There are many inadequacies, front to back, within the Giants defense and, if that defense moves forward without Landon Collins, there will be another gaping hole to fill. And so, it stands to reason the Giants are unwilling to allow Collins to hit the open market as an unrestricted free agent.
The first opportunity to tag players arrives Tuesday throughout the NFL, a window that stretches to March 5. In that time span, Collins is the only logical Giants candidate to have the franchise tag applied, which would virtually assure he will stay with the team that traded up in the second round of the 2015 draft to take him out of Alabama.