Folks, it’s been a while since I’ve typed up a blog but after watching our team get completely embarrassed by the Packers I feel like it’s time for me to get some organized thoughts on paper on how I would fix the New York Giants. To the fans of the 31 other teams and roughly half of the Giants fan base, the team has become the laughing stock of the NFL.
It’s no secret that the last few seasons have been a disaster. Since 2017 nobody has lost more games than the Giants have (they’re 10-34) and this counts the Browns going 0-16 in that time frame. That’s absolutely disgusting.
The record only tells part of the story, though. It’s no secret that Jerry Reese was kept on as General Manager of the team for far too long. Yes, he overstayed his welcome and forgot how to draft a team after taking OT Ereck Flowers and CB Eli Apple in back-to-back drafts.
But that wasn’t what cost him his job. Jerry Reese was fired mid-season because he allowed Eli Manning to get benched for Geno Smith. John Mara received a billion strongly worded letters from our boomer fan-base that couldn’t let Eli Manning go and he decided to make a change.
So who did John Mara replace him with? One of Jerry Reese’s former assistants and a man who had been fired from his General Manager position in Carolina for pissing off the entire organization in Dave Gettleman and things went from bad to worse.
I’m not going to go in depth as to the reasons why Dave Gettleman should be fired because anyone with a brain (fans of the 31 other fan bases and roughly half of the Giants fan base) knows those reasons. But here’s a quick summary.
In less than two years Gettleman has hired Pat Shurmur as the head coach, decided not to move on from Eli Manning and his massive cap hit, traded Odell Beckham for a bag of peanuts, traded away/didn’t re-sign core players on the defense, signed Nate Solder to the largest contract for a LT in NFL history then gave him more guaranteed money even though it was a horrible signing, signed a geriatric Jonathan Stewart/Antoine Bethea, didn’t re-sign Devon Kennard and instead signed Kareem Martin, used the number two overall pick on a running back, drafted a nose tackle at 17 overall, traded up for human trash-bag DeAndre Baker, and traded a top 70 pick for a defensive lineman in Leonard Williams who has zero sacks this season and an expiring contract.
Yes, it’s bad. It’s been very bad. I probably even missed a few moves in that brief recap. But luckily for you fans, I have created a blueprint on how to fix this team. If John Mara wants this team to be successful then all he has to do is follow this blueprint and the team will eventually be good again.
So without further adieu, here’s how I’d fix the New York Football Giants.
1. Lose every game for the rest of this season
I firmly believe that the most basic part of fixing this team is losing out. Pat Shurmur and Dave Gettleman are obviously not trying to lose out because their jobs depend on it but by losing out it would *hopefully* cost both of these clueless idiots their jobs.
On top of that, it would get us in prime position to draft a player like Ohio State EDGE Chase Young or trade a very high draft pick for a king’s ransom to a QB needy team. The latter would accelerate our rebuild provided we hit on the picks. Taking Young would get us a legitimate pass rush threat and I’m not exaggerating when I say that he may be the best defensive prospect that I’ve ever seen.
2. Fire the entire coaching staff
It’s no secret that Pat Shurmur is an absolutely horrid head coach. He lacks creativity and he calls more runs on 2nd and 10 in most single games than competent coaches do all season.
The Giants spent the number 6 overall pick this past year on a QB who is showing a lot more promise than anyone ever thought possible. They absolutely can not let this coach whose career win percentage is barely old enough to rent a car (27.9%) develop our future franchise quarterback. We absolutely can not do it.
Oh, and he can take his entire worthless coaching staff with him. They offer nothing of value and they can pack their bags with the man who hired them.
3. Fire Dave Gettleman
This is the most important piece of this puzzle simply because if you let Dave Gettleman pick the next head coach then you are setting this franchise back at minimum another two years and in two to three seasons we’re likely in the same position.
Gettleman has proven that he can’t manage talent on his rosters both in New York and in Carolina. The thought of him trying to extend the contracts of core pieces is terrifying because he’s known to low-ball players and piss them off.
