Alexander Wilson
The New York Giants restructured Devin Singletary’s contract on Friday morning, catching nearly everyone off guard. The 28-year-old running back was viewed as an automatic cap casualty, with the team poised to save $5.25 million by releasing him. Instead, the Giants reworked his deal under John Harbaugh.
The Athletic’s Dan Duggan didn’t mince words. “Yeah, that was surprising to me,” Duggan said on the Fireside Giants podcast. “He seemed like an automatic cut. You know, they would save $5 million in cap savings with like a million and a quarter in dead money. So it’s just kind of a pretty clean break.”
Veteran Presence vs Actual Production
Duggan acknowledged that teams often approach veterans about pay cuts rather than outright releases. “A lot of times what happens is they’ll go to players and say, you know, hey, take a pay cut. If you don’t, then you’re out,” he explained.
But with Singletary, Duggan wasn’t convinced. “I just didn’t know that I don’t know that he can still play,” he said bluntly. “You know, he hasn’t been a super productive player.”
The numbers support Duggan’s skepticism. Singletary rushed for just 437 yards on 119 carries last season (3.7 yards per carry) with five touchdowns. Those are replacement-level numbers for a player set to count $6.5 million against the cap.
The Kenneth Walker Complication
The Singletary restructure becomes even more confusing when you consider the Giants’ reported interest in Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III. Multiple reports have connected the Giants to the Seattle running back, projected to command around $9-14 million per year.
Duggan doesn’t think the Singletary move changes the Walker pursuit. “I don’t really think this impacts any Kenneth Walker or top of the market type running back signings,” he said. “I think those are different buckets.”
“Now again, we’ll find out as we talk, is it smoke? Do they really have interest in Walker?” Duggan continued. “But I don’t think Singletary changes it drastically, but it certainly does make it a little more amenable to say, yeah, we’re just going to run it back.”
The Cam Skattebo Insurance Policy
One factor driving the running back conversation could be Cam Skattebo’s injury recovery. The rookie suffered a gruesome dislocated ankle against Philadelphia in Week 8, along with an open tibia fracture and ruptured deltoid ligament.
Duggan suggested this might explain keeping Singletary. “Yeah, so I think that might almost impact more like a guy like Singletary bringing him back,” he said. “Because if you have a little uncertainty about Skattebo, let’s just at least have a guy we know can play.”
As for Skattebo’s recovery, Duggan spoke with him during Super Bowl week. “He’s adamant that he’s going be fine,” Duggan reported. “I spoke to him Super Bowl week, and people are basically annoying him by keep bringing it up. He’s saying he thinks he’ll be ready for the offseason program, which begins April 6.”
Medical professionals have indicated Skattebo’s recovery should be straightforward despite the graphic injury. “As grotesque as that injury was, it’s kind of a simple recovery,” Duggan explained. “It’s like, once it’s set, it’s just a bone healing. It’s not a meniscus and an ACL where there’s this lengthy rehab.”
John Harbaugh’s Run-Heavy Philosophy
The bigger question might be what John Harbaugh wants from the position. Duggan believes Harbaugh’s philosophy could be driving the Kenneth Walker interest more than Skattebo’s injury status.
“There’s a chance that John Harbaugh came in here and said, listen, we need to have a dominant run game,” Duggan said. “Cam Skattebo, he’s a fun little player and puts his head down. I mean, look at his season last year. He averaged 4.1 yards per carry. No rushes over like 18 yards. He’s not a true RB1 in this league.”
Skattebo rushed for 410 yards on 101 carries with five touchdowns in eight games before his injury. Those are solid numbers for a rookie, but Duggan’s point stands: he’s not Derrick Henry. And Harbaugh just spent years watching Henry dominate for Baltimore.
“And then with Tracy, it’s like, maybe, all right, like, yeah, he had some nice production his first year. I’m not sold he’s a bell cow. I don’t think really anybody is,” Duggan continued. “So it’s like, you have two 1Bs, you could see a guy like John Harbaugh, who just had Derrick Henry for the last few years, say, ‘I want a bona fide number one back because we’re going to be a run-heavy team. We’re going to have a quarterback whose run game is a big part of what we do.'”
Duggan personally wouldn’t invest in the position given the Giants’ other holes. “Yeah, these guys are good. Like I personally would just say, I’m going to roll with them because I got enough other holes. I’m not investing to upgrade that position this off season,” he said. “But obviously John Harbaugh might have different view on it. And he might say, no, we need to make that the absolute strength of the team.”
The Market Reality
Walker is projected to command around $9-14 million per year on the open market, significant money for a running back even coming off Super Bowl MVP honors.
“And if we can get Walker, which again, his market might be just out of their price range,” Duggan acknowledged. “Doesn’t mean they’re not interested. But if we can get a guy like that, it really takes things to the next level.”
The Giants currently have less than $10 million in cap space even after the Okereke release and Singletary restructure (factoring in the draft class). They’d need to make additional moves to afford Walker at market rate. The flexibility exists through restructures of Brian Burns or Andrew Thomas, or by extending Dexter Lawrence.
What remains unclear is whether John Harbaugh truly views Walker as essential to his vision, or if the Giants are comfortable rolling with Skattebo, Tracy, and Singletary. We’ll have answers when free agency opens Monday. Until then, Duggan’s assessment rings true: “We’ll find out very quickly this time of year.”
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