The Giants fell apart last year finishing 6-11 and then went on to lose two of their top players in free agency in safety Xavier McKinney and the ever-popular franchise running back Saquon Barkley (to the hated Eagles).  They realized the contract they gave QB Daniel Jones off a mirage of a good 2022 season was disastrous.  So much so that they tried to trade up for a franchise QB in the draft and offered a ransom to the Patriots to try to get Drake Maye (and were rejected).  There is a valid reason that many think they will win 5 games this year.
As an aside- and hindsight is always 20/20, they should have franchised Jones and either slightly overpaid for Barkley or let Barkley go the prior year.

As hurtful as it is to see a talented player and great guy in Barkley leave, it was the right move to let him go.  The stats are clear that Running backs are just not worth that much and Barkley, between age and injury is not the explosive player he was.  With an improved line and passing game, he will no doubt put up good numbers this year in Philly, but won’t be elite and won’t be very productive by the end of the contract.

The Giants had too many needs to spend $13m a year on a Running back.
 
That’s the bad news.  Yet somehow there is a bull case for these Giants.  The Bull case still only gets me to 7 wins and I am certainly more than capable of looking at it through Blue tinted Glasses, but here it goes.

Jones is healthy now.  Their line is materially improved.  Their line is still bad, but it was historically bad last year and very few quarterbacks are good enough to throw a very bad line.  The biggest improvements are often when going from Horrible to just plain below average.  Andrew Thomas being back and healthy will be helpful and the veterans Runayn and Eluemunor are both solid played JMS will have to show growth from a very subpar rookie year.  Evan Neal -don’t ask.  The former #7 overall pick seems to be a bust.  He has lost his starting job and this may be a good thing.  The hope is for him to be the swing tackle.

Instead of trading up for a QB the Giants perhaps got the best WR in the class in Malik Nabers.  The steady Slayton now shifted to a more fitting WR2 role, and WanDale Robinson showed a lot in the slot.  Hyatt showed tremendous speed and promise last year and could break out in his second year (And will almost certainly mean the last year of Slayton’s Giants Career).

Wide Receivers are worth much more than running backs in this league and Nabors will make the unit a good one.  Jones hasn’t had one this good since he came to NY.  Rookie Tight End Theo Johnson looked like he could add value in his first year despite being a 4th rounder.  Jones will likely have a year almost good enough to keep his contract, but it won’t be good enough.  He will be gone unless he renegotiates his contract.

The RB position will take a step back, but Singeltary is a solid pro and Tyrone Tracey showed good promise before a preseason injury.

This offense won’t be elite but could be materially improved from last year.
 
On defense, the biggest change is the addition of Brian Burns by trade /extension with Carolina.

He is a great pass rusher with great speed and moves.  With Kayvon Thibodeaux on the other side, teams will have to pick who to double, leaving one with a good match up.  Combined with Giants best player Dexter Lawrnce on the inside, the pass rush will take a lot of stress off of the weak secondary.

Banks is the nominal CB1 but is still developing and a late signing of Adoree Jackson helps a little but is still not good.  Their safety’s with Nubin and Pinnock are young and solid.

Okereke commands the middle of the field and I Suspect that when Deyonte Johnson gets healthy, he will unseat Micah Mcfadden for the starting job.  Either way they will be removed on passing down for athletic freak Isaiah Simmons.

Coach Daboll calling the plays will help.  He is a good play designer /caller and will put them in position to succeed.
​
Their overall talent level is still not good, and Jones on his best days is still a mediocre QB who will almost certainly be replaced next year.  If the Giants stay healthy, they could win 7 games.  However, given the contract situation / injury guarantees, it wouldn’t be surprising if Jones is benched 2/3 through the season; this would limit the Giants as both Lock and the popular DeVito are not NFL starter quality players.   

This is the most excited I’ve been about a new season in a really long time.
 
The Giants made the playoffs last year.  This was largely due to great coaching, winning close / coin flip games, and having a very easy schedule.  This year the schedule is brutal.  They have to play the Eagles and Cowboys twice. Instead of playing the putrid AFC South, they play the very strong AFC East - where even the perpetually awful Jets are now good. Add in the Niners and Seahawks and it’s a challenging schedule.  Last year’s team playing this year’s schedule would be happy to win 6 games.... But this isn’t last year’s team. 
 
After inheriting a horrific salary cap situation and little talent Joe Schoen turned it around quickly. The Giants used trades, free agency, and a great draft to massively improve on their greatest areas of weakness.
 
