbacks\u201d in free agency.<\/p>\n The price the Rams paid for McDuffie, four draft picks including a first-rounder, always seemed way above one the Giants should have been willing to pay.<\/p>\n