Articles

by Craig J. Santucci @NYGiantsRush

Let’s be realistic for a second. The Giants have very little salary cap even after cuts, restructures, and possibly a retirement? Spending freely on players isn’t going to happen. Creating additional holes or rolling the dice on unknown commodities isn’t the wisest thing to do.

The Giants need a second and third running back on the roster. Clearly, an injury can happen to anyone, at any time. In 2021, the New York Giants handed the rock to Barkley, Freeman, Gallman, Morris, Lewis, and even Penny.

Wayne Gallman clearly won the starting job and proved his worth, with a workman-like grind producing above expectations. In looking at his game-by-game production, one could say he could have easily carried the ball more often. Look at his momentum week to week.

Wayne Gallman deserves his payday; and that payday should not break the bank. “Wayne Train” would love to start somewhere in the NFL. That scenario is highly unlikely.

If he was to leave via Free Agency can you name a team that he could step into a starting role and garner 20 to 25 carries as the featured back? Gallman would only be fighting for a running back by committee job. Why not stay where he can make an impact now.

Barkley Progression:

In his current landscape, Gallman could expect a solid rotation of 10 to 12 carries a game, rotating with Barkley.

Barkley needs time to ramp up. With any knee injury, it takes time to become 100%, and being cleared to play and being “back to normal” are two very different things. Barkley, for the first time as a Giant will face…uncertainty about his recovery. The questions are, will the repaired ligaments hold up? Is his knee healthy enough to make the signature jump-cut? Is he capable of the same acceleration? The Giants need to avoid creating more holes. Barkley and Gallman are perfect to split time, allowing Barkley not to rush the process.

Having Gallamn in house is a good foundation. He knows the system and will continue to grow in the scheme. The downhill runner showed the Giants brass and its fans that he could step in and contribute. Former Head Coach Pat Shurmur buried Gallman for unknown reasons, new head coach, Joe Judge gave him an opportunity. Gallman responded.

147 attempts | 682 yards | 4.6 yd per carry | 6 TDS

Let the Giants do thier job:

Yes, you odd salary cap misers who worry about the Giant’s money like it was your own, worry me. Let the Giants do their job.

Barkley will ramp up slowly. Do you want a host of UDFA or an NFL running back recently discarded from a team as your featured back? This offense already is majorly “UNDER CONSTRUCTION”. It would not be wise to add additional uncertainty if Barkley is not available.

We estimated that Gallman could have carried the ball an additional 40 times in 2020. Freeman was an interesting option, that failed miserably and the tandem of Lewis and Morris was below average.

The Giants paid Deon Lewis, Alfred Morris, and Elijhaa Penny $3MM between them. You would hope they can move that money over towards Gallman’s new deal. Penny was paid $1MM for 73 snaps (4.5 snaps a game).

Thanks to Spotrac:

Wayne Gallman signed a 4 year, $2,819,648 contract with the New York Giants, including a $419,648 signing bonus, $419,648 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $704,912.

The Giants can easily pay Gallman $3MM a year for 3 years with incentives on production. Keep homegrown talent wearing blue.