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In past offseasons, the Giants have not been among the teams that approached free agency like the money in their pocket would make them ill if they didn’t spend it as quickly as possible.

That changed this offseason. The Giants moved fast and they went big to land defensive end Olivier Vernon, cornerback Janoris Jenkins and defensive tackle Damon Harrison. With defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul’s re-signing folded in, the Giants spent well over $100 million in guaranteed money.

On Sunday, co-owner John Mara said that’s not his preferred way to spend his money and that he didn’t expect to have to spend so much of it to secure the three players the team prioritized at the start of free agency.

“The three guys were a little more expensive than I thought they were going to be, but they are all young, they are all healthy and they fulfill needs,” Mara said, via the New York Daily News.

Mara said that he doesn’t want to approach free agency this way every year, something best avoided by being more successful on the field and in the draft than they’ve been in recent years. Those free agent pickups will go a long way toward determining the on-field portion of the formula and whether or not Mara’s spending spree will go down as money well spent.