Folks, when I think of the last decade of Giants football I think of a lot of pain. With that being said, there’s been a few bright spots that this team has had. One of those bright spots is Linebacker/Safety Landon Collins.
The Giants drafted Landon Collins in the 2nd round of the 2015 NFL Draft and he became a fan favorite very quickly. In 2016, he finished 3rd place in the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year voting, ahead of players like Aaron Donald and right below Von Miller.
At the same time, Collins was also a leader in the locker room and his teammates loved him. Collins never wanted to leave the Giants and said that it was Dave Gettleman who kept him away.
Well that about sums it up. Leave it to Dave Gettleman to completely mismanage an asset. The Giants ended up letting Landon Collins walk in the offseason of 2019, which will go down as one of the worst offseasons in Giants history. All they got back from it was a 3rd round compensatory pick in 2020 that they used on bust tackle Matt Peart.
Could the Giants have traded Collins away during the 2018 season and gotten a better pick? Most likely. But everything Dave Gettleman touched turned to dust.
The Giants are in a much better place now with much better leadership in Brian Daboll and Joe Schoen. I’m glad that Landon Collins gets to see the good in the Giants organization once again.