New York Giants: Outlining Blueprint for Successful Offseason
Embarrassing.
There is no other word to describe the 2-9 start of the New York Giants, a team that was supposed to build on last year’s 11-5 record only to morph into an injury-plagued, discipline-starved and lost football team.
Things have gotten so bad in East Rutherford that when the season ends in five weeks, there is sure to be some major changes made by ownership.
Whether it will be the housecleaning that everyone is calling for remains to be seen, but if the Giants want to get back to being respected across the league, here is an outline of the moves that must be made once this nightmarish season comes to a close.
Replace General Manager Jerry Reese
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With the Giants football team having collapsed under its own weight, the first thing that co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch must do is replace general manager Jerry Reese.
Reese has accumulated a large body of work since being promoted to his current position in 2007, and it’s not at all impressive despite the two Super Bowl trophies the team won in 2007 and 2011.
As noted by Inside Football, since 2010, only one of Reese’s 54 draft picks, defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, has signed a second contract with the team, which means there has been an unhealthy turnover rate in the foundation of the team.
In addition, with the draft supposed to be a team’s foundation, a whopping 28 picks (51.9 percent) are out of the league.
That’s just not good enough and is a big reason why the Giants have had to overspend in free agency on mulligans.
Simply put, they cannot continue to go down this path any further, and would do themselves a huge favor if they were to look outside the organization for a new general manager, something they haven’t done since 1979 when they selected George Young to be their general manager.
Replace the Coaching Staff
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If the Giants ownership follows Step 1 and rids itself of Jerry Reese, the next logical step would be to purge the coaching staff starting with Ben McAdoo.
One can point to the offense failing to score 30 points since McAdoo, the architect of the offense, took over as head coach, but the biggest and most concerning issues all tie into the culture that has emerged in the locker room.
For all the “crazy” rules that Tom Coughlin used to have, such as not allowing food into the locker room, dressing professionally on road trips, etc., Coughlin never had as many discipline-related issues in a season as McAdoo has had.
When players start doing their own thing, such as not bothering to call when they’re going to be late for work or not giving effort on the field, that’s a culture problem. Although McAdoo has begun pushing back against the players who have tried to take advantage of him, it comes too little too late.
The final straw for McAdoo was his handling of quarterback Eli Manning. Since March of this year, he’s taken subtle digs at Manning for no apparent reason, yet he’s been reluctant to criticize the play of inconsistent performers such as Ereck Flowers or the antics of Odell Beckham Jr.
That kind of preferential treatment cannot and should not be tolerated in a locker room where everyone is supposed to be an equal part of the team.
McAdoo might be a good enough offensive-minded coach, but his inexperience and stubbornness in adapting his system to better fit the players he has been among his biggest downfalls.
Trim the Fat off the Salary Cap
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Atop of any team’s list is the salary cap. Unfortunately for the Giants, their 2018 cap picture doesn’t look ultra-rosy. According to Over the Cap, the Giants are projected to have $27.64 million in cap space (based on a projected cap of $178 million).
Of that cap space, Over the Cap projects the Giants will need roughly $5.521 million to get their draft picks signed, a figure that could go even higher if the Giants move up in the draft order (they’re currently at No. 3).
There is little question that the Giants will have to clear more space. The big question, though, is where can they trim some fat?
One likely candidate is cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, who would yield a $6.5 million savings. Another is receiver Brandon Marshall, who would bear a $5.156 million savings.
Offensive lineman John Jerry might be at risk as well if the Giants address their offensive line depth with younger and cheaper faces. Jerry’s removal from the roster would bring $2.525 million in savings while receiver Dwayne Harris would yield a $2.45 million savings.
Altogether, the Giants could be looking at $16.631 in additional cap space if they make these cuts which would bump their estimated cap space up to around $44.2 million (a total that could rise even more once the final accounting is done and depending on how much space they carry over to 2018).
That kind of space should be more than enough for the Giants to be competitive in free agency while also addressing some of their own pending free agents such as Justin Pugh, Devon Kennard and, if they wanted to, safety Landon Collins, whose rookie deal expires after the 2018 season.
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Fix the Offensive Line
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It doesn’t matter who the quarterback is next year—it could be Bart Starr, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers or Johnny Unitas. It all means nothing if the Giants don’t get their offensive line fixed.
To be fair, Reese did begin to devote resources to the offensive line starting in 2013 with the addition of Justin Pugh. The problem is that this movement came much too late and was compounded by all the failed offensive line draft picks.
Per Inside Football, Reese has swung and missed on five offensive linemen who are out of the league (tied for second with the defensive linemen).
that lost depth should have at least yielded one or two starters, but instead it has left the Giants with having to scramble to find depth elsewhere.
So, how should they fix the line? For starters, Ereck Flowers needs to be tried at right tackle. They should also consider investing in an experienced left tackle—yes it will cost them, but if that offensive line isn’t fixed, then what good would any of the other investments made do?
Brett Jones will likely be the starting center after Weston Richburg walks away in free agency, and D.J. Fluker has earned another contract. If they can re-sign Justin Pugh, they should be set with four out of the five positions barring the outcome at left tackle.
They also might want to invest in better depth than Bobby Hart, who can’t even get onto the field these days, and John Jerry, who is on the wrong side of 30.
Invest in Linebackers
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A quick check of the NFL by-laws shows that yes, it is still much legal for teams to spend premium draft picks on linebackers.
Try telling that to the Giants, though, who have two starting linebackers, Devon Kennard and B.J. Goodson, who were Day 3 picks, while the rest of their linebackers were acquired via free agency.
Once the season is over, all but Goodson and Calvin Munson will be free agents from among those not on injured reserve. the Giants have a chance to totally revamp this unit and can begin by re-signing Kennard and perhaps devoting a resource to a weak-side linebacker who can replace incumbent Jonathan Casillas.
Decide on a Quarterback
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The Eli Manning era may or may not be over in New York, but regardless, the Giants need to determine what direction they’re going in at this critical position for the long-term.
Even if Manning decides he wants to finish his career with the only team he’s ever played for, at best, he probably has two years left. The Giants would be wise to determine if Davis Webb is their future, which they apparently intend to do following the stunning announcement that Manning would be benched so that Geno Smith and, eventually, Webb get game snaps.
Regardless if Webb is or isn’t the guy, if the Giants have a chance to land a blue-chip quarterback, they need to pounce on that opportunity. They also need to make amends with Manning should he decide to stay and let him continue to mentor both Webb and, if applicable, the new kid brought in.
Patricia Traina covers the New York Giants for Inside Football, the Journal Inquirer and Sports Xchange. All quotes and information were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
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