A breakdown of the first week of free agency for the New York Giants:
Most significant signing: The Giants gave former Dolphins defensive end Olivier Vernon an $85 million contract with $52.5 million in guarantees to be the present and future anchor of their pass rush. Vernon is 25 years old and had a huge finish to the 2015 season, so the Giants feel they're spending for upside and the potential that Vernon is on the verge of becoming a dominant pass-rusher.
Most significant loss: Defensive end Robert Ayers had the best year of anyone the Giants lost, but cornerback Prince Amukamara gets the nod here because of the historical context. He was the Giants' first-round pick in 2011 and continues the trend of Jerry Reese draft picks not re-signing when their rookie deals are up. Jason Pierre-Paul, the 2010 first-rounder, technically breaks the trend, but he only signed a one-year deal, so the jury is still out on him as a long-term building block.
Player they should have signed: I still don't know what they're going to do about free safety, which was a complete void last year and still is. They should have been players on guys like Tashaun Gipson and George Iloka, but they never expressed interest in either. Now they're stuck picking over the bottom of the safety market or hoping one of their young guys, such as Nat Berhe or Mykkele Thompson, can take over the free safety role. That didn't work especially well in 2015.
What's next: The Giants have been poking around the offensive line market, reaching out to the likes of Russell Okung and Donald Penn. Either of those guys could come aboard as the new right tackle or slot in at left tackle if the Giants decide Ereck Flowers needs to move over to the right side to develop more. They are also looking for someone to play right guard, and they need help at wide receiver.
Overall grade: B-plus. The Giants clearly decided they would spend whatever it took, no matter how outrageous the numbers got, to secure their top free-agent targets. And the contracts for Vernon, cornerback Janoris Jenkins and defensive tackle Damon Harrison reflect that. But they had the cap space, so good for them for doing what they had to do to get the top guys on the market, instead of settling for their second and third choices. The aforementioned failure to address the safety position keeps the grade from being higher.