The first two days of the legal tampering period prior to Wednesday's “official” start of NFL free agency were nothing short of amusing.
The New England Patriots risked it all by handing out over $120 million in guaranteed money to a crop of players, high sack totals are still wrongly resulting in big paydays and teams made a plethora of major surprise signings.
Some of those surprises appear to be great additions, such as the Cleveland Browns swooping in and securing safety John Johnson III, but others fell flat, including many of Jacksonville's signings.
And the madness is far from over. There are numerous blue-chip players still on the open market, and there are also a few elite talents who could be moved via trade. Let's look at eight transactions we hope to see in the coming days.
1. NEW YORK GIANTS SIGN WR KENNY GOLLADAY
It’s not impossible for New York to pull this off, but at the same time, the franchise will have to work around cap constraints after handing out a massive deal to Leonard Williams. If the Giants can swing it, this is a no-brainer.
While quarterback Daniel Jones‘ poor pocket awareness is a concern, he displayed modest growth as a passer in 2020. From a clean-pocket — the most stable area of quarterback play — Jones was right where he needed to be. His passing grade in such situations ranked 12th this past season. His deep ball was also on point, as he placed third in the NFL in passing grade on 20-plus-yard throws. Jones, however, is at the mercy of a bottom-tier receiving unit. Golladay, one of the NFL’s best deep threats and receivers in contested scenarios, would change that.
Before his injury-riddled 2020 campaign, Golladay established himself as one of the NFL's best deep threats and contested-catch specialists. In 2018 and 2019 combined, he racked up the third-most deep (20-plus-yard target) receiving yards, with 930, and he tied for first in contested catches, with 43.
This move would give Jones the best opportunity to succeed in Year 3. But if the Giants opt to pass on Golladay or forgo a receiver with the No. 11 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, their 30th-ranked passing efficiency over the past two years won't change much.
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