Cutting Glowinski next step in Giant makeover up front
While taking a break from studying the 2024 draft class, Giants general manager Joe Schoen recently was pouring over film of veteran players set to become free agents. This is the way the football schedule falls. After all, the open market hits March 11, when NFL teams can begin speaking with players from outside the organization. First things first, as the draft does not arrive until the final week in April.
As Schoen was studying defensive linemen, he fell back on how he prefers to learn. “I always like to look at how they do versus the Giants,’’ he said.
That makes sense. Schoen has a good handle of what his players can and cannot do and seeing how the opponent fares against his team can serve as a meaningful barometer. So, as he dug in on the potential free-agent defensive linemen, Schoen saw how they performed against the Giants offensive line. The verdict? “We’ve got to play better,’’ Schoen said. Consider that the understatement of the year.
The Giants will be making changes along their offensive line.
Free agency is beckoning and that means the Giants need to get their financial house in order. Translation: It is the time to build salary-cap space. To that end, the Giants will release Mark Glowinski, a veteran guard who started 22 games the past two years, The Post confirmed. The move saves the Giants $5.7 million on the 2024 salary cap.
Glowinski turns 32 in May. He was a substantial signing for Schoen in his first year on the job, receiving a three-year deal for $18.3 million — $11.4 million in guaranteed money — prior to the 2022 season. Glowinski was a workhorse in 2022, starting 16 games at right guard. Glowinski started the 2023 season-opening 40-0 loss to the Cowboys then got replaced in the lineup by seldom-used Marcus McKethan. The Giants struggled to solve their issues at guard, and Glowinski ended up starting four consecutive games before he was basically benched from Week 9 until the season finale.
As it turned out, Glowinski in 2023 was the team’s highest-rated guard by Pro Football Focus, but it comes as no surprise that the Giants are moving on from him.
As far as cap space, it remains to be seen what goes down with Darren Waller. The veteran tight end told The Post on Friday that he is considering retirement. If he does indeed leave the game, the Giants would save $6.2 million on their 2024 salary cap but absorb a dead-cap hit of $7.8 million. The Giants had $32.6 million in cap space before any transactions, according to Over the Cap.
Glowinski was not going to be part of the plan moving forward. It looks as if Ben Bredeson, who started 16 games this past season, is headed for free agency. Bredeson played 1,014 snaps — 189 at left guard, 479 at right guard and 346 at center. Justin Pugh, who was signed in October and started the last 12 games, is also unsigned.
That means the Giants do not have a real starting guard on their roster. Two other offensive linemen, Matt Peart and Tyre Phillips, are also unsigned — both are backup tackles. Evan Neal, coming off ankle surgery, is also coming off a terrible second season, and the No. 7-overall pick in the 2022 draft is on thin ice as far as holding onto his starting right tackle job.
Schoen said he “still has confidence’’ in Neal, but that does not mean Neal is safe. Schoen will look to add a veteran capable of stepping in and starting if Neal again falters.
The Giants own the No. 6-overall pick in the upcoming draft and could use it on an offensive tackle. Joe Alt of Notre Dame will likely be off the board, but Olu Fashanu of Penn State should be there.
There is no doubt the Giants need to fix a line that allowed a franchise-record 85 sacks in 2023. However, they are not expected to take a tackle in the first round, move him from the left side to the right side and then bump Neal inside to guard. That is creating a whole bunch of moving pieces. Help will be coming, that is a certainty. “There were some games where we didn’t play very well,’’ Schoen said of the offensive line product in 2023. “It’s a little of a revolving door and five players working together. When you’re revolving door and practice squad guys up there and lack of communication that will show up when you’re playing some of those good teams we were playing early on in the season. We need to improve as a starting five and we need to improve the depth and that will be a priority this offseason.’’