The New York Giants might have lost out on Andrew Norwell, but they made up for it in spades on Wednesday as they are expected to sign former New England Patriots left tackle Nate Solder, as first reported by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
The deal is expected to be worth around $62 million over four years.
Solder won a pair of Super Bowls for the Patriots in seven years with the team but is just the latest notable name set to depart the franchise. New England is poised to lose Malcolm Butler and Dion Lewis to the Tennessee Titans while Danny Amendola is set to join the Miami Dolphins.
When it comes to quantifying Solder’s effectiveness along the offensive line, there is nothing necessarily flashy about the 29-year-old. He has never been selected to a Pro Bowl or All-Pro team and last year received a grade of 75.7 from Pro Football Focus, garnering an “average” designation from the analytics sight.
But if it was good enough to bolster the offensive line of the Patriots, the most successful franchise of the 21st century, it’s more than good enough for a Giants offensive line that was one of the worst in football, allowing 180 pressures and 34 sacks while playing a key role in the league’s 26th-ranked rushing offense.
One of the main scapegoats of the offensive line was Ereck Flowers, the left tackle who was rated as one of the worst at his position after the 2016 season. While he showed minimal improvement, his Pro Football Focus grade of 51.5 received a “poor” designation, ranking him the 54th offensive tackle in the league.
Solder provides an immediate upgrade from Flowers, but general manager Dave Gettleman has a lot more work to do along the line. The team has lost center Weston Richburg to the San Francisco 49ers while Justin Pugh and D.J. Fluker are free agents.