On offense, a key improvement is the acquisition of Darren Waller. While technically a tight end, he is the number one receiver lacking since OBJ.  Adding Paris Campbell, via free agency, and the exciting speedster rookie, Jalen Hyatt,  to the solid- but not at all spectacular -base of Hodgins and Slayton, gives Jones weapons he has never had.   I’m particularly excited to see the splash plays that Hyatt will bring when he gets the chance.
While the line is still not a strength, rookie center, John Michael Schmitz, is an improvement.  Ultimately, the most pivotal factor in the Giants offense may be the year 2 improvement of Evan Neal.  A similar jump to what All-Pro Thomas had is unrealistic, but the bar from last year is quite low.  His pedigree, health, and off-season work bode well for improvement.
Daniel Jones is still ascending ( though should’ve been franchised at a lower dollar amount ) Barkley really could be on his last Giants contract but will be very good.
 
On defense, the biggest weakness was stopping the run.  The Giants materially improved by signing middle linebacker Bobby Okereke and adding depth to the defensive line to replace 2022 lineman who were not NFL worthy.
Improved heath by Azeez Ojulari, who was a stud when healthy, and the expected year 2 jump of Kayvon Thibideaux, alongside interior talent Sexy Dexy Lawrence and Leanard Williams should give the Giants their best pass rush since the Strahan/ Tuck / Umenyora days. The 4 of them only shared the field for a small number of plays last year, but proved that when healthy, it is an elite pass rush.  Add to that the potential of the cheaply acquired Isaiah Simmons- who walks into an ideal defensive coordinator for his unique skill set.  Lastly, while staring two rookie CBs sounds scary, both first rounder Tae Banks and shockingly good looking 6th rounder Tre Hawkins will be a great tandem for years to come.
 
Last year’s team might have only won 5/6 games with this schedule, but this is a much improved team who will win at least 9 games and earn a wild card spot. Consensus is only 7 but I think the risk is still to the upside.  I would be surprised by double digit wins.
 
Given the tough schedule, week 1 against the Cowboys is as close to a must win as a game 1 could ever be.    The Giants enter as home 3-point dogs but I don’t think the league truly recognizes their improvement.   The Giants will pull off the upset 24-27 and the league will take notice.  This will be the last chance to get them at such a low under / over.
 
​Let’s go Giants!!

​The Giants have clearly exceeded expectations. 
Certainly a few players have played beyond expectations.  Daniel Jones has showed what he can be with good offensive play calling.  A return to a healthy Barkley has helped.  Rookie tight end, Daniel Bellinger, was playing well before an injury.
Defensively, Adore Jackson was amazing before getting hurt on an ill-conceived cameo on special teams, and almost anyone put in at CB2 played surprisingly decent.  Dexter Lawrence is the biggest upside from expectations. He was good, but has become dominant this year.
 
All of this still wouldn’t add up to 7-4.  7-4 is a combo of luck (a bunch of 50/50 games that went their way, and good coaching (especially as compared to what was horrible coaching- specifically on offense- in prior years).   Between injuries, mean reversion, and a tough schedule the rest of the season is not very promising and its not hard to see them miss the playoffs.
The Giants were lucky to not reached terms with Barkley during the bye.  The last 2 weeks has not helped his value.  The move is to franchise him next year for $12m.  Realistically he shouldn’t get more than that annually anyway.  They probably offered him more.
Daniel Jones, I hope, can be locked down for a 2-3 year, 17-18m contract.  The Giants have played themselves out of a  good enough pick to draft a good QB.

    The Giants kick off the 2022 season in Tennessee today.  While every season starts undefeated and training camp always has its highlights that lets fan dream, the Giants front office and coaching staff are very realistic about what’s expected this year.
    The Giants needed to clean up the mess left by Gettleman.  The mess not only included an unskilled team, but even worse, a cap situation that makes it impossible to fix for a few years.  Taking last years 4-win team, they then went about cutting their best corner back in James Bradberry- as well as layers like Gibril Peppers and Logan.  Cutting Martinez, their best run, stuffing linebacker right before the season made no sense to me, other than the fact that given he is in his last year of a contract, he wasn’t part of the future plans for the team. They know they are not really trying to win now. 
    His season is meant to evaluate Daniel Jones at QB in his final year of his rookie contract.  I believe he is neither a franchise QB or as bad as he has looked, due to the lack of a line in front  of him or healthy receivers to throw to.  The Addition of Evan Neal at tackle and slight improvements on the lines interior, along with a healthy Barkley, could mean a solid- but likely spectacular- season for Jones.
     The question next year will not be on a big extension or a franchise tag, but more likely whether to renew him for $10-17m per year and acknowledge they will have a game manager. 

