The 2025 NFL salary cap is set at a record $279.2 million per club. It's time to spend it.
The new league year and free agent signing period begin at 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday, March 12. While no prospective unrestricted free agent is permitted to execute a contract with a new club until then, teams are permitted to contact and enter into negotiations with agents starting at noon on Monday.
Joe Schoen, who is entering his fourth season as the Giants' general manager, spoke recently at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. He gave us some insight into the team's thinking not just about the draft, where the team holds the third overall pick, but also the rapidly approaching first wave of free agency.
"Where we are financially from a salary cap health standpoint, we're in good shape," he said. "We have premium draft capital, so not suffocating. We have the resources to improve the roster. Again, we made some decisions after that first year when we won, and they didn't work out. We're where we are. I feel like we have the resources to improve the roster. That's what's exciting about this time of year."
Below are three key questions for the important week ahead.
What transpires at quarterback?
That's the million-dollar question. The Giants entered the offseason with Tommy DeVito as the lone returning quarterback and have made it clear that finding the future of the position is the top priority. Schoen said they would "look under every rock" and "explore all avenues" in the draft and free agency. Furthermore, the Giants' preference is to match a veteran with a young quarterback, if they draft one, to show him the ropes. But in the NFL, free agency comes before the draft.
"You're trying to figure it out," Schoen said. "You're going through 9,000 different scenarios on what it looks like. You've got to control what you can control, and some of it's out of your control, whether it's somebody decides to go somewhere else for more money or somebody is not there when you pick or whatever it is. There's uncertainty, so you're trying to have contingency plans in place if somebody is not there or if you can't sign somebody, what's the next in the pecking order. We're going through all that right now. Again, yeah, you'd love to, hey, we've got a franchise quarterback and now we know who we're building around for the next 15 years. It's just that's my job – go figure that out."
Schoen added: "There's not a franchise quarterback tree. What's available is what you're looking at. To take one just to say we checked the box, we want it to be the right one because you don't want to be in this position again if you don't have to be."
Schoen was also asked if the age of a veteran would give him any pause at the most important position in football.
"We're going to look for the best player available that can help us win games in '25," he responded. "That's what we're going to do."
Once free agency opens, there are just 43 days until draft night in Green Bay.
Four offensive line starters are coming back. What about the fifth?
Through the first six games of last season, Schoen thought the offensive line performed well enough for the Giants to play winning football. Unfortunately, there were 12 weeks after that.
That's when left tackle Andrew Thomas went down with a season-ending foot injury, restarting a game of musical chairs that no one wanted to play again. After the starting five had played 100 percent of the snaps together to that point, the Giants used 10 different combinations the rest of the way, tying them with the Patriots for the most in the NFL and their 2023 total.
Greg Van Roten, who started the first 15 games at right guard and last two at center, is set to become an unrestricted free agent.
"Obviously, four [starters] are coming back," Schoen said of the offensive line, referencing Thomas, left guard Jon Runyan, center John Michael Schmitz, and right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor. "The good thing about this time of year is just going through other free agents on other teams, and I always watch them against us. I went back and watched a lot of our games the last few weeks, take the emotion out of it, Monday after a game or any of that stuff, and I'll say early on in those first six games, the O-line played good enough for us to play winning football. GVR is the one up. I think Eluemunor played good at right tackle. The roster may look different in two weeks. Right guard is a spot that's open, and we'll talk about is the answer somebody on the roster or do we need to look outside for that."
Then they will assess their options before offseason workouts begin the week of the draft. One of those decisions will include possibly moving fourth-year pro and former seventh overall pick Evan Neal from tackle to guard.
"We'll talk about that," Schoen said. "Once we get through free agency and we see where we are and what we have, we'll talk about how do we get our best five on the field."
Where do the Giants invest in the first wave?
The goal of free agency is to set up the draft, where general managers hope to pick from a position of value rather than need. But before you can talk about newcomers, you must address who goes and who stays from the current roster. At 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday, the following 20 players are set to become unrestricted free agents while the Giants have exclusive rights on four others. The former list began at 21 before long-snapper Casey Kreiter re-signed.
Unrestricted Free Agents
- ILB Matthew Adams (13 games played for Giants in 2024, zero games started)
- QB Tim Boyle (1 GP, 0 GS)
- P Jamie Gillan (13 GP, 0 GS)
- T Chris Hubbard (8 GP, 3 GS)
- CB Adoree' Jackson (14 GP, 5 GS)
- OLB Patrick Johnson (12 GP, 0 GS)
- LS Casey Kreiter (17 GP, 0 GS) – Re-signed
- QB Drew Lock (8 GP, 5 GS)
- TE Chris Manhertz (17 GP, 11 GS)
- OLB Azeez Ojulari (11 GP, 5 GS)
- WR Gunner Olszewski (0 GP)
- S Jason Pinnock (16 GP, 16 GS)
- DB Elijah Riley (0 GP)
- S/ILB Isaiah Simmons (17 GP, 1 GS)
- WR Darius Slayton (16 GP, 13 GS)
- WR Ihmir Smith-Marsette (15 GP, 0 GS)
- G Aaron Stinnie (16 GP, 3 GS)
- CB Greg Stroman Jr. (4 GP, 1 GS)
- LB Ty Summers (16 GP, 2 GS)
- G Greg Van Roten (17 GP, 17 GS)
- DL Armon Watts (5 GP, 0 GS)
Exclusive Rights
- QB Tommy DeVito (3 GP, 2 GS)
- OLB Tomon Fox (11 GP, 0 GS)
- ILB Dyontae Johnson (2 GP, 0 GS)
- CB Divaad Wilson (3 GP, 0 GS)
As for players potentially on the move, NFL.com ranked the top 101 free agents set to hit the market. The list includes seven quarterbacks, six running backs, 14 wide receivers, two tight ends, six offensive tackles, 11 interior offensive linemen, 13 edge defenders, 10 defensive linemen, nine linebackers, 15 cornerbacks, and seven safeties.
