It’s time for the Giants to part with John Jerry
The lineman just doesn’t offer New York much, barring a slew of injuries this preseason
The New York Giants had a number of big name signings in free agency during Jerry Reese’s tenure as general manager. Antrel Rolle was an tremendous addition, as was Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie.
However, with Reese needing to produce results in order to save his job ahead of the 2016 season, he opted to overpay. The Giants shelled out a ton of money for Olivier Vernon, Damon Harrison and Janoris Jenkins. The trend continued prior to the 2017 season, as Reese paid big bucks to retain Jason Pierre-Paul (has since been traded), and … John Jerry.
Yes, one of Reese’s major blunders in free agency was bringing back an at-best slightly below average guard to a three-year, $10 million deal. The deal was questionable at the time, and it looks even worse now.
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As one could predict, Jerry did not enjoy a productive 2017 season, despite starting all 16 games. The “highlight” of his season came when he attempted to prevent a player on the Eagles from leaving the field, which resulted in Jerry getting called for a delay of game.
New general manager Dave Gettleman obviously wasn’t impressed with Jerry’s 2017 season, either. Instead of handing him the starting guard position, the Giants inked Patrick Omaneh to a substantial, “starter-money” contract. That indicates the Giants are wise enough to avoid another year of Jerry.
At this point in his career, Jerry doesn’t offer the Giants much. There are cheaper, younger options with far more upside than Jerry.
Quite frankly, Jerry shouldn’t be on the team given his price tag and relative talent level. There’s nothing he does as a lineman that separates him from anyone, and his cap hit makes him easier to cut.
There really isn’t much more that needs to be said about Jerry. There’s no way he’s going to somehow drastically improve, and the team can save money by moving on from him. Unless injuries ravage the Giants in the pre-season, it’s hard to imagine a scenario in which the Giants maintain Jerry’s services.
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