    The offense will be improved for 3 reasons.  The line will be better, a healthy Jones was far superior to the backups they had last year - that took a possible 7 win team to 4.  Furthermore,  improved coaching will benefit the Giants.  The coaching staff last year -especially Jason Garret, was the least imaginative there is.  Bringing in good coaching should help more than anything else.   Lastly, a healthy Barkley running behind an improved line won’t hurt either. Mostly it’s the super low bar of last year that means there should be some improvement.
 
    On defense, the Giants are hurt by a cap situation that had them cut valuable players.  Robinson as CB2 does not look like he will hold up and the Giants below the draft by missing out on good 2nd round CBs and eventually took a not ready for prime time Flott in round 3.
Dexter Lawrence and Leonard Williams are excellent upfront. When they get healthy, a combo of Ojulari and Thibodaux on the outside should mean an adequate pass rush for the first time in many years.
The interior linebackers and some of the secondary is just too weak to compete in todays pass happy NFL so the defense could take a step back unless Thibodaux really comes in and dominates from the start.
Sadly, this all adds up to a 6-11 team. 

Almost as good as it gets. It’s hard to be too praiseworthy as the board just came to the Giants.   However, Gettleman would have found a way to mess it up. When you make trades to get your players, you get even more credit, but this draft went as well as it could have. 
 
The triple whammy is the best players available happening to coincide with greatest needs, and also coincide with players with high positional values. 
 
The giants two biggest issues last year were lack of a pass rush on defense and a turn style at right tackle.
 
These two weaknesses just became strengths. I would’ve been similarly happy if we got Sauce Gardener along with one of the two top tackles. The only reason this might’ve been slightly better is that there are several solid pass rushers that will be available early in the second round and it’s not clear if a CB will be, and certainly not a shut-down corner like Gardener. 
 
That’s nitpicking. This was basically best case.  
 
As we think about round 2, if we can get LB Nakobe Dean (an excellent player who slid at a position of need, but not a position with a ton of positional value) or CB Andrew Booth (a high positional value at a position of need - or what will become need when they move on from Bradberry). Even on the small chance that Bradberry sticks around the Giants this year, it’s the last year of his contract and he will be gone by the time the Giants will be competitive. 
 
Two top safety targets, Hill and Cine, went at the end of round 1 and 36 is a bit high for Pitre or Cross.  If neither Dean or Booth are available (or possibly Kyler Gordon), I’d like to see the giants trade down as a number of very good players at positions I don’t think would draft, (Edge, WR) will be available early in the second. 
 
With the two round 3 picks, I still think a safety, LB (unless they take one in round 2) and interior lineman should be priorities. 
 
The Giants won’t be competitive this year, but they will be improved and seem to be heading in the right direction.

​-Ari Glass

The new regime has taken over the Giants.  They have a tall task in trying to undo some of the damage the Gettleman years have caused.  He left them without talent and in salary cap hell.
 
The ironic good news is that the Giants have no chance to be competitive this year. They have accepted this and can focus on the future.
 
The Giants have picks 5 and 7 in the first round. The Giants seem to be riding it out one more year with Daniel jones at QB1. It makes sense. With no offensive line, a horrible offensive coordinator situation and injuries to playmaking talent, it would be tough for most quarterbacks to succeed.  I highly doubt he will be a star, but I too am not convinced that he can’t be a quality NFL starting QB. Additionally, there isn’t much talent at the QB position in the draft.  The downside of this is, of course, that other teams aren’t excited to trade up into the Giants spot.
 
In my opinion there are 6 elite players at the top of the draft. Disappointing that we have pick 7, but all it takes is one team to see the chart differently for 2 of these 6 to come to the Giants. 
In no order they are the 3 ends, Hutchinson, Thibodeaux and Walker, the two offensive tackles, Neal and Ekwonu, and CB1 Sauce Gardener. If either Detroit or Carolina opt for a QB that would mean that we get two of the above. Or if someone else still has safety Kyle Hamilton that high, despite his poor showing at the combine, that too could lead to the second of those 6 sliding down.
 