The top 10 overall free agents, as things currently stand:
- DT Milton Williams
- OT Ronnie Stanley
- LB Zack Baun
- QB Sam Darnold
- EDGE Josh Sweat
- WR Chris Godwin
- CB Carlton Davis
- CB Charvarius Ward
- CB D.J. Reed
- WR Davante Adams
View photos of NFL.com's list of the top 101 free agents of 2025.
No. 101 RB Nick Chubb
No. 100 WR Diontae Johnson
No. 99 DL Sebastian Joseph-Day
No. 98 CB Mike Jackson
No. 97 WR Joshua Palmer
No. 96 RB Kenneth Gainwell
No. 95 G Aaron Banks
No. 94 DT D.J. Jones
No. 93 T Jedrick Wills Jr.
No. 92 WR DeAndre Hopkins
No. 91 Edge Chauncey Golston
No. 90 TE Juwan Johnson
No. 89 CB Mike Hilton
No. 88 T Tyron Smith
No. 87 LB Tyrel Dodson
No. 86 Edge Marcus Davenport
No. 85 TE Mike Gesicki
No. 84 QB Daniel Jones
No. 83 S Julian Blackmon
No. 82 LB Lavonte David
No. 81 WR Keenan Allen
No. 80 G Brandon Scherff
No. 79 LB Bobby Wagner
No. 78 WR Elijah Moore
No. 77 CB Rasul Douglas
No. 76 LB Kyzir White
No. 75 CB Stephon Gilmore
No. 74 S Justin Simmons
No. 73 QB Jimmy Garoppolo
No. 72 Edge Baron Browning
No. 71 WR Mike Williams
No. 70 C Ryan Kelly
No. 69 CB Jourdan Lewis
No. 68 G James Daniels
No. 67 DT Poona Ford
No. 66 S Jeremy Chinn
No. 65 RB Rico Dowdle
No. 64 QB Jacoby Brissett
No. 63 RB J.K. Dobbins
No. 62 CB Nate Hobbs
No. 61 Edge Charles Omenihu
No. 60 LB Robert Spillane
No. 59 Edge Dante Fowler Jr.
No. 58 DT B.J. Hill
No. 57 QB Russell Wilson
No. 56 DT Tershawn Wharton
No. 55 S Camryn Bynum
No. 54 QB Jameis Winston
No. 53 DT Jarran Reed
No. 52 G Mekhi Becton
No. 51 T Dan Moore Jr.
No. 50 WR Dyami Brown
No. 49 RB Najee Harris
No. 48 Edge DeMarcus Lawrence
No. 47 OL Patrick Mekari
No. 46 Edge Azeez Ojulari
No. 45 CB Kristian Fulton
No. 44 WR Darius Slayton
No. 43 WR Hollywood Brown
No. 42 S Talanoa Hufanga
No. 41 Edge Chase Young
No. 40 RB Aaron Jones
No. 39 G Kevin Zeitler
No. 38 Edge Dayo Odeyingbo
No. 37 C Josh Myers
No. 36 CB Paulson Adebo
No. 35 DT Calais Campbell
No. 34 LB Jamien Sherwood
No. 33 DT Levi Onwuzurike
No. 32 DT Javon Hargrave
No. 31 G Teven Jenkins
No. 30 WR Stefon Diggs
No. 29 T Alaric Jackson (Update: Jackson and the Rams have agreed to a new multi-year contract)
No. 28 T Cam Robinson
No. 27 LB Ernest Jones
No. 26 S Justin Reid
No. 25 Edge Malcolm Koonce
No. 24 Edge Khalil Mack
No. 23 CB Asante Samuel Jr.
No. 22 S Tre'von Moehrig
No. 21 QB Justin Fields
No. 20 Edge Haason Reddick
No. 19 G Will Fries
No. 18 LB Nick Bolton
No. 17 S Jevon Holland
No. 16 LB Dre Greenlaw
No. 15 CB Byron Murphy Jr.
No. 14 C Drew Dalman
No. 13 WR Amari Cooper
No. 12 CB D.J. Reed
No. 11 CB Charvarius Ward
No. 10 CB Carlton Davis III
No. 9 WR Chris Godwin
No. 8 LB Josh Sweat
No. 7 DT Osa Odighizuwa
No. 6 QB Sam Darnold
No. 5 LB Zack Baun
No. 4 T Ronnie Stanley
No. 3 DT Milton Williams
No. 2 G Trey Smith (Update: The Chiefs have placed the non-exclusive franchise tag on Smith)
No. 1 WR Tee Higgins (Update: The Bengals have placed the franchise tag on Higgins)
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