By Ryan Dunleavy | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

The fan-frustrating era of Ereck Flowers as the Giants left tackle is over.

By making free agent left tackle Nate Solder the highest-paid offensive lineman in the NFL, the Giants upgraded the protection for quarterback Eli Manning's blind side and created a situation where a decision looms on Flowers' future.

Flowers, 23, was a first-round pick (No. 9 overall) out of Miami in the 2015 NFL Draft. He has been a disappointment and a target of fan ire through three seasons, with the best thing said about him in a career with 46 games and starts that he was durable and played more than 1,900 straight snaps.

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Flowers didn't play in the 2017 season finale because of a groin injury and denied multiple reports that he was de-activated because he told the team he didn't want to play and exhibited a poor attitude.

"I didn't get suspended, benched, none of that," he told NJ Advance Media after the game. "The coaches know I talked to the doctor. I wish I was out there. I wanted to play today, but I couldn't."

So what will the Giants do with Flowers now? General manager Dave Gettleman values "hog molly" offensive linemen, so would he be willing to discard Flowers for a unit in need of depth?

Here are five options:

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1. Trade him

The Giants could follow the path set forth in recent years by other teams stuck with underachieving first-round offensive linemen and trade Flowers. But forget about anything like a comparable draft pick in return.

Gettleman would be looking at a fifth- or sixth-round pick based on this analysis of the trade market.

Keep in mind the Giants only have five picks (no sixth- or seventh-rounder) in the 2018 NFL Draft, so the extra pick might be enticing.

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2. Make him the starting right tackle

The Giants still need a starting right tackle, after releasing Bobby Hart before the 2017 season finale.

There has been outcry to move Flowers to right tackle since before the 2016 season, but the Giants have never done it in a practice let alone in a game. The Giants never even brought in a challenger for Flowers' job at left tackle until bypassing that step altogether by going for Solder.

It's lost in the shuffle somewhat, but Flowers actually was drafted to play right tackle. Then Will Beatty suffered a torn pectoral muscle in May 2015 and Flowers was moved permanently.

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3. Move him to guard

The Giants will say goodbye to starting guard Justin Pugh in free agency due to salary cap space.

Even if the Giants are willing to hand a starting job to John Jerry after he signed a three-year, $10-million deal last offseason, there still is a starting job open. It was penciled in for Andrew Norwell, who opted to sign with the Jaguars over the Giants and forced the Solder move.

The Giants likely will select an offensive lineman within the first three rounds of the NFL Draft. If it is a tackle, then they could try Flowers at guard, where his pass-protection issues might be less noticeable.

There is no guarantee Flowers would start over Jerry or a rookie, however. And the Giants already re-signed veteran guard John Greco as an insurance policy.

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4. Decline his option and let him play out final year

All first-round picks receive four-year contracts with a team option for a fifth year. But teams must decide whether to exercise that option in May before the start of the fourth season. That's long-term thinking.

Sometimes, it's a no-brainer to pick up the one-year option: The Giants are paying a relative bargain $8.5 million to Odell Beckham Jr. in 2018.

It's much less certain with Flowers. The smart play by the Giants seems to be to decline Flowers' fifth-year option, let him play out his final year and see if anything clicks with a little extra motivation, repetition and/or a new position coach.

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5. Cut him

Flowers is scheduled to make $4.5 million in 2018. That entire number counts against the cap and that entire number would be dead money if he was released, according to overthecap.com.

So cutting Flowers wouldn't be a cost-cutting move. And it wouldn't help an offensive line already short on depth when he could just bide time as an overpaid backup.

Cutting Flowers merely would free up a roster spot and perhaps send a message of a new era (though cutting the outspoken Hart seemed to accomplish that in December).

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Ryan Dunleavy can be reached at rdunleavy@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rydunleavy.