The first signing by the Giants in free agency was O’Brien Schofield, an outside linebacker who mostly has been a backup in his four NFL seasons.
Schofield spent his first three years with the Cardinals – he was a 2010 fourth-round draft pick out of Wisconsin – and in 2013 was with the Super Bowl champion Seahawks.
The Giants must view Schofield (6-foot-3, 242 pounds) as an ascending player, because they gave him a two-year, $8 million deal. It was a fairly significant deal for a 26-year old player who has played in 50 NFL games, with 11 career starts. He got in 15 games last season for the Seahawks, starting twice, and finished with seven tackles. He started nine games for the Cardinals in 2012 and then was released.
Thus far this offseason, the Giants have re-signed one of their own linebackers, Mark Herzlich (to a one-year, $1 million contract) and tendered another of their own linebackers, Spencer Paysinger. They tried to work a deal for their middle linebacker, Jon Beason, but could not come to an agreement before Tuesday’s 4 p.m. start of free agency. Beason is representing himself and it looks as if he will try to drum up interest on the open market.
In other Giants developments, they-resigned running back Peyton Hillis to a two-year, $1.8 million contract, re-signed cornerback Trumaine McBride (two years, $3.1 million) and re-signed safety Stevie Brown (one year, $4 million), who missed the entire 2013 season coming off ACL surgery. Curtis Painter will also re-sign, to compete with Ryan Nassib for the backup quarterback job. Tight end Brandon Myers, who spent one unproductive year with the Giants, signed a two-year, $4 million deal with the Buccaneers. The Giants had no interest in bringing him back.
In addition to Chris Snee reworking his contract, punter Steve Weatherford also accepted a restructuring of his contract. He was scheduled to make $2 million and his base salary was reduced to $900,000, with the remaining money converted to bonuses.