The Giants are moving forward with Dave Gettleman as their general manager, as ownership believes the team is heading in the right direction and Gettleman is the right man to continue the building process with head coach Joe Judge.
The biggest decision of the off-season, which determines whether there is a change at the top, has been decided, The Post has learned and it is a lean towards continuity. Gettleman returns for a fourth season.
That the Giants did not know exactly when their season would end was a step forward for a franchise that has become accustomed to packing in an orderly and previously scheduled manner over the past decade. The Giants were only eliminated from the playoffs in the NFL season, and that’s a sign of progress, no matter how unimpressive their 6-10 record may appear.
Co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch were not enchanted by the play-off race, realizing that the list is not yet where it should be and winning six games in a season, a team normally sits closer to last place first place. However, there is a belief that points the arrow upwards. Mara and Gettleman will meet with the media on Tuesday or Wednesday to discuss the state of the team and the factors that kept Gettleman.
The Giants were 9-23 in Gettleman’s first two years. The litmus test that Mara put there after the 2019 season was that the team had to show signs of growth, that Gettleman had to improve his batting average in player movements and that there were pieces to promote the franchise in Super Bowl battle.
The 6-10 record is a slight increase from 4-12 in 2019. Gettleman’s rate of return in the 2020 NFL draft and especially in the free agency in 2020 – the signing of James Bradberry, Blake Martinez and Logan Ryan in defense and kicker Graham Gano was successful – was quite high and his controversial dedication to Leonard Williams bore much fruit. Williams ended the season with a career-high 11.5 bag and admitted that it was gratifying to ‘show why Dave Gettleman took a chance on me … and it feels good to show him that it’s the was the right choice. ‘
Just as Gettleman, who turns 70 on February 21, gets a beating for his involvement in hiring Pat Shurmur, Gettleman also gets credit for appointing Judge, who is considered a coaching find in the building.
Gettleman’s return is not the only issue or decision that comes during the off-season. Here are some of the toppers:
The offensive coordinator: The Giants finish with 17.5 points per game, 31st in the league. They were 31st in total steps per game, 29th in passing steps and 19th in rushing yards. In a season when the NFL set the record, the Giants have surpassed 30 points once in 16 games. It’s no secret where to point the finger for the sub-.500 record. Jason Garrett, in his first year running at the Giants attack, built up the attack around Saquon Barkley, and the plan lasted six quarters before Barkley went down in Week 2 with a torn front cruciate ligament. Garrett, who reportedly came up as a candidate for the Chargers’ head coaches division, struggled to get Daniel Jones to the next level and could not create many pieces in the field in the passing game. There are no indications that he and Judge are at odds with each other, but the results suggest that some change is in order and not just the talent upgrade.
The defensive lineout: When the Giants secured Williams for the season with the $ 16.1 million franchise award, there was apparently no way for Williams to make that money, or the two concepts Gettleman gave the Jets to give him to get. Williams did it more than a remarkable performance. In his first five NFL seasons, Williams scored just 17.5 sacks. Williams’ virtuoso performance in the final game against the Cowboys raised his pocket to 11.5, which is accompanied by his 57 tackles, 14 tackles for losses and 30 quarterback hits. He has done it all and will be paid handsomely and accordingly if he enters free agency.
The return: The whole organization can not wait to see Barkley drop on the field again and snatch the ball with his underhanded hands in the passing game. The expectation is that Barkley will be recovered in time for the start of the 2021 season of ACL surgery. The fact that Barkley has missed the last 14 games has been a huge blow to the offense. He enters the last year of his four-year new deal, $ 31.1 million. If he had not been hurt, it would be time for a lucrative expansion. However, this is not the time for that, as Barkley needs to re-establish itself as one of the top backs in the league. To be able to do this, he must prove that he is healthy and has lost nothing. Maybe the Giants find a way to extend his contract by a year to increase him from $ 920,000 salary for 2021, but both sides will have to wait for the next big commitment.