The New York Giants need defensive tackle help. Badly, enough, in fact, that head coach John Harbaugh recently took the unusual step of calling Tenneessee Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk directly to find out if the Giants could get Jeffery Simmons.
That, of course, did not happen. There are other fish in the defensive tackle sea, however, though none would be a prize the size of Simmons, who was dealt to the Chicago Bears for two first-round picks and a fourth-round pick.
One defensive tackle who is
apparently available, and might help the Giants, is Christian Barmore of the New England Patriots.
According to Sports Illustrated NFL insider Albert Breer, the veteran defender “could be had” by a willing trade partner, and the price to get him would be about a fourth-round draft pick.
“My understanding is the price would be about a fourth-round pick, and he may be tradable because if you look at his contract, he’s making $13.3 million this year,” Breer said on NBC Sports Boston. “So you’d be taking on a prorated number off of that if you did trade for him. His numbers balloon after this year. …Those numbers aren’t guaranteed.
“So, a team could wind up walking away from that if they did trade for him. But this is a player that very clearly is available. And if somebody’s willing to swing the Patriots a fourth-round pick, I think something could happen.”
Should the Giants be interested in the 6-foot-5, 315-pound 27-year-old?
Why it would work
The price would not be that high. Even though Barmore is in the midst of a four-year, $84 million contract nothing beyond this season is guaranteed. So, if you don’t like what you see over the remainder of the year, moving on is not an issue.
Barmore is a former second-round pick with 19 career sacks, so there is clearly talent there. If he plays well, maybe he could be a piece of the defensive line going forward.
Why it wouldn’t work
There is a reason why Barmore has been losing playing time in New England to former undrafted free agent and one-time Giant Cory Durden. His run defense has been atrocious.
“He’s been used more as a situational pass rusher than the three-down impact player he’s being paid to be,” said Bernd Buchmasser of SB Nation’s Pats Pulpit. “He also was extended by the Patriots before Mike Vrabel arrived and had some off-the-field and medical issues. Rumor has it a mid-round pick could be the price.”
In his seasons, Barmore has had a Pro Football Focus run defense grade above the 60.0 average score just one time. Last season, his run defense grade was a miserable 33.6. This year, it is 44.8. By PFF grade, the Giants are getting far better play from the much-maligned Darius Alexander (59.6).
Barmore’s Pro Football and Sports Network Impact Scores aren’t any more encouraging. PFSN gives him a 90.3 pass-rushing score, No. 7 among defensive tackles. Run defense? His PFSN score is 68.3, 106th among defensive tackles.
“I don’t think it’s [Barmore’s run defense] necessarily that he’s bad, but he’s better attacking upfield than controlling his gap, for example,” Buchmasser said. “I think if you have a big nose to occupy the 0/1-tech spot and line him up at 3T, he can certainly be a serviceable run defender; he was at times last year when the Pats had Khyiris Tonga available. They don’t have anybody like that at the moment, and therefore nobody to lift some pressure off of Barmore when he is asked to do early-down run work.”
The Giants need defensive tackles who help the run defense, not add more questions to it.
