ORLANDO, Fla. — The Giants are “pretty close to done” signing veteran free agents after their recent acquisition binge, co-owner John Mara told The Post Sunday afternoon.
Speaking at the NFL owners meetings that officially begin Monday morning, Mara said Big Blue are now focused on the draft after adding a whopping 12 veteran players in the first 10 days of free agency.
“I think we’ve improved the team,” Mara said. “Time will tell, but we all feel good about the players we’ve added. I would say we’re pretty close to done [signing veterans].
“Certainly, if the opportunity presented itself with another player, we’d look at it. But I don’t anticipate there being any big-money players being signed at this point.”
The Giants would need to create cap room to make more signings, which they could do by reworking Eli Manning’s contract. Manning has two years remaining at a total of $32.15 million in base salaries.
Mara wouldn’t rule out renegotiating Manning’s deal this offseason but said: “That’s not been something we’ve discussed.”
The Giants’ most recent veteran addition, ex-Dolphins offensive lineman John Jerry, is also the most controversial.
Jerry was mentioned more than 100 times in the recent Wells Reports by the NFL on the Miami locker-room bullying scandal and was accused of setting off the harassment of Jonathan Martin by challenging him to a fight two years ago.
Mara said the Giants were concerned about Jerry’s inclusion in the report but went ahead with the signing after investigating it. Mara said he did not know if Jerry would face punishment from the league for his alleged role in the scandal.
“We were certainly aware of that and did some research into him, and we’re satisfied that he’s going to be a good citizen for us,” Mara said of Jerry. “We did not talk to the league about him, but we did talk to a number of people. We did do our due diligence on him.”
Now that the Giants’ veteran additions are essentially over, Mara said he is counting on general manager Jerry Reese to follow the spending spree with a productive draft.
The signings allowed the Giants to address many needs, so Reese will be able to take a “best available player” approach to the draft. But Mara made it clear his expectations are going to be high when it comes to the college crop Reese brings in.
“We feel like we’ve improved the team, but we also need to have a really great draft.” Mara said. “And we’re going too have to count on some guys to come through for us — guys that we drafted last year and the year before.”