BIG FOR BLUE
Three Giant additions explain how they can help team in 2020
KYLER FACKRELL: LOOKING FOR SACKS
The Giants paid Markus Golden a total of $4.75 million on a one-year deal in 2019. His contract included a $975,000 base salary, a $1.25 million roster bonus, $1.5 million worth of per game roster bonuses, a $25,000 workout bonus and a $1 million bonus kicker if he reached double-digit sacks. Golden had 10 sacks and hit every marker in his first fullstrength season in three years, earning the maximum value of his incentive-laden contract.
Think of Kyler Fackrell’s one-year, $4.6 million deal ($3.5 million guaranteed), then, as a direct replacement for Golden’s production and bargain value.
Fackrell — who at 28 is the same age as Golden was last year — was available on this type of contract because he was a backup with one sack and no starts last season on an improved Packers defense. As part of a lesser Pack D in 2018, he had 11 sacks in seven starts.
Green Bay was 22nd in scoring defense in 2018 (25 points per game allowed), then added more talent up front and improved to ninth in scoring defense in 2019 (19.6 ppg). That bumped players like Fackrell into supporting roles.
“It was obviously not ideal,” he said. “I’ve said before that I definitely got better this year. I think I played better this year than I did the year before, despite not getting the numbers that I would have liked. If you look at percentages and pressures per rush, I think I had 200 less rushes but ended up with more pressures than the year I had 10.5 sacks. I think as far as the way I play and getting better as a player, I think I took a step forward this year.”
Fackrell played 159 fewer defensive snaps in 2019 per Pro Football Focus, but his pass rush stats tell a different story. Per PFF:
Fackrell in 2018: 243 pass rush snaps, 11 sacks, 23 pressures
Fackrell in 2019: 231 pass rush snaps, two sacks (PFF awarded a second sack), 26 pressures
No doubt Fackrell’s chemistry with new Giants inside LB Blake Martinez and with new Giants defensive coordinator Patrick Graham could be key advantages.
Fackrell said Graham “liked my versatility of being able to rush and drop” into coverage in Green Bay. And he described himself as “a very versatile” strong side linebacker. And the Giants need help in coverage, so that’s a plus.
Ultimately, though, the impact of Fackrell’s signing will be judged by whether he finishes at the quarterback. And if he is productive, the Giants need to add more pass rushers so Fackrell can avoid Golden’s fate: a good player on a bad team.
CAM FLEMING: COWBOY UP
Cam Fleming has $500,000 of his one-year, $3.5 million contract connected to a per game roster bonus and $2 million total guaranteed. So the ex-Cowboy and ex-Patriot will compete at tackle, provide some depth and probably start some games.
He is capable. But it’s also fair to temper expectations for a 27-year-old veteran who has averaged 4.3 starts per year in six seasons.
Regardless, Fleming definitely sounded the correct note recently when he explained how new Giants Oline coach Marc Colombo and the Cowboys had established a tone up front.
“I think one of their best attributes is teaching that mentality: in those offenses, the offensive line is a little bit more revered,” Fleming said. “Some of the best players on the Dallas Cowboys are on the O-line. You feel a little bit more of the weight on your back as an offensive lineman.