Gettleman’s ego also gets in the way of his decision making. He does what he wants and he doesn’t care who he pisses off along the way. A general manager needs to be a relationship builder with the players, front office staff, and the fans. This man refuses to meet with the media during the season and he leaves his coaching staff out to dry to answer the tough questions from the media week in and week out.
There’s also the fact that a lot of good coaches now want more control over their rosters and draft picks. As it stands now, the Giants give Dave Gettleman the final say on the 53 man roster and the draft. Something’s gotta give if we’re going to get a quality coach like Matt Rhule to come coach this franchise.
Lastly, Dave Gettleman has proven that he doesn’t understand positional value in the draft. He’s had four first round picks during his tenure and he’s taken a running back (at number two overall) and an interior defensive lineman (with good offensive tackles on the board) with two of those picks. In this era of passing football that’s absolute malpractice.
4. Hire a General Manager and/or Vice President of Football Operations from outside of the organization
The Giants can not, and I repeat, CAN NOT promote Kevin Abrams, Chris Mara, or someone who used to work for Ernie Accorsi to General Manager if they move on from Dave Gettleman. This team needs a new voice from outside of the organization to lead this team into the future.
The Giants are too reliant on the sound of their own voice to fix problems that their own voices have created. New perspective is much needed for this franchise. Go out and hire someone like Nick Caserio to run this team, don’t let the same people control things.
5. Don’t hire someone like Jason Garrett or Mike McCarthy as the head coach
I will say that the one thing that most Giants fans agree on is that we don’t want Jason Garrett to become our head coach. The man is gutless and he hasn’t elevated a relatively talented Cowboys team (I’m throwing up as I type this sentence) during his tenure there at all. The scary thing about Garrett is that he has previous ties to the Giants organization which is seemingly a prerequisite to be hired by John Mara and he’s rumored to be interested in this position.
Meanwhile, there are a lot more Giants fans who want to hire Mike McCarthy. I’d call Mike McCarthy the Jerry Reese of head coaches in the sense that he should have been fired five years before he actually did get fired but he coasted by on past success. He was also carried by one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time in Aaron Rodgers. While Daniel Jones has showed some signs of promise this season, he’s not ever going to be anywhere close to Aaron Rodgers in his career.
The Giants need to hire someone like Baylor Coach Matt Rhule or Stanford Coach David Shaw. Get someone with some new perspectives into this building to develop Daniel Jones. Don’t hire a failed former coach whose systems are antiquated to lead this franchise into the 2020’s.
6. Don’t overspend in free agency
While the giants are set to have somewhere between $60 and $70 million in cap space this offseason, it’s important that they don’t waste it on shitty players like Dave Gettleman did (see Nate Solder, Jonathan Stewart, Antoine Bethea, etc.).
Don’t sign guys like Jadeveon Clowney who will be on the wrong side of 30 by the time their contract is likely over. Instead, go get someone like Yannick Ngakoue who will be just 25 next season. Be smart about your signings.
7. Maximize Positional Value in the draft
When you’re a team like the Giants that has holes virtually everywhere, it shouldn’t be difficult to draft the best player available in the draft. That being said, if the best player available plays a redundant position like interior defensive line or running back then we need to take the second best player available. We can’t keep shooting ourselves in the foot by picking players too early who play positions that can’t impact the game at a high enough level.
In conclusion, if we get the right person in charge then number six and number seven on this list will be easy to accomplish. If we keep Dave Gettleman then you can expect more of the same from this team. More losing. More embarrassment. More empty seats at the stadium. The only way for the Giants to restore any “Giants Pride” is to completely clean house and start over.
Be sure to follow my page on Facebook at Facebook.com/Giants366 and follow me on twitter @Dancouver95. If you think my takes are shitty then please tell me why there!
Same shit different week….
Let’s get somebody in here to work for us, not against us! Getting tired of losing,! We are are a great team! Now we need someone who is willing to with us!