The New York Giants continue to turn over their roster this offseason and there simply wasn’t enough room to keep all of their key players.
They managed to keep most of their leadership group but two of their 10 captains from last year signed elsewhere this week in free agency.
The Giants were able to retain three captains who were eligible for free agency this offseason — quarterback Daniel Jones, running back Saquon Barkley and long snapper Casey Kreiter — but lost offensive lineman Nick Gates (captain in 2021) and safety Julian Love to Washington and Seattle, respectively.
Their other six captains from 2022 — left tackle Andrew Thomas, defensive linemen Dexter Lawrence and Leonard Williams, safety Xavier McKinney, linebacker Cam Brown and kicker Graham Gano — are all still under contract.
Gates was poached by the Commanders earlier this week, signing a three-year, $16.5 million contract.
Love, the Giants’ leading tackler in 2022, was inked to a two-year, $12 million deal by the Seahawks on Friday.
Those are two very well-respected players and their absence will have an impact on the locker room. Luckily, the Giants have enough leadership that they’ll be able to overcome it.
