Before deciding to acquire edge rusher Brian Barnes in a trade with the Panthers, the Giants had looked to acquire several disruptive defensive linemen who they would have been able to acquire without compensation from their previous teams.
Episode 1 of Offseason 1 Hard Knocks The video also includes footage of meetings from early January in which the Giants were in discussions with Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones and Dolphins defensive tackle Christian Wilkins, with the idea of pairing one of them with Dexter Lawrence.
Director of pro scouting Chris Rosetti had this to say about Jones: “Future Hall of Famer. He still has the ability to ruin games. He makes football look easy at times. When he’s on a roll, playing within the confines of the game and not getting blocked, it’s hard not to imagine him and Dex playing together up the middle could produce good results. They’re the best defensive tackles in football. You watch the tape and you see Chris Jones getting double-teamed every time and the other guy only making one block. You just imagine Dex being guarded by one guy all the time. He has the ability to ruin games. Financially, where is it now? It’s going to be a $35 million cap hit next year.”
“I don’t think he’s a difference-making pass rusher on third down, which is what you need opposite Dex, but he’s a really good football player who does well for himself,” Rosetti said of Wilkins, Lawrence’s “best friend.”
GM Joe Sean later said Dexter had recently texted him asking “what he thought” about Wilkins.
The team ultimately acquired Barnes in a trade, signing him to a five-year, $141 million contract ($28.2 million annually) and giving up a second- and fifth-round pick to Carolina, while Jones stayed with the team for five years at $158.75 million ($31.75 million annually), and Wilkins went to the Raiders for four years at $110 million ($27.5 million annually).
Rosetti was right about Jones’ cap charge: $34.85 million in 2025, but just $7.35 million in 2024.
Barnes’ cap charges are $15.5 million this year, $29.75 million in 2025 and $30.75 million in 2026.
Of course, the Giants could have retained their second- and fifth-round picks by signing Jones.
That being said, it would have cost more to pry Jones away from the Chiefs, and it’s unclear if he would have wanted to join a team that was nowhere near as good as the Chiefs.
Either way, Jones, and to a lesser extent Wilkins, were under the Giants’ radar, and we know that because the Giants decided to open up their internal process to cameras and microphones.
After watching the first episode of the offseason Hard Knocks Secondly, I have more thoughts on whether or not it makes sense to be so public with offseason candor. I’ll type those out later.
