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Big, big decisions coming down in Utah, and around the league, this week. I had a short break after checking out of staff hiring, and almost forgot about the edge of the sword pointed at the Bees. Should be a fun offseason.
Summer League
Utah will protect its two first round rookies from possible injury, meaning we'll have to go with one of the other guys with La Solecisimic. That makes RB Nate Washington a prime choice - as sooner or later, he's poised to step into the starting role.
Our other choices, TE Derek Wheeler and WR/KR Chester Haddix, are also good candidates for some development to see where they're at. The team is less tied to keeping these players long-term, though, so a summer league investment could be wasted.
If one of them does get the nod, it'll be Haddix, on the hopes that he might return as more than just a kick returner.
Franchise
Big-time drama in Utah, as two mainstays of the team, both of whom joined in '22, are about to enter the unrestricted free agency waters.
Giang, in his Utah career, has carried 1218 times for 6075 yards and 43 TDs in a 4-year span, averaging 4.99 ypc. His biggest workload came this past season in 2025 (351 carries), as did his highest ypc (5.19). He's added 116 receptions for 1191 yards, and 14 TDs.
In 13 playoff games in this span, he's added another 286 carries for 1297 yards (4.53 ypc) and 9 TDs, with 36 receptions for 291 yards and 2 TDs.
It's a beast of a career, marred only by 13 regular-season fumbles and 7 post-season fumbles. At 31, heading into his 10th year in the league, and coming off a -10/-10 drop in his previous camp, the Giang era may be entering its twilight...regardless of what happens next, from a contract standpoint.
Giang's earned a lot of money in his OSFL career, but never had his deal re-done since being traded to the Bees. Utah paid him a base salary of $3.72 million in each of his four seasons here, with no bonus, which for the past four years has been a real bargain. Re-negotiating would have more than doubled that number, and that was a major sticking point last offseason, which leaves us where we are today.
Siragusa, meanwhile, spent 2022 on the injured reserve list, in a year during which Billy Johns and Jerald Berrios capably manned the nose tackle position. Siragusa hit the volatility stick the next camp and has been the most talented nose tackle I've ever had in Utah since.
Siragusa's had three very capable years of service, not just reflected by the humble stats a DT puts up. In the end, Siragusa vastly overestimated his worth to the franchise as contract negotiations began to heat up around this time 2024.
We tried many times to accommodate his then-sky high demands, but at the end, a) ran out of cap space after re-signing other players, and b) decided to let the guy find out for himself just how much a 30-year old defensive tackle staring down the twilight of his career is really worth on the open market.
Now's a good a time as any to look back on two of the key pieces, that, in the primes of their respective careers (seasons 6-9 and 5-7), were big parts of Utah's four-season-long bowl streak.
We've hit a critical juncture. As we turn our eyes to 2026 and beyond, how we manage our aging veterans, particularly those at the very end of their careers, and those who will reach that point within the next two seasons, is going to define this team's ability to succeed. Both in the short, and long term.
The Bees sit with 44 under contract and $41 million in cap space, although applying a tag to either player would cost upwards of $10.5 million on its own. Nothing is off the table at this point, one day before the tag deadline.
Summer League
Utah will protect its two first round rookies from possible injury, meaning we'll have to go with one of the other guys with La Solecisimic. That makes RB Nate Washington a prime choice - as sooner or later, he's poised to step into the starting role.
Our other choices, TE Derek Wheeler and WR/KR Chester Haddix, are also good candidates for some development to see where they're at. The team is less tied to keeping these players long-term, though, so a summer league investment could be wasted.
If one of them does get the nod, it'll be Haddix, on the hopes that he might return as more than just a kick returner.
Franchise
Big-time drama in Utah, as two mainstays of the team, both of whom joined in '22, are about to enter the unrestricted free agency waters.
- RB Earnest Giang - 10th year, 63/63
- NT Bennie Siragusa - 8th year, 56/56
Giang, in his Utah career, has carried 1218 times for 6075 yards and 43 TDs in a 4-year span, averaging 4.99 ypc. His biggest workload came this past season in 2025 (351 carries), as did his highest ypc (5.19). He's added 116 receptions for 1191 yards, and 14 TDs.
In 13 playoff games in this span, he's added another 286 carries for 1297 yards (4.53 ypc) and 9 TDs, with 36 receptions for 291 yards and 2 TDs.
It's a beast of a career, marred only by 13 regular-season fumbles and 7 post-season fumbles. At 31, heading into his 10th year in the league, and coming off a -10/-10 drop in his previous camp, the Giang era may be entering its twilight...regardless of what happens next, from a contract standpoint.
Giang's earned a lot of money in his OSFL career, but never had his deal re-done since being traded to the Bees. Utah paid him a base salary of $3.72 million in each of his four seasons here, with no bonus, which for the past four years has been a real bargain. Re-negotiating would have more than doubled that number, and that was a major sticking point last offseason, which leaves us where we are today.
Siragusa, meanwhile, spent 2022 on the injured reserve list, in a year during which Billy Johns and Jerald Berrios capably manned the nose tackle position. Siragusa hit the volatility stick the next camp and has been the most talented nose tackle I've ever had in Utah since.
Siragusa's had three very capable years of service, not just reflected by the humble stats a DT puts up. In the end, Siragusa vastly overestimated his worth to the franchise as contract negotiations began to heat up around this time 2024.
We tried many times to accommodate his then-sky high demands, but at the end, a) ran out of cap space after re-signing other players, and b) decided to let the guy find out for himself just how much a 30-year old defensive tackle staring down the twilight of his career is really worth on the open market.
Now's a good a time as any to look back on two of the key pieces, that, in the primes of their respective careers (seasons 6-9 and 5-7), were big parts of Utah's four-season-long bowl streak.
We've hit a critical juncture. As we turn our eyes to 2026 and beyond, how we manage our aging veterans, particularly those at the very end of their careers, and those who will reach that point within the next two seasons, is going to define this team's ability to succeed. Both in the short, and long term.
The Bees sit with 44 under contract and $41 million in cap space, although applying a tag to either player would cost upwards of $10.5 million on its own. Nothing is off the table at this point, one day before the tag deadline.
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