...to start thinking about next year? Maybe, but I'm gonna start doing it anyway.

Here are the key people (IMO) on our current roster, who will be free agents next year:

Slayton, Van Roten, Pinnock, Ojulari, Kreiter, Simmons and Gillan.

https://overthecap.com/free-agency/new-york-giants

There are few others (Manhertz, McCloud, Stinnie, Basham, etc), but these are the ones I think we need to make the biggest push to keep/bring back. At the moment, we're sitting at ~$48M in cap space for next year, and I think we could sign these 7 players for about 1/4 of that (not saying that will be there total salaries, just the total of their 2025 cap hits).

The elephant in the room, of course, is DJ. If we keep him on the deal he has now, he costs us $41M on the cap next year, and $58M in 2026. I can't see that happening. So it seems that we have a couple of options:

1-Just cut him. Presumably that means drafting a QB in the 1st Rd, though right now, we'd have the 11th overall pick--not exactly where you'd expect Cam Ward to fall to. But it would free up ~$19M more money on our 2025 cap (assuming we don't owe him the injury settlement). That gives us ~$67M (before cutting anyone else, like Ezeudu, for instance, which should easily get us up to at least $70M) to improve the team at several positions, but leaves us in need of a QB, one way or another.

2-Try to renegotiate his deal--most likely by adding years, but reducing the annual salary. This probably means technically cutting him, then re-signing him. So, he may prefer to see what the market will bear kinda like Saquon supposedly did, if we're gonna cut him first anyway, (I'd be fine with that, btw). Unlike Saquon, I doubt anyone offers him more than we would be willing to pay him (maybe $20M per for 3 years, but w/lots of incentives?) But that, of course, means we're still working under the assumption that he is worth keeping, dollars aside. I am not of that belief, personally, and I don't think I'm alone.

3-Keep him, at the current deal. (Please, God, no!)

The fact is, games like last night prove to me that we are never going to be a serious contender because of DJ, and with his current cap hits, probably never with him, either. It's time to move on. So I'd choose the first option.

But I'd also bench him soon--maybe now--so that A) we avoid the injury clause kicking in, which, with all of the should-lowered running he's been doing, seems like a matter of When, not If. And B) we get to see what we have with the the other two QBs on the roster, since one of them will likely be the backup, and maybe even Week 1 starter, next year.

Our Defense also deserves a shot at winning this year, and DJ seems to give us too low a ceiling for that to happen often. We're scoring 15ppg. I just don't see that getting it done. And losing the locker room would be worse for Daboll than losing a few more games with a new QB would, IMO.

What do you guys think?