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          NFL Nation

          What does future hold for Beckham, Rodgers-Cromartie?

          • Jordan Raanan, ESPN Staff WriterJan 15, 2017, 09:00 AM ET
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              Jordan Raanan is a reporter for NFL Nation at ESPN. Raanan covers the New York Giants. You can follow him via Twitter @JordanRaanan.
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          It is the offseason. There are no New York Giants games to look forward to this week or next, or anytime over the next seven months.

          That doesn’t mean it’s time to hibernate until the summer. NFL teams never sleep. The concentration now turns off the field. There is the Senior Bowl, scouting combine, draft, free agency, minicamps and OTAs, all before training camp begins in late July. I’ll guide you through them all from a Giants perspective.

          So remain consumed and absorb the content. And each week along the way, I’ll make sure to answer your questions in a mailbag. Feel free to offer up questions on Twitter with the hashtag #GiantsAfterDark, on Facebook or via email at Jordan.raanan@espn.com.

          Here is this week’s installment:

          Let's get this out of the way real quickly at the start of the offseason, because BigSleep isn't the only person to ask about the possibility of trading star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. It's not happening! The Giants aren't even considering this move and won't unless something goes awfully wrong in the coming weeks, months or years. It's possible because they are allowed to start negotiating a long-term deal and Beckham undoubtedly wants to get paid. But right now after Year 3, with Beckham contractually under control for at least two more seasons, trading him is not even a consideration. The organization loves Beckham as a player and person. He's their only real offensive weapon. He's not going anywhere, and any talk otherwise is premature and foolish given the current state of the situation.

          There really is no need for the Giants to restructure. If the Giants want Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie back, the price ($7 million in real money, $9 million in cap space) is fair. He's a veteran, starting-caliber cornerback, even if the Giants used him just 66 percent of the defensive snaps this season and mostly in the slot. That's probably even below market value.

          It's more a matter of deciding if this is how they want to spend their money with cornerbacks Janoris Jenkins and Eli Apple on the roster and with defensive linemen Jason Pierre-Paul and Johnathan Hankins and linebackers Keenan Robinson and Kelvin Sheppard free agents. That, and the Giants weren't pleased with Rodgers-Cromartie after last season. His lack of physicality didn't fit the way defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo wanted to play, and his reliability was a concern after coming on and off the field regularly with injuries. It will be interesting to see how much that changed after Rodgers-Cromartie had a strong season, but wasn't available for most of the biggest game of the season when he lasted two snaps last Sunday against the Green Bay Packers before exiting with a quad injury.

          The Giants defense has the difference-making players (Damon Harrison, Olivier Vernon, Janoris Jenkins and Landon Collins) to be a dominant unit for the next two or three years. It's a little different than Seattle, Kansas City and Denver, because the Giants probably have a shorter shelf life. Those teams built their defensive cores through the draft and had guys grow up in their system and with their team. The Giants acquired much of their core through free agency last offseason, when guys were mid-career. So I do see the Giants being a top-five defense at least the next few years, with the potential to be the league's best unit thanks to some minor tweaks along the way. Just don't blink, because it might not be an extended run of defensive dominance like in Seattle or Denver. The Giants need to do their damage in the next two or three seasons.

          This should be a serious option. Something has to change, whether it be the offensive coordinator or the way they call and design plays. What they did Year 1 with McAdoo handling head coaching and playcalling duties didn't work. There were even internal complaints the offense was too vanilla and opposing defenses knew what was coming, especially in the run game. The receivers also didn't think there was enough creativity to get them open consistently.

          McAdoo has said they're going to evaluate everything this offseason, playcalling included. He's going to take a long, hard look in the mirror and decide if he was able to put in the necessary amount of time and for the offense to reach its potential while also juggling his head-coaching duties. My gut tells me there will be changes offensive but McAdoo won't ultimately relinquish playcalling duties.