When Saquon Barkley and Xavier McKinney signed in Philadelphia and Green Bay as free agents, respectively, the Giants didn’t just let two of their best players leave.
They also lost two of their most vocal leaders.
Barkley’s ability to bury his frustration and persist as the face of the franchise kept last season from flying completely off the rails. McKinney broke the team down before every game and led from the back of the defense.
But now Barkley, the club’s former engine, is gone. McKinney, who played 100% of the defensive snaps, is gone.
Up to five of the Giants’ 10 captains from last season are no longer with the team: Barkley, McKinney, defensive tackle Leonard Williams (traded to Seattle), corner Adoree Jackson (free agent) and tight end Darren Waller, if he officially retires.
Quarterback Tyrod Taylor, a respected locker room presence, is now a Jet. Jihad Ward, a strong and constructively no-nonsense personality, is now a Minnesota Viking.
Offensive guard Justin Pugh, last year’s glue guy, is still a free agent. Wide receiver Darius Slayton, the longest tenured receiver, is staying away this spring as he aims for a new contract.
This doesn’t mean the Giants don’t still have leaders in their locker room. They do.
This doesn’t mean the 2024 Giants can’t form a strong, resilient core. They can.
Their roster is dramatically different, however. And it is young. And Brian Daboll’s team only has four months to create a new identity and fortify itself for the rigors of this regular season.
The leaders have to be established and effective by Week 1. There will be no patience for anything else. Not with the stakes that Joe Schoen and Daboll face in the NFC East.
This will be no easy task after losing so many key faces and pieces of their fabric. So this is a critical development to monitor in the spring, although a lot of it will happen behind the scenes:
Who will step up in the Giants’ markedly new locker room and lead this team into the fire come the fall?
Who will be the leaders of the 2024 Giants?
Middle linebacker Bobby Okereke, a Schoen free agent signing in 2023, is the obvious first answer. He was an immediate leader, captain and positive presence on the field and off it in his first season with the team.
Okereke, quarterback Daniel Jones, left tackle Andrew Thomas, defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence and kicker Graham Gano are the returning captains from a year ago.
Thomas and Lawrence are more lead-by-example types – positive role models who let their play do the talking.
Jones’ tenuous status creates some uncertainty about where the locker room would be following him to, although he’ll surely do his best at the helm when he’s playing.
Interestingly, though, outside of that group, it seems the Giants will need to lean hard on their newcomers to step in and redefine the team through their eyes.
Edge rusher Brian Burns was a three-time captain with the Carolina Panthers. And his new five-year, $141 million instantly reinforces that he needs to play that same role for the Giants right from the jump.
Guard Jon Runyan Jr. is considered a steady presence, the son of a former pro, and he’s another free agent signing who should emerge immediately as a solid teammate.
Okereke is proof, after all, that a player can become a prominent leader in his first season with the team. There doesn’t have to be a steep learning curve.
A top leader isn’t just about being a good guy, though. The Giants have a lot of those. It’s about producing while leading, as Okereke did last year. It’s about being one of the team’s best players while also standing up in front of the room.
Otherwise, there isn’t much of a reason for people to listen.
First-round pick Malik Nabers, conversely, is projected to be a major contributor on offense, but is only 20 years old. So not everyone who produces can be expected to lead a team, either.
Nine of the Giants’ 22 projected starters on offense and defense are under 25 years old, as of Monday.
The Giants’ 11 projected starters on both sides of the ball average between 24.7 and 24.8 years old, a number that can swing slightly either way depending on one or two position battles.
The Giants had only eight players as of Monday who were at least 30 years old – seven excluding Waller.
There are only five players on offense and defense who are at least 30, and four of them are new to the team this year: safety Jalen Mills, 30, guard Aaron Stinnie, 30, defensive tackle Jordan Phillips, 31, and tight end Chris Manhertz, 32.
Not to mention that Drew Lock, 27, the quarterback who is expected to take a majority of offensive snaps this spring, is also a newcomer to the franchise.
In fairness, such a dramatic turnover of leadership ultimately could be a welcome opportunity for a 6-11 team to reshape its makeup and change those results.
It’s also possible, however, that a potential leadership vacuum will threaten this regime’s and program’s foundation when adversity strikes in the fall.
What it boils down to is that someone else will need to step up to join Okereke and company. And chances are, based on how the offseason played out, it will have to be somebody new.