A right tackle is a must and either Evan Neal or Ekwonu would be a great anchor for the right side of the line.  There are unlikely scenarios that play out with both being gone by 5, in which case they need to avoid the temptation to reach for Cross. Getting one of the top 2 would turn a big weakness into strength. If we get Gardner, it’s more likely that Bradbury gets traded or cut, but that could happen for salary cap purposes regardless.  If they do take Gardener (or in a non-ideal scenario Stingley) then they will more likely take an edge rusher in round 2 at pick 36. I think Ideal pick there is Ojabo. He was considered top 15 before tearing his Achilles. This is where the Giants writing off this year is actually an advantage. Since giants won’t be competitive anyway, they can afford to take a player who won’t help this year. If it’s not an edge here (or perhaps in round one if one of the top 3 fall to them), they can pick from very good players at many positions here.
 
In rounds 3 (2 picks) and 4, I’d expect them to take a safety, currently only 2 on the roster, perhaps Cine if in round 2, or Brisker, Cross or Cook in round 3, a tight End (no real talent on roster here and it’s a deep spot in round 3/4 of this draft), McBride in 3 or Wyederme, Rucker, Otto not likely in 4, and a linebacker, Muma or Walker if round 2, Chenal, Beavers Anderson in round 3/4.
 
It’s a deep draft for wide receiver so if someone they really like slips, they could/should take that player. There is talk of taking a running back. This makes no sense to me. They have Barkley and Brieda as a backup. That takes care of this year. RBs are abundant, and more so they don’t usually need time to develop, so in the likely scenario that this is Barkley’s last year with the Giants, they can just sign or draft someone next year.  It’s not a position you need to draft for development.
 
I’m excited to watch and will review it after.

-Ari Glass
 

The Giants went all out in the off-season to compete this year. The way the NFL salary cap works, with the ability to spread bonuses over the life of the contract, it effectively allows for deficit spending (the spending of future years cap to get players this year).  I think it is inadvisable to do that when you are a 6-win team (it makes mote sense to try to take a 10-win team to the Super bowl) but now that they have done that, a major improvement should be seen. Somewhat surprisingly, Gettleman, who I consider to be a subpar GM, did address most of the biggest issues the Giants had. 

The Giant’s defense was a good defense last year- top 10 by most measurements. This was with 2 major liabilities: a lack of good edge rushers and a horrific CB2 situation. Both were addressed. The return from injury of Lorenzo Carter (and to a lesser extent Ximenes), along with the drafting of Azeez Ojulari will materially improve this. When combined with the inside dominance of Leonard Williams, the Giants should have a good pass rush.  Signing Adoree Jackson, even if overpaying, took care of the very weak link of CB2.  A defense is only as good as its weakest link.  These additions could propel the Giants to a top 5 defense.

The offense has been the Achilles Heel for years now.  Its no secret that the offensive line has been a mess for many years, and it is no longer due to ignoring it.  Money was spent of free agents and draft picks devoted. The problem is we picked the wrong guys. Nate Solder was one of the worst ever free agent signings and Andrew Thomas a horrible #4 overall draft pick (Especially when considering the performance of the 3 tackles taken after him).  Thomas should improve and I like the depth added over the past couple of weeks via trades with Baltimore for Ben Bredeson and to a lesser extent with the Bengals for Billy Price. I think there is a good chance that Bredeson takes over for Shane Lemieux by week 3 and ultimately will be the reason that Will Hernandez isn’t resigned this off season.

The bull case on this offense is the improvements made through free agency and return from injury.   While I don’t believe any running back is worth the number 2 pick in the draft, Barkley is elite and his missing most of the season with the knee injury last year had a material impact on the offense.  He is back and should be healthy and a material improvement for the running game and the passing game.

Signing Kenny Golloday is also huge as he is a legit number one receiver when healthy. He is the guy that Jones can throw the 50/50 ball to.  Almost as importantly, this pushes Shepard to a number 2 and Slayton to a number 3-roles they should both excel at. The drafting of Kadarius Toney could also bring an exciting element to the offense if Jason Garrett can figure out how to use him.  He missed most of the pre-season with a variety of things, but he will make some explosive plays over the course of the year.

Even with Evan Engram out with a calf injury to start the season I am hopeful that Kyle Rudolph and Kaden Smith bring a combination of run blocking and solid receiving to the tight end position.

It would have been hard for any QB in the league to have a good year with a bad offensive line and no weapons. The line is not much better with the only real improvement expected as a result of what typically happens in the NFL when rookies move to season 2, especially when the rookies missed their preseason due to COVID schedule last year; but the improvement in weaponry, led by Barkley and Galloday should be huge for Jones. With all of these weapons and a very good defense, it’s hard to see how they don’t move up to a #20ish offense.  If they can do that, they should be fighting for playoff spot down to the end of the season.

