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.