Giants agree to contracts with two free agents, including a fan favorite

The Giants did not tender Isaiah Hodgins as a restricted free agent, but the team will circle back to its two-year contributor. Hodgins will stay with the Giants, agreeing to terms Thursday night, per a team announcement.

A key target during the Giants’ 2022 playoff season, Hodgins has a history with Brian Daboll from their time together in Buffalo as well. While the Giants will not use the RFA system to retain the big-bodied wideout, they will keep him around. Daboll was the Bills OC when the team drafted Hodgins in the 2020 sixth round.

It would cost the Giants $2.98M to keep Hodgins. While that would not have been especially difficult to pull off, teams regularly pass on tendering a player only to bring him back at a lower rate. He almost certainly will be tied to a salary south of that tender number in 2024.

Claimed off waivers from the Bills in November 2022, Hodgins became an instant contributor in the Big Apple. A Giants team that traded Kadarius Toney, had seen Kenny Golladay become a historic free-agency bust and had lost Sterling Shepard and Wan’Dale Robinson to season-ending injuries turned to Hodgins and Darius Slayton in 2022. They became Daniel Jones‘ top targets down the stretch that year. Hodgins totaled 351 receiving yards and four TDs in just eight games; he delivered one of the better receiving performances by a Giant in the playoffs, adding eight catches for 105 yards and a touchdown against the Vikings.

Although the Giants added some pass-catching talent last year, they still needed Hodgins as a rotational cog. He was not utilized as often, finishing a 17-game season with 21 catches for 230 yards and three touchdowns. Hodgins’ 6-foot-3 frame stood out on last year’s Giants, a squad that took several slot receivers to training camp. Their 2024 group will likely have more help coming.

The Giants have already used “30” visits on Marvin Harrison Jr., Malik Nabers and Rome Odunze. While the team has been connected to trading up for a quarterback, staying at No. 6 would be a way for the long-receiver-needy club to stock this position with a WR1-level talent. Regardless of how the Giants proceed in Round 1, Hodgins will be given a chance to stick around as a potential backup.

Matt Nelson is also signing with the Giants, per the team. A former Lions offensive lineman, Nelson is coming off a season that ended early due to injury. A Week 3 ankle injury ended Nelson’s 2023 campaign; he had worked as a swing tackle with the team.

The Lions turned to Nelson as their Taylor Decker replacement in 2021, sliding then-rookie Penei Sewell to left tackle and then using Nelson as an 11-game right-side starter. The Lions re-signed Nelson to a one-year, $1.3M deal in March 2023 and needed him as a two-game starter. But the Iowa alum could not hold up for longer than that, undergoing surgery.

Nelson, 28, will attempt to carve out a role with a Giants team busy adding potential swing players. In addition to bringing in Jon Runyan Jr. and Jermaine Eluemunor, the Giants added Aaron Stinnie and Austin Schlottmann.