In January, days after a third successive Giants season ended with another losing record, John Mara, the Giants’ co-owner, said his team’s defensive roster lacked talent. Then Mara pointedly said it was General Manager Jerry Reese’s responsibility to fix the disaster the defense had become.
Reese’s job with the Giants might depend on it.
Wednesday, as the N.F.L.’s off-season free-agency period opened, Reese went on a shopping spree unprecedented in team history. If Reese is going out as Giants general manager, he is doing it with fistfuls of dollars flung across the free agent market.
In a 24-hour period beginning with the signing of defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul on Tuesday, Reese committed about $204 million in contracts for defensive players, with $114 million of that sum guaranteed to be paid out.