After making the playoffs in 2022, the New York Giants were widely expected to be postseason-relevant again in 2023.

However, just about everything that could have gone wrong did.

New York’s defense took a significant step backward, Saquon Barkley struggled to stay on the field, and quarterback Daniel Jones played poorly before suffering a season-ending ACL tear.

Head coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen remain in place, but they face the unenviable task of picking up the pieces of a lost season.

Armed with the sixth overall pick in April’s draft and $26 million in projected cap space, New York has a path to improvement, but it’s going to require work.

Below, we’ll examine the biggest keys to the Giants having a successful offseason in 2024.

While the Giants have a fair amount of projected cap space, they desperately need to generate more.

New York, which ranked 27th in total defense and 29th in total offense last season, has too many needs to address in the draft alone.

The Giants also have financial decisions to make on impending free agents like Barkley, Xavier McKinney, Adoree’ Jackson and Jihad Ward.

Before Schoen even dives into free agency, he’d be wise to free up some more cap room. He has options.

New York could move on from interior lineman Mark Glowinski, who was effectively benched a couple of times in 2023.

Glowinski will turn 32 in May, and releasing him would save. $5.6 million in cap space.

Schoen may have a harder time justifying the release of tight end Darren Waller a year after trading a third-round pick for him.

However, Waller again dealt with hamstring issues in 2023, missed five games and finished with just 552 receiving yards.

Waller simply can be considered dependable, and releasing him with a post-June 1 designation would save $12.1 million in cap space while triggering a 2024 dead-cap hit of only $2 million.