The 2019 NFL season kicks off this week. Teams are putting together their final rosters after preseason. Over 1,000 players will be without a job by the end of the weekend and many players will leave sign with different teams. The New York Giants have a handful of tough decisions to make while trimming their roster this year.
Often times, veteran players will also look for a change of scenery on cut day. This year, the main talk of the football world has been centered around star pass-rusher Jadeveon Clowney. Last year, Khalil Mack was traded away on cut day. It would not be surprising to see a few big trades go down this year.
The Giants will not be in on the Clowney sweepstakes. The Giants would have to give up a lot of assets to acquire Jadeveon Clowney while also needing to pay the man some serious cash. But Clowney is not the only defender to ask for a trade this offseason.
On Friday, news broke that the Miami Dolphins had a starting defensive player request a trade this preseason. That player was linebacker Kiko Alonso. The Dolphins are rebuilding and Kiko Alonso wants no part of it.
The Dolphins are looking to “start over” with new head coach Brian Flores. The team is likely to be one of the league’s worst, which is why players are not looking to play for Miami. Jadeveon Clowney reportedly refused to play their. Now, Kiko Alonso is looking to get out of there, too.
Kiko Alonso is a reliable defender who has spent three years starting at linebacker in Miami. Kiko missed only two games in the past three seasons and has totaled at least 110 tackles in each of the three seasons he played with the Dolphins.
After dealing with injuries early on in his career, Kiko Alonso has become a durable and consistent linebacker. He has not missed much playing time at all recently and has racked. up a consistently high number of total tackles. Unfortunately, his high volume of tackles does not mean Kiko is the most efficient tackler.
According to Pro Football Focus, Kiko Alonso missed 11 tackles in 2018. This is a number far too high for a six-year veteran. But still, there is value to be had in a durable, high-volume tackling linebacker.
The Giants do have a weak linebacker corps. Alec Ogletree struggled in 2018 and BJ Goodson has seemingly lost his job this offseason. Ryan Connelly has potential to turn into a starter but is only a rookie and needs more development. Tae Davis is also a young player that needs more time to develop. Kiko Alonso would be an instant-starter on the Giants.
The Giants would need to free up some cap space in order to acquire Alonso. He is due $6.5 million in 2019. Alonso could certainly come to New York and start at linebacker, but is it really wise for the team to pay another inconsitent veteran linebacker premium money? Maybe the Giants should sit this one out and hope Alec Ogletree lives up to his contract in 2019.
This post was published on 2019-08-31 12:00
