jonathan stewart

New York Giants: Ex-Running Back Stewart On Saquon Barkley

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Jonathan Stewart didn’t have a good time with the New York Giants. Some predicted Stewart to take the starting job while Saquon Barkley adjusted to the NFL, but things turned out very differently and Barkley became a dominant player while Stewart was put out of the season entirely by injury early on. The Giants didn’t pick up the option on Stewart’s contract, meaning that Stewart will soon be a free agent.

But despite that status, the former Giants and Panthers running back still has some things to say about Saquon Barkley, after having plenty of time to observe Barkley during his rookie year. While talking to WFNZ, Stewart compared Barkley to current Panthers back Christian McCaffrey, claiming that both players are the future of the position.

“You have a guy that everyone overlooks because of whatever the reasons are. He’s put up the numbers, he’s played every single down pretty much this past year, he can do everything on the field. Such as passing, catching, running, running routes, and breaking tackles. And you find those same things in Saquon Barkley. I think these two guys are a staple of what the NFL running back is and what it’s going to become.”

Barkley was involved in the passing game this year in addition to the ground game, finishing the season with 721 receiving yards and 4 touchdowns on top of 1,307 rushing yards. His 5.7 receptions per game was the second most in the league at the running back position, with only McCaffrey finishing with a higher number in that category. It’s also a higher number than some notable receivers registered, including Mike Evans, T.Y. Hilton, and Jarvis Landry.

“The game’s changing, and it’s changing for the good for that position being more involved in the passing game. Seeing guys coming out there running in the slot, running routes like receivers. That’s an important thing that’s needed in the game now from the running back position.”

Barkley was snubbed from the All-Pro teams last season despite finishing second in total rushing yards, but there’s no reason to believe that Barkley can’t compete for that status in 2019 if given some more help in the form of a better offensive line. Surely, pass catching will play a big role if Barkley does achieve even greater success this year.

While Stewart didn’t have a successful season, it’s hard to knock his take on this matter. The league is indeed changing. The versatility of Saquon Barkley only helps the Giants when it comes to adapting to that, and keeping up with the latest trends.

New York Giants Will Not Bring Back Jonathan Stewart For 2019

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The New York Giants will have a different player providing running back depth this season. Jonathan Stewart had a poor start to the 2018 season and didn’t get much of a chance to bounce back after picking up an injury early on, and now, the Giants are moving on from the 31-year-old veteran running back.

Stewart only played in three games and had the worst year of his career by far, finishing with only 17 yards. He only had six rushing attempts total before being placed on the injured reserve list near the end of September. After spending a very short time on the active roster, it doesn’t look like Stewart will get a second shot to prove himself worthy of backing up Saquon Barkley, a job that was taken over by Wayne Gallman early in the season.

According to The Athletic, the team is not picking up the option for the second year on Stewart’s contract. The move will save the Giants $250k in cap space, which isn’t anything amazing but will still help when it comes to adding players that actually contribute something to the team.

Gallman, who largely played the role that Stewart was expected to play when he first joined the Giants, rushed the ball 51 times for 176 yards and one touchdown last year. It’s not great numbers, but Saquon Barkley obviously had the spotlight at the position and dominated carries.

The numbers are down from Gallman’s first year in the league, and with Stewart leaving the team, another good backup running back might be one of the needs for the Giants now that the starting spot is firmly locked down by a star player.

New York Giants: Potential Cap Casualties In The 2019 Offseason

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New York Giants, Olivier Vernon

The New York Giants are currently sitting at $32,017,476 in cap space. That ranks them at 19th in the league in total free cap space. The Giants have a lot of room to work with, however. They can trade or cut players in order to free up more cap space. When a player is cut to free up cap space, it is termed a cap casualty. The Giants could be making multiple cap casualties this offseason in order to sign free agents.

Potential Cap Casualties:

Jonathan Stewart:

Running back Jonathan Stewart was a highly criticized free agent signing last offseason. General manager Dave Gettleman brought him in to be a locker room presence, but the high price that he paid was confusing to fans.

The Giants have super star running back Saquon Barkley to start all three downs. They also have a solid second running back in Wayne Gallman. It is unnecessary to hold onto Stewart next season, especially when considering the money they can save by releasing him.

Jonathan Stewart will have a cap hit of $2,775,000 in 2019. If the Giants cut him, they will save $2,525,000 in cap space. The penalty would be only $250,000 in dead money.

Olivier Vernon:

Pass rusher Olivier Vernon was signed by the Giants’ former general manager Jerry Reese in 2016. He signed a loaded contract with high cap hits every year of the deal.

Since being signed by the Giants, Vernon has failed to surpass 8.5 sacks on a season. He has also dealt with multiple injuries (Vernon missed five games this season and four games last season due to injury). With his high cap hit and lack of superstar-level production, there is a high probability that Vernon is no longer on the Giants in 2019.

