The New York Giants have seen three different veteran players officially leave in free agency over the past 24 hours.
The headliner — and most recent departure — might be wide receiver Parris Campbell, being that he’ll join former star running back Saquon Barkley and the Philadelphia Eagles. ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter announced the one-year agreement that will send Campbell to Philly on March 21.
The other two exits were former third-round offensive tackle Matt Peart, who signed with the Denver Broncos on March 20 (per Schefter), and former starting edge rusher Jihad Ward. The latter had the greatest NYG impact of the trio over the past couple of years but was expected to move on after defensive coordinator Wink Martindale resigned.
Ward ink a deal with the Minnesota Vikings on March 20.
Parris Campbell Was Bust WR Signing With Giants
Campbell carried a cap hit of $5 million in 2023 according to Over the Cap, and it was a total waste of funds for the Giants in free agency.
Coming off a career year in 2022, the hope was that the former second-round draft pick of the Indianapolis Colts could build on that performance in New York. By the end of the year, however, Campbell turned into a healthy scratch that had completely lost his role in the offense.
He finished with just 104 receiving yards in 12 appearances — which was by far his lowest yards per game average of his career. Campbell did not score a touchdown either and his only real offensive impact was a pair of first downs.
As a kick returner, Campbell did average 23.9 yards per return with the Giants. That average ranked 24th in the NFL last season among kick returners with five or more attempts.
Big Blue has already replaced Campbell in 2024, signing wide receiver/returner Isaiah McKenzie. The former Buffalo Bills contributor has familiarity with head coach Brian Daboll from their time together in northern New York.
Jihad Ward Started 21 Games for Giants Over Past 2 Seasons
As noted above, Ward was a fixture in Martindale’s system over the past two years — appearing in all 36 games including the playoffs and starting 21 of them. He was a decent role player for Big Blue but was never one to fill up the stat sheet.
Although Ward recorded a career-high 5.0 sacks in 2023, his pass rush win-rate ranked tied for 114th in the NFL at 4.8% according to Pro Football Focus (minimum 20% of snaps).
As a run defender, he was actually worse with a “stop” percentage (2.1%) that ranked 120th in the NFL at his position (minimum 20% of snaps). Ward did log five tackles for a loss, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery last year.
Giants’ Matt Peart Experiment Finally Ends in 2024
None of these three losses will be missed all that much in 2024, and that applies to Peart most of all. The 99th overall selection in the 2020 draft has been a total bust for NYG since entering the league.
Peart did find his way to six starts over his first two campaigns — mostly out of necessity — but he’s always struggled as a pass protector according to Pro Football Focus. The 6-foot-7 blocker has a career pass-blocking efficiency of 95.5 (which isn’t very good) and has been charged with seven sacks and seven penalties over 821 total snaps.
PFF credited Peart with a great running blocking grade as a rookie (81.7), but his marks have tailed off since then ranging from 64.0 to 65.5 in 2021 and 2022, and then dropping to 34.0 last year.
There was virtually no chance of Peart — another Dave Gettleman draft pick — returning to the Giants organization in 2024.