I know consensus has the Giants at 7 wins.  I’m materially more bullish than they are.  I was tempted to say 10 wins given all the addition.  I think they are being overlooked and an 11-win seasons wouldn’t even shock me. The Giants might sneak up on people this year. However, when you realize that the Redskins have a top defense and improved their offense by having a now decent QB in Fitzpatrick, and that Dallas went from being decimated by injuries to getting back their offensive line and Prescott, the improvement in the division makes me reluctant to call for 10 wins.  As such I’m reluctantly settling on a 9-8 prediction but would not be surprised if they really outperform.  

​-Ari Glass

The Giants made the right -albeit no brainer -choice in trading out of the 11th spot when a Bears team desperate for a QB made a tremendous value offer that included a first round pick in next years draft. 

The Giants then took who they perceived to be the 4th best receiver in the draft at number 20 in Kadaris Toney. He certainly looks like a multi-purpose weapon. I personally liked the tape on Elijah Moore better, but they filled an important position with a talented player. The trade may have been more luck (a confluence of events that started with the Bengals taking a receiver over a blocker, and the most importantly with the two top CBs being unexpectedly gone by the time the Cowboys selected.) This led the Cowboys willingness to trade down with Philly (they are loaded at WR and didn’t need Devanta Smith).  The giants would have been happy to have taken Devonte smith but may in the long run be better with the package they got from the Bears.

I would personally not have taken Toney there. There were 3 or 4 receivers of similar value and so it’s hard to think they couldn’t trade down (for example to the Saints, who desperately wanted a CB who would soon go off the board -but that is almost nitpicking). I would have been even happier had they traded down again and take Moore who went to the Jets but it will be fun to watch Toney.

In the second round the Giants made a very smart move. Whereas in the first round they almost traded down by necessity as no player at their top three target positions warranted a pick that high (WR, edge, CB), in the second round they did what good drafting teams are supposed to do, and what Gettleman has never showed an ability to do.  They recognized a cluster of 5 players that they had similar grades on and when they had the opportunity to move down 8 spots and get a #3 next year for living with the tiny risk that all 5 players would go in the next 7 picks despite different teams having different needs. 

This understanding of relative value has been severely lacking in prior years. It’s hard to know if this is a credit to Joe Judge joining the draft room.  The Patriots were always good at this.

Either way, with the move back they got the player I would have taken up at 42. Azeez Ojulari was the prefect combination of value and need. A very solid Giants defense severely lacked one thing, a credible pass rush.  If Ojulari can produce remotely close to what he did in college the Giants defense could be excellent.  The combination of getting help at two important positions and getting extra picks in next years draft class is success. A decent pass rush combined with what should be one of the better secondaries in the league with make the Giants tough to pass on.

Most of the success of a draft is dictated by the first two rounds.  In round 3, the Giants gave up a #5 acquired a day earlier from the Bears to move up and get a player they really liked in Aaron Robinson to play slot corner. I do recognize that NFL teams are in 3 receiver sets most of the time and therefore #3 cornerbacks are essentially starters. I not ready to completely give up on Sam Beal who has not been healthy since drafted or a second year Darney Holmes or Julian Love.  If the Giants had a high value on Robinson, it’s hard to argue with the move.  Giving up a # 5 is not a big deal. It’s not likely you are giving up a future starter with that pick.

I’m intrigued by 4th round pick Elerson Smith.  Prior to sitting out 2020, he put up great numbers in 2019.  Granted it was against subpar competition, but this size and stats are at least intriguing and have the potential to produce another good pass rusher.  Fourth round is a good place to take this kind of a risk. I don’t expect much to come out of 6th rounds picks Brightwell and Williams other than potential depth.

Some are critical that the Giants did not address the offensive line. However, it would have been difficult.  The problem with the Giants line is not just one particular weak spot.  They are arguably below average at each position, and certainly not good at any.  However, none of the 5 starters are bad enough that the expectancy of a 3rd round pick would have been better than what they have.  They spent a #1 on Thomas last year and he did improve in the second half of the year. They can’t give up on him.  They draft Matt Peart in the 3rd round last year and pronounced him a project with upside.  They are high on him. I’m not sure if they will prove to be correct but he didn’t show to be a bust so what would be the point in taking another 3rd rounder who would also be unproven.  Last year’s picks are this year’s potential quality starters.

