LANDOVER, MD – NOVEMBER 08: Logan Ryan #23 of the New York Giants celebrates after making an interception in the fourth quarter against the Washington Football Team at FedExField on November 08, 2020 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images)
The Giants’ front office continues to make poor decisions. Paying Logan Ryan like a star safety will come back to haunt New York.
Dave Gettleman continues to plunge the Giants deeper and deeper into mediocrity with his front office decisions. His latest personnel sin comes in the form of a lucrative extension for Logan Ryan. The Giants clearly believe they need to jump at the opportunity to lock-up an average starter at a position of little value around the NFL.
Reports claim Ryan’s new three-year deal will earn him $20 million in guaranteed money with the possibility of rising to $30 million if he meets certain incentives. That’s a ton of cash for a safety that Pro Football Focus only rates as the 34th best player at the position.
The contract might be more defensible if Ryan was just entering the prime of his career. Instead, he’s likely going to experience age-related regression over the life of his new contract. He’s never been the most athletic safety in the NFL and his explosiveness isn’t going to increase as he enters his age-30 season in 2021.
Did the Giants overpay for Logan Ryan?
Expect Giants officials to justify their decision by pointing to just how valuable Ryan is as a locker room leader. He may benefit New York in terms of intangibles. That is of some value to a relatively new head coach that’s still trying to win over the locker room.
It’s still not an investment a team that’s 5-9 should be making. Safety is one of the easiest positions in the league to fill with cheap talent. The Giants scooped Ryan up late in free agency on a very team-friendly one-year, $5 million deal just before the start of the 2020 regular season. That’s precisely the sort of tactic Gettleman and his front office should have tried to employ again instead of giving Ryan such a substantial extension.
This deal won’t kill the Giants’ salary cap moving forward, but it’s another costly misstep for Gettleman’s regime. It’s hard to envision the team really building a legitimate playoff contender with him at the helm. Ryan is the latest beneficiary of Gettleman’s lack of understanding of how to value players in the modern NFL.