Giants have huge 1st day of NFL Free Agency

The NFL Free Agent market opened up yesterday, and many players were quick to ink with their new teams. The Giants, who just recently made their first move of the year in bringing back Jason Pierre-Paul, agreed to terms with three additional players. It has become apparent that GM Jerry Reese is giving one last push for his job, as he has been on the hot seat ever since the organization parted ways with coach Tom Coughlin a few months back.

Harrison will go from one NY club to another NY club

The first signing that was reported was bringing in 27 year old defensive lineman Damon Harrison, who had previously spent the last four seasons with the New York Jets. It is a five year deal worth $46.5 million, with about $24 million in guaranteed money. 

Harrison, who went undrafted out of William Penn University, signed with the Jets in 2012 and immediately turned himself into one of the better run-stopping tackles in the league. In fact, before the 2015-2016 season, Harrison referred to himself as "the best nose tackle in football."

Harrison typically plays on first and second down, thus explaining the 1.5 career sacks in his career, but last season he put up a career-high 39 solo tackles for coach Todd Bowles' one-gap defensive system. He had become a regular in his second season and had started 48 consecutive games for Gang Green since that time. 

The next signing that hit social media was cornerback Janoris Jenkins on a five year contract worth roughly $62.5 million. All of the money in this deal, unlike Harrison's contract, is guaranteed. Jenkins, who had been with the St. Louis Rams since being drafted by them in 2012, had expressed his gratitude to the team on an Instagram post shortly after reports came out on social media. 

In 2015-2016, Jenkins had his most consistent season to date, putting up 64 tackles, 3 interceptions and 1 forced fumble in 15 games. The 27 year old said during the season that he and the Rams had negotiated on a contract extension all the way up until the team's bye week, but those talks broke off. 

The Giants were in the market for a top-notch cornerback after it was assumed that CB Prince Amukamara, their 2011 first round pick, would leave in unrestricted free agency. Jenkins, without question, is an upgrade over Amukamara, so the move does make a great deal of sense from the Giants perspective. 

The third signing was perhaps the biggest of them all, as they acquired defensive end Olivier Vernon. The deal is yet another five year contract, and this one is worth $85 million with $52.5 million being guaranteed money.  

Vernon will give the Giants an established defensive end

Vernon was given a transition tag by the Miami Dolphins, his previous team, on March 1st. The tag was worth $12,734 million, according to the NFL Players Association. Basically what this meant was that other organizations can negotiate with the 25 year old, but the Dolphins had the right to match any offer sheet that was proposed to him. 

He lead Miami in sacks last year with 7.5, and also racked up 61 tackles. He put up a higher performance during the second half, in particular, after Pro Bowl defensive end Cameron Wake was lost for the year following an injury. 

As for my thoughts, I already touched on it in the opening paragraph. General Manager Jerry Reese is fighting to keep his position, and is willing to sign immediate-impact players who will ideally take the Giants back to the post-season in 2016-2017. 

In the previous article, I touched up on the Giants horrendous defensive metrics, so it is no surprise that they are taking big strides to improve those numbers. While one could argue that all three players are getting massively overpaid, it is unfortunately how the market has gone so far for every top-notch player. Thus, I wouldn't criticize the Giants for the dollar figures that they are throwing at these players.