Vernon’s cap number in 2019 is $19,500,000. Vernon is a good player at an important position, so he is likely to have an active trade market. If the Giants cut or trade Vernon before June 1st, they will save $11,500,000 and incur a penalty of $8,000,000 in dead money.

If Vernon is cut or traded after June 1st, the Giants will only take a penalty of $4,000,000 in dead money and free up $15,500,000 in cap space in 2019. Unfortunately, dumping Vernon’s contract after June 1st will not give the Giants many free agent opportunities. Free agency begins in March, and there will not be many key players left on the market in June.

Janoris Jenkins:

Janoris Jenkins is a cornerback that was also signed by Jerry Reese during the Giants’ spending spree in 2016. Jenkins has been a solid player since joining the Giants, but he has an expensive contract. This contract has been difficult for Jenkins to live up to in recent years, and this has lead to many trade rumors surrounding Janoris.

If the Giants do trade Janoris Jenkins this offseason, they can save a lot of cap space. However, they will also have to eat a lot of dead money. Trading or cutting Janoris before June 1st will save $7,750,000 in cap space, but bring along $7,000,000 in dead money.

Just like with the Vernon contract, the Giants can save more money if they cut Jenkins after June 1st. However, they will not be able to sign anyone to replace him by then. However, if they do decide to get rid of Jenkins after June 1st, they will save $11,250,000 in cap space with only $3,000,000 in dead money.

New York Giants: Former Jet Says Jonathan Stewart Was Signed To Snitch

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One of the more forgettable parts of the season for the New York Giants was the signing of Jonathan Stewart, who came over from Carolina and was originally projected to split carries with rookie Saquon Barkley. Some imagined that Barkley would take a longer time getting used to the speed of the NFL game, and that a veteran presence would be needed to take away some of the pressure.

Those predictions turned out to be wrong. Stewart finished the season with only six total rushes while Barkley was one of the top rushers in the entire league, finishing only behind Ezekiel Elliot in total yards as well as finishing third in NFL history for all-purpose yards for a rookie running back.

An injury ensured that Stewart didn’t play beyond the first three games, and the signing is regarded as one of the moves that didn’t work out, despite a successful first year for general manager Dave Gettleman, who brought in several players who should have long-term roles.

Former Jets linebacker Bart Scott has one idea about why the signing really happened, however. “I told you what Jonathan was when he got here. He was the snitch. But you have to be healthy to be able to snitch because you’re not in the locker room to tell Gettleman what’s going on,” Scott said on WFAN Sports Radio.

Stewart and Gettleman were on the same team, of course, when they were both with the Panthers immediately before joining the Giants. Stewart was with the team from 2008 to 2017, but the Giants seemed to sign him right as his career took a turn towards decline.

Of course, Stewart is still with the Giants, so he’ll have a chance to redeem himself and add depth to the backfield behind Saquon Barkley. But based on current circumstances, it seems unlikely that his role will be to monitor the locker room for Dave Gettleman. After ending the season with 17 rushing yards, there’s definitely more important things to focus on for Stewart at this point.

Giants’ HC Pat Shurmur Ensures Jonathan Stewart Isn’t Going Anywhere

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When the New York Giants signed signed Jonathan Stewart to a two-year, $6.9 million contract, it was thought to be a good move in regard to developing Saquon Barkley and providing him with a veteran mentor for his first two seasons. Additionally, Stewart could have played a short yardage grinder role, where Barkley was more at risk of taking big collisions and suffering injuries.

At this point in the preseason, the signing seems to be a massive failure. Over the course of three games, the former Carolina Panther has racked up a total of -5 yards on 10 carries. This is worrisome, as it’s becoming more apparent that Stewart doesn’t have anything left in the tank.

After last Friday’s game against the Jets, he stated, “It’s preseason,” and walked away.

Are the New York Giants in a bad position with Stewart?

Personally, I believe they botched this signing entirely. They’re locked in for two years and would only retain $600k of his salary if he were to be cut this season. That’s a very minimal cap-return for a player that’s 31 years old and has been phased out of the scheme in Carolina due to wear and tear.

Head coach Pat Shurmur seems to think he has plenty of gas left in the tank:

“He’s a veteran player and he’s played really well for a lot of seasons. There’s always a reason why things don’t go well. If you just look at the raw production, and say ‘oh my goodness,’ but we just have to take it for what it is. I know he can play football and play at a high level, and we are just counting on that,” Shurmur told reporters on Saturday.

Stewart lost a fumble last Friday in addition to running straight into several dog piles. He has no obvious lateral quickness or ability to change direction to exploit holes. It seems that he’s more of a straight-line threat that needs to have a perfect lane to shoot through. With the offensive line spotty at times, we shouldn’t expect to see anything positive from Stewart for the most part.

The bottom line, he’s probably the 4th or 5th best back on the team. He will play a minimal role in 2018.