BREAKING: New York Giant Program Dates for the offseason workout Has Been Setup For The 2024 Season…
The NFL released the dates for all 32 clubs’ voluntary offseason workout programs, which are intended to provide training, teaching and physical conditioning for players. The Giants’ calendar for 2024 is below.
As per Article 21 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, each club’s official, voluntary nine-week offseason program is conducted in three phases:
Phase One consists of the first two weeks of the program with activities limited to meetings, strength and conditioning, and physical rehabilitation only.
Phase Two consists of the next three weeks of the program. On-field workouts may include individual or group instruction and drills, as well as “perfect play drills,” and drills and plays with offensive players lining up across from offensive players and defensive players lining up across from defensive players, conducted at a walk-through pace. No live contact or team offense vs. team defense drills are permitted.
Phase Three consists of the next four weeks of the program. Teams may conduct a total of 10 days of organized team practice activity, or “OTAs”. No live contact is permitted, but 7-on-7, 9-on-7, and 11-on-11 drills are permitted.
Article 22 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement stipulates that clubs may hold one mandatory minicamp for veteran players. This minicamp, noted below, must occur during Phase Three of the offseason program.
New head coaches are entitled to conduct an additional voluntary veteran minicamp. Any voluntary minicamp for veteran players must be conducted prior to the NFL Draft (April 25-27), but no earlier than week three of the club’s offseason workout program and after at least one week of the two weeks of Phase One activities that the clubs may hold pursuant to Article 21. This year, eight clubs will hold voluntary veteran minicamps, as noted below.
Each club may hold a rookie football development program for a period of seven weeks, which in 2024 may begin on May 13. During this period, no activities may be held on weekends, with the exception of one post-Draft rookie minicamp, which may be conducted on either the first or second weekend following the draft. The dates of each club’s post-draft rookie minicamps will be circulated at a later date.
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Fortunately for Giants general manager Joe Schoen, there are several marquee veterans available to upgrade what is presently a glaring weakness on the roster.
“The Giants might feel good about Jake Pinnock’s future, and Dane Belton showed his promise with a three-takeaway game late in the season,” ESPN’s Bill Barnwell writes. “But, I would be surprised if they didn’t take advantage of the market and add at least one veteran safety.”
The safety market, outside of McKinney’s deal with the Packers, seems to have cratered in 2024 similar to the plight of marquee running backs in 2023.
For the New York Giants, there’s plenty of talent available at the position.
“Justin Simmons, Quandre Diggs, Marcus Maye, Tashaun Gipson, and Julian Blackmon are all free agents,” Barnwell points out. “And the Giants have arguably the weakest pair of starting safeties on paper. Adding one of those guys on a one-year deal would bring a veteran into the defensive backs room and help a team that is otherwise set to run out a young secondary.”
Schoen and the Giants currently have roughly $8.8 million in cap space, which could allow them to go shopping near the top of the market on a veteran player, such as Simmons, on a one-year “prove it” type deal.
For the Giants brass, though, it could be a tough sell to a player such as Simmons to sign with a team like New York who appear far away from contending for a championship.
After all, as Pro Football Focus points out, Simmons held opposing quarterbacks to a meager 85.9 passer rating when targeting him last season and finishing 2023 with 67 total tackles and three interceptions.
Likewise, Schoen, Daboll and the Giants would be wise to prioritize adding a safety in the early-rounds of the NFL Draft to solidify a critical position that is in dire need of an overhaul.