The New York Giants have had a rough start to NFL Free Agency on Monday. The Giants lost RB Saquan Barkley to the rival Philadelphia Eagles. Barkley signed a long-term deal after refusing to take the franchise tag for another season. Instead of bringing back Barkley, the G-Men are going the cheap route, signing veteran RB Devin Singletary to a three-year, $16.5 million contract. Singletary comes over after a very good season with the surprise Houston Texans in 2023. We’re going to break down what the deal means for the Giants and fantasy football.
Fantasy football: Devin Singletary to Giants
Singletary is a very good replacement for Barkley if you look at the years and money on the deal. While Singletary isn’t nearly the back Barkley is, the former Texans back emerged after Dameon Pierce struggled early on this past season. Singletary would take over the backfield, rushing for a career-high 898 yards while also adding 30 catches on 38 targets for 193 yards. Singletary finished with just four touchdowns in 2023 but that was in 10 starts. He also had 88 yards on 22 carries with 52 yards on eight catches with one TD in the Texans’ two playoff games.
Now, let’s look at the Giants. New York has a lot of issues, both at wide receiver, QB and on the line. Between Daniel Jones, Tyrod Taylor and Tommy DeVito in 2023, Giants QBs were sacked 85 times. Jones was sacked 30 times in just six games, which is a pretty insane pace. So the Giants need to improve the offensive line over anything else. That doesn’t bode well for Singletary compared to this past season in Houston, where he had a very good line to run behind. The Giants also have question marks at QB and it’s unclear if Jones will come back and be the starter. If he does, Jones is known for his rushing upside, which is another knock on Singletary’s fantasy football value. And finally, the Giants passing game was bad regardless of which QB played. If that’s the case again, defenses should have an easy time containing the run game.
There’s also some incumbent running backs who could push Singletary for touches. You’d think the Giants will draft a back as well. If that’s the case, Gary Brightwell, Eric Gray and/or Deon Jackson could see touches. Gray was injured a bit in his rookie season in 2023 but finished with 17 carries for 48 yards in 13 games. Brightwell got a crack when Barkley was hurt but only had nine carries for 19 yards in seven games. None of that really inspires any confidence.
Verdict
Singletary will have value because he should lead the backfield as the starter. Unless the Giants bring in someone else (which they should) or use a high draft pick on a back, Singletary should be The Guy. If that’s the case, Singletary has a shot at being a start-worthy back in deeper standard formats. In PPR, he may be an OK FLEX option but doesn’t get too much passing volume. That could change in the Giants offense vs. Houston’s, which was more of a vertical passing game. In a full season of starting, Singletary could see around 6-8 TDs with around 1,000 total yards and a handful of receptions. He won’t be a bad late-round flier in your fantasy football draft.