5 ‘things I think’ on the eve of an unpredictable free agency for the Giants

These are not your Brian Daboll, Joe Judge, Pat Shurmur, Ben McAdoo, Dave Gettleman New York Giants. They weren’t even Joe Schoen’s Giants. That changed with the arrival of Super Bowl-winning head coach John Harbaugh, who was given the power to reshape the Giants after 18 hugely successful years with the Baltimore Ravens.

Free agents and their representatives certainly view the Giants differently than they have in years past.

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This is what an agent said Tell Matt Lombardo “Between the Hashmarks”:

“We think the Giants are going to be a top contender in the league very quickly,” a veteran agent who represents several of the top free agents hitting the market told Between The Hashmarks. “It has definitely become a more desirable destination.”

“Realistically, Dawn could be an acquisition as significant as, if not bigger than, Harbaugh,” the agent explained. “Her expertise over the years in the team’s front office and working for the league in the Park Avenue office is unprecedented.

“At this point, the Giants have the chemistry to win a Super Bowl every year for the near future, at least in our opinion.”

A player representative told me when I asked how perceptions of the Giants have changed since Harbaugh was named head coach.

“I think the Giants are being favored because the coach is a winner, a communicator, a builder of unity and culture, and that’s what the Giants need,” said Deryk Gilmore of Day1Sports. “Hopefully he can get the Giants back to where they were in the ’80s and ’90s.”

Tyler Linderbaum Sweepstakes

Would the Giants really commit $20 million or more to the market for a center? I don’t know, everyone has a different opinion. To me, that’s possible, until one doesn’t factor in Harbaugh’s commitment to upgrading the trenches and strengthening the entity, as well as the Linderbaum-Harbaugh-Baltimore connection.

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The market outside of the Giants is not what I thought it would be the other day.

• The Los Angeles Chargers signed Tyler Biadasz.

• The Chicago Bears trade with the New England Patriots for Garrett Bradbury.

• The Patriots are expected to move Jared Wilson to center.

From here, it appears that the Detroit Lions, Tennessee Titans, Las Vegas Raiders and Cleveland Browns are possible markets for Lindbaum outside of New York and Baltimore.

Baltimore sources I’ve contacted think it’s “50-50” that Lindbaum remains with the Ravens. Longtime NFL columnist Gary Myers said over the weekend that he was told Lindbaum might be “too expensive” for the Giants.

Myers may be right. The Giants waived linebacker Bobby Okereke and offensive tackle James Hudson and let running back Devin Singletary take a pay cut. However, Spotrac currently lists the Giants as having $21.9 million in cap space under the top-51 rule. That’s still not enough to make a play deep in the free agent pool. I do expect more moves to clear the cap before Monday.

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If not Lindbaum, I believe the Giants would have signed at least one major free agent offensive player. The tight ends did their best to bring back right tackle Jermaine Elumuno. Will that be a back like Wyatt Taylor, Dylan Parham or Aliyah Vera-Tucker? What happens to right tackle Braden Smith if Elumuno moves on?

Your guess is as good as mine.

A crazy and unpredictable week ahead

Everyone wants to know what the Giants will do this week. Many people, some credible and some not, have published their speculations.

The problem is, no one knows.

There are reports that the Giants have checked out all free agents. As they should do every year. This is called due diligence, and it’s what teams should be doing. They find out who is interested in playing for them, at what price, and make a decision based on that.

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Even some of the best-connected members of the media weren’t sure what to expect.