Giants offer LB Bobby Okereke a deal worth $40 million for four years. Grade: B+
There’s absolutely no question that the 2022 New York Giants needed more from their linebacker group than they got. Defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale did the best he could with a group led by reclamation projects Jarrad Davis and Jaylon Smith, but more was going to have to be done to get things on the level Martindale would prefer.
The Giants have signed Bobby Okereke, a former Indianapolis Colts linebacker to a $40 million four-year contract with $22,000,000 guaranteed. Okereke was a strong player last season with 112 tackles and 53 stops. He also allowed 73 catches for 651 yards on 93 targets, 500 yards after the catch. There were two touchdowns and four pass breakups. His opponent passer rating was 103.0. With Okereke, you have to look beyond the pedestrian coverage metrics to see what he was doing on the field… which was pretty decent.
Okereke didn’t blitz a lot in Gus Bradley’s zone-heavy defense, but as Martindale is the blitziest defensive coordinator in the NFL, you can expect that to change to a point — and when you’re blitzing as much as the Giants so, you also need guys who can cover behind all that chaos.