EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ. – The Giants 100th anniversary season came to a disappointing end as the team dropped the final game of the season to division rival Philadelphia Eagles yesterday 20-13, just yet another tiny stain on an extremely forgettable season.
With the offseason beginning for the team effectively today, now would be a good time to draw up a blueprint for how the Giants could potentially give the fans an offseason to remember and hope going into the 2025-26 season.
Leadership has been rooted
Earlier today John Mara the Co-Owner and Team President released his own statement which announced the retention of General Manager Joe Schoen and Head Coach Brian Daboll.
“As disappointing as the results have been, Steve Tisch and I remain confident in the process that Joe and Brian have implemented.”
Both Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll were brought into the Giants organization at the conclusion of the 2021 regular season where former GM Dave Gettleman had retired and former Head Coach Joe Judge would be fired.
In that first offseason, Schoen would use the Giants first two draft picks on Kayvon Thibodeaux and Evan Neal.
Thibodeaux, has gone on to cement himself as a starter and regular on the Giants defense, while Neal on the other hand, has shown flashes of potential as an offensive tackle, but hasn’t been very much of a help on the line.
In the later rounds he would take Wan’Dale Robinson, Cordale Flott, Daniel Bellinger, Dane Belton, and Micah McFadden.
Robinson, has had some occasional appearances on offense in his short career so far but hasn’t been used in the slot as many would’ve hoped.
Bellinger on the other hand has been used mostly for depth at the Tight End position and in occasional blocking situations on offense.
Flott, Belton and McFadden have all made themselves common names on the Giants defense, Flott has found himself in the starting rotation of the Giants defensive back room, while Belton has done the same at the safety position.
In that first season together, the Giants would go 9-7-1 and make their first playoff appearance since 2016.
The Giants would win the wildcard game and mark their first playoff victory since their Super Bowl run back in 2012.
However, their second season together wouldn’t be as kind to them.
In the offseason, the Giants would resign Quarterback Daniel Jones and franchise tag Running Back Saquon Barkley, a move which would haunt them as soon as it started.
The Giants would also grab big name additions such as Isaiah Simmons from the Cardinals and All-Pro Tight End Darren Waller from the Raiders.
In the draft, Schoen would grab Deontae Banks in the First Round and Jalin Hyatt in the 3rd as the big names from that draft.
The season would be a dramatic setback from the year before, the team lost Daniel Jones to a torn ACL injury and the team would go 6-11.
The Giants were at one point primed for a top-five pick which could’ve landed a quarterback from a loaded draft class, but some late season heroics came into play.
With Jones down and backup Tyrod Taylor suffering a concussion, the Giants pulled up their practice squad quarterback Tommy DeVito, the team would go on a three game winning streak with the cult-hero and lifting them into a possible playoff scenario after a massive comeback victory against the Packers.
Those wins wouldn’t amount to anything and the Giants would place themselves at the sixth pick of the 2024 draft where they would take Malik Nabers.
After an extremely antagonizing offseason which involved Hard Knocks and the departure of Saquon Barkley to the Philadelphia Eagles, the Giants were in for a rough season. Which brings us to our next point –
Everything That Went Wrong This Year
Losing Barkley, Xavier McKinney, and Sterling Shepherd were massive blows to the team. Barkley and Mckinney were major contributors to the team on both sides of the ball, while Shepherd was a leader for the team in the locker room.
Without any of those three on the team this year, there was already no prominent leadership in the locker room.
The Giants would start their season with an embarrassing loss to Minnesota at home which saw zero touchdowns from the team.
The following week the team looked better but ultimately the Giants lost to the Commanders who somehow won the game by only kicking field goals.
The team would finally get their first win against a very poor Cleveland Browns team.
By week five the team was 2-3, things looked fine still and playoffs was definitely not ruled out by anyone.
The team then proceeded to go on a ten game losing streak to go 2-13 and essentially secure the first round pick.
In that span, during the Bye Week (Week 11), the Giants made the decision to cut Daniel Jones, who’s poor performance earlier in the season made it apparently clear that there was no future with him at the helm and he was clearly not meant to inherit the team from Eli Manning which had been the front offices original goal when they drafted him in 2019.
How to fix the Team
Any remnants of the Dave Gettleman regime in New York have officially been wiped clean with Daniel Jones departure, essentially making the Giants roster what Daboll and Schoen want it to be, here’s what they need to do.
Fix the Quarterback Room
They missed out on a quarterback last year, but with the 3rd overall pick the Giants can very well find their future franchise star in either Shedeur Sanders or Cam Ward.
However, the Giants could potentially miss out on a quarterback seeing that both teams ahead of them (The Cleveland Browns and Tennessee Titans) are in need of a quarterback, in the chance that the Giants do miss out on both players, they could wait to take a quarterback in a later round seeing the possible demand for Jalen Milroe and Jackson Dart.
In addition to drafting a quarterback, it would be wise for the Giants to sign a veteran to serve as a bridge for the franchise, With Justin Fields possibly being on the block on draft night, and Sam Darnold potentially becoming a free agent, the Giants could splash on someone with experience to come in and teach the future rookie.
Utilize the Cap Space
John Mara has made it incredibly clear that next season will be a “playoff or bust” season for Schoen and Daboll, which will most likely trigger a spending spree from Schoen during the free agency period, however, Giants fans would most likely prefer to not live through another Kenny Golladay scenario.
In this case it would be smart for Schoen to go out and bring in a group of role players and guys that can bring in depth to the roster rather than splashing it all out on a individual superstar.
Here are some names the Giants could zero in on to fill some positional needs –
- Tee Higgins – WR from the Cincinnati Bengals
- Higgins brings experience and can very well take any pressure from defenses away from Malik Nabers next season on offense
- Trey Smith – OG from the Kansas City Chiefs
- Smith has been an essential piece in the Chiefs success on offense for the past few seasons and very well could be a seeking a pay day from other teams. With the Giants consistent struggles on the offensive line, Smith would be a much needed addition.
- DJ Reed – CB from the New York Jets
- One notable issue from the defense this year was the secondary, with Adoree Jackson being the CB1 and Deontae Banks regressing after a phenomenal rookie season, the Giants desperately need to make some plays to fill in the backfield on defense, Reed would do just that
- Ronnie Stanley – OT from the Baltimore Ravens
- Stanley has basically become Lamar Jackson’s bodyguard in Baltimore, his experience would bring in a big boost for the locker room and give a very young Giants offensive line more of a veteran presence, putting him opposite side to Andrew Thomas on the line could very well improve the Giants offense as a whole drastically
- Sam Darnold – QB from the Minnesota Vikings
- Darnold is coming off a career year with the Vikings as the team is currently 14-3 heading into the playoffs, with Darnold’s contract expiring this offseason this could be the potential bridge Quarterback the Giants can bring in to teach whichever QB they draft.
- DeAndre Hopkins – WR from the Kansas City Chiefs
- Hopkins managed to revive his career this year in Kansas City as Patrick Mahomes emerging favorite target, while age is a concern with Hopkins, his veteran leadership, All-Pro status and Pro Bowl talents would be greatly welcomed in a young wide receiver room containing Nabers, Hyatt, Robinson, and Ford-Wheaton.
Create a Culture That Encourages Winning and Hates Failure
The locker room had plenty of things to say after the team’s season ended, but the consensus agreed that a season like this should “never happen again”.
For the players that are on the Giants in the long run it is incredibly clear that no one wants this kind of season to happen again while they’re apart of the franchise, which is why as the leader of the team, Brian Daboll must create a culture in the locker room that allows his players to buy in and shift the attitude that’s been running around the team the past couple of seasons.