That sound you heard was the splash the Giants made late on the first day of NFL free agency.
What was supposed to be a day’s decision on who would walk out the door ended up being a strong opening salvo from a team that needs help in a number of areas.
Improvements in one of those areas, the pass rush, came as Giants general manager Joe Schon traded edge rusher Brian Burns to the Panthers for a five-year contract worth $150 million. , was tackled in big and bold ways.
In exchange for Barnes, the Giants sent the Panthers a 2024 second-round pick, No. 39 overall, and a 2025 fifth-round pick.
The Giants currently have one second-round pick left to use, including the 47th overall pick they acquired from the Seahawks in the Leonard Williams trade and the 6th overall pick in next month’s draft.
The news comes after the Giants traded Saquon Barkley to the Eagles and Xavier McKinnie to the Packers.
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What does this say about how general manager Joe Schon wants to build his roster? We will not provide financial support to players in positions that are not available.
Edge rusher? Now, that’s where Shane wants to spend his time.
To put this in perspective, Barnes averages $27.5 million per year, which is the combined APY that Barkley received with the Eagles and the total APY that McKinney received with the Packers.
So the Giants acquired a young edge rusher in exchange for money that would have been needed for a running back and a safety.
The Giants will blitz far less often this season than they did the past two years with Wink Martindale.
With new defensive coordinator Shane Bowen, there will be an emphasis on pass rush up the field from the forward group.
The combination of Barnes and Kayvon Thibodeau, along with Dexter Lawrence providing pressure up the middle, gives Bowen the firepower he needs to run the system.
Barnes was a first-round pick by the Panthers out of Florida State in 2019. The Panthers placed the franchise tag on Barnes this offseason, worth $24 million for the 2023 season, but will likely try to trade him to avoid paying that amount.
Any team that trades him would first need to sign him to a long-term extension. The Giants made it work, making Barnes the second-highest paid defensive end in the league.
Barnes is a quality, developing pass rusher. He turns 26 on April 23 and has 46 career sacks and two Pro Bowl wins in his first five seasons in the NFL. He had eight sacks in 2023. He was surprisingly durable, appearing in 80 games and almost never leaving the field.
Since 2021, Barnes has recorded 28 sacks, 157 quarterback pressures and 33 quarterback hits, according to Pro Football Focus.
The player most excited to see Barnes in the Giants’ locker room might be Thibodeau, the No. 5 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.
Thibodeau made huge strides in his second season, recording a team-high 11.5 sacks without a reliable pass rusher on the other side of the line to balance out the pass protection.
The Giants have Azeez Ojulari back in the final year of his contract, and Ojulari has shown a knack for putting pressure on opposing quarterbacks. He also gets injured at an alarming rate, so the coaching staff knew they couldn’t rely on him to be productive.
Now, Ojulari can play in the rotation, which will likely help him stay healthy.