I’ve been calling for Gettlemen’s firing for years.  I still think he is among the less talented GMs in the league; but I must admit, he appears to have had a great draft. I’m not certain how much was the luck of how other things played out or how much influence Judge had in the room but I’m excited to see this team.
 
-Ari Glass

The draft is this Thursday.  I always get excited about the draft.  This year is no different.

My greatest frustration of the Gettlemen era is not that he is a horrific evaluator of talent.  He is decent.  The frustration is that he does not understand basic economic concepts like supply and demand and relative value.  He also does not understand game theory.

This has lead to both free agency mistakes as well as to drafting mistakes.  Saquon is a stud (injuries are more a matter of luck) and is one of my favorite, all time players.  But there is strong math to indicate that a running back – even Jim Brown- should not be drafted 2nd overall.  I’ve written on this extensively so will not do that again here.

Daniel Jones might have been, as he thought, better than most realized (an opinion I probably am in the minority in agreeing with him on), but he would have likely been available at end of the first round and certainty with their second first round pick, which would have allowed the drafting of a good pass rusher too.

Gettlemen still does not understand the basic concept – that winning in the NFL doesn’t happen by paying good players like good players and certainly not paying them like very good or great players but by getting guys to outperform their contracts.  With an approximately $190m of salary cap you probably need $240m of performance.  Far and away the best place to accomplish this is through the draft where players on their first contracts who you hit on will perform at a huge premium to their free agent value.  The top NFL running back will make $15m (and I believe this to be overpaid anyway).  That is less than the 28th best starting NFL QB will get on a free agent contract.

Also, supply and demand should factor in when thinking about free agents. Last year’s draft was full of wide receivers and is deep again this year.  Which means paying Golladay $18m per year made no sense based on who would have likely been available in this year’s draft. They should have paid up for an edge rusher in free agency instead since the crop there -especially where we draft – is quite limited.

That leads us to this year.  4-5 QBs are likely to go before the Giants pick.  I am also assuming that Kyle Pitts and Ja’Marr Chase will be long gone by the Giants pick.  IF that is the case the Giants will be left with 2-3 of the following players to choose from.  WR Jaylen Waddle, CB Patrick Surtain (who almost everyone thinks will go to the Cowboys), OT Penei Sewell (who will likely be taken by the Bengals), OT Rashawn Slater, LB Micah Parsons and WR Devonta Smith.

Of those likely to be there, there are rumors that Gettlemen loves Parsons.  I should point out there are no edge rushers that are deemed worthy of this high of a pick, however if the stars aligned and the Giants could trade down (perhaps with the Patriots if a QB they like is still available), I’d be ok trading down and taking a Kwity Paye or Jaelan Phillips if they could pick up a good pick.  If the trade down opportunity does not present itself (and Gettlemen has never done it), while I think Parsons is a stud who could significantly enhance their defense, it’s hard to see almost any MLB worth that high of a high a pick. And Isiah Simmons, a player with similar measurables certainly disappointed in last years draft. 

If Slater or Waddle are available, even if those are not the positions of greatest need, I’d be tempted to take one of them.  Slater has the advantage of being able to play guard or tackle.  The Giants are high on matt peart and have Solder as a swing tackle and insurance but those are both far from sure bets, and each of their projected starting guards are mediocre.

Waddle is just too good of an athlete to pass on even if this moves a good receiver to the bench (likely Slayton).  ID be more in favor of this pick if they could then turn around and trade Slayton for good draft capital but Gettlemen has never showed any skills in pulling something like that off.

Devonta Smith has an amazingly prolific college season but I’m having a tough time seeing a 167 pounder be an NFL Pro Bowler. I can’t recall anyone of that stature having real success at this level in the past 20 years. I can see him dropping.
​
Lastly, even though Surtain and Horn seem like great cornerbacks, they have too many dollars already devoted to the secondary and need to resist drafting a third cornerback here. I’d have felt differently if they had not signed Adoree’ Jackson in free agency.

One last comment on free agency.  The Giants certainly upgraded their talent.  However, they overpaid and went for positions they could have filled in the draft.  And all the restructuring of contracts they had to do to accomplish it and the structure of these deals with heavy upfront signing bonuses, means that Giants mortgaged a big part of their future to compete this year. I think it will work in the sense that their talent will be enough upgraded this year to win 9 games, but it was a bad idea in terms of how many future seasons wins it cost them.  The 9-win season we have ahead will probably save Gettlemen’s job -but it shouldn’t and it’s a shame that the Mara’s and Tisch’s can’t see what’s going on.

-Ari Glass