Giants fans wanted answers from General Manager Dave Gettleman after the roster moves made over the last two weeks which included the trade of fan favorite Odell Beckham Jr. Gettleman held a conference call with members of the media and stuck by his words of they did not sign Beckham to trade him.
“Some have questioned why we signed Odell and then traded him. As I said publicly twice, we didn’t sign him to trade him, but obviously things change. Frankly, what changed is a team made an offer we couldn’t refuse. As it turns out, the fact that he was signed for five more years made him very attractive and enabled us to get legitimate value. You ask me about my mantra of not quitting on talent, and yes, I believe that fully, but quitting on talent is when you cut a player, or get marginal value in return, and we all know this did not happen here.”
Some people will question what the actual definition of equal or grater value is for a talent like Odell Beckham would be. Unless you trade Odell straight up for Antonio Brown, you are not getting that equal value.
Gettleman broke down the trade for the media and explained how to match of the value for a talent like Odell Beckham. Reminder, it was just not draft picks the Giants obtained,Jabril Peppers from the Browns
“He’s young, we’ve got him under contract for three years at very reasonable value” said Gettleman. “To get another one (first-round pick), this year is number 17, I think, and to get that kind of a value in this type of a draft, and to get a third-round pick completing our dance card for April, it was just too much to pass up. It was too much value for us. You look at everything, but at the end of the day, it’s really about football. We’ve got positions to address. This was about us having the ability to address multiple positions.”
The trade which rocked Giant Nation left more questions of what direction is the team actually going then giving hope of competing for another Super Bowl. Fans were not thrilled that Dave Gettleman basically said the franchise has a plan but he is not required to share it.
“Really and truly, very honestly, it’s not my responsibility to tell you guys what I’m doing. Just like it’s not my responsibility to respond to every rumor that comes down the pike. That’s not my job. It’s not my responsibility. Trust me, we’ve got a plan. Over time, you’ve got to be patient. Everybody wants answers now in this instant-gratification society, instant-gratification world, and everybody wants answers now. Over time, you’ll see it. You’ve got to trust it.”
I will have to agree with Gettleman on this one as the media and fans have to understand they do not have to answer to the fan base or the media. Our responsibility as media members are to report the news ethically and honestly. If the main source does not want to answer the question or say there is a plan in place then maybe let the man do his job and wait and see.
During the last year, I have seen groups of reporters try to control the fate of Quarterback Eli Manning by writing and tweeting why the reasons to move forward past the future Hall of Famer. I share the opinion of some that the contract is a sticking point for the teams immediate future but tell me who you are replacing Manning with?
Right now as this piece is published there is no right answer as far as Eli’s immediate replacement. The right answer is he has some very good football left in him at the age of 38 years old. “I take a look at what happened last year once we got that o-line fixed, better, we’re going to continue working on that and look at what we did the second half of the year on offense” said Gettleman. “This narrative that Eli is overpaid and can’t play is a crock, I’m telling you.”
Manning did receive his five million dollar roster bonus over the weekend and many felt this was going to be the end of Eli as his salary number that controls a large amount of the cap. Many thought a cut or trade would end the Giants chapter of the Manning’s career.
Gettleman was pretty adamant that Manning was here to stay. “We just said we are going to keep moving. Today is the day he gets his bonus and we are just going to keep moving.”
Over the last few months I have made it pretty clear that keeping Manning is the right thing to do for the next two seasons. The possible work stoppage after the 2020 season would be the perfect excuse to part ways with Eli and still having everybody walk away with their heads high.
The truth is Gettleman has a plan and he does not have to let any of us know. The key is he is doing his job and we all should respect that from him.
Other Call Notes:
On Not Resigning Landon Collins: “First of all, the rumor that we were offered a first round draft pick isn’t even remotely close to being accurate. Did we have teams call in on Landon, yes. At that point in time, it wasn’t what I thought he was worth. At that point in time, we were really struggling, and what message are we sending by trading him. I didn’t think the value was there, and it’s about value, so that’s why we didn’t do it.”
On The New Addtiions: “It’s about accumulating really good football players, who are also really good folks. The culture is important, I have said it a million times, you guys know that. The bottom line is with the way the game has evolved, 65 percent of the time you are in sub. You need a guy in the back end that can get everybody lined up and make all the adjustment calls. If you don’t have that, you can’t function. I’ve watched Antoine (Bethea) for years, you talk about a great sixth round pick. He is an adult, he’s a professional football player. He knows what he is doing, he can still play. I have this crazy idea that age doesn’t bother me. I better because my age doesn’t bother me. At the end of the day, it’s about a good football player. Antoine Bethea is still a hell of a football player, so is Kevin Zeitler, those guys can flat play. Plus, we have 12 draft picks, we are going to be really young. It’s about building a team, it’s not about individual players in silos.”
On The Dead Money On The Cap: “Really and truly, nobody wants to have that kind of dead money, but again, it’s the long-term vision that we have in the building, and what we’re going to do. Sometimes, you’ve got to do those things. There was a team this year with something like $60 million in dead money. That was the route they chose. We talked about it. (Giants Vice President of Football Operations and Assistant General Manager) Kevin Abrams does a great job of looking at it and saying — hey, you’ve got to take a look at this, this is the way it works, this is what we’re looking at in dead money, this is what we’re looking at in cap space. Again, none of these decisions are made in a silo, none of them. Everything is interconnected. So to answer your question, we knew it, and we just decided this was the way we’re going to go.”
Building or Rebuilding: “We’re building. The object of this is to win as many games as possible every year. We’re building. We were 3-13 when I took over. We were 5-11 last year — 12 of those games were by a touchdown or less. We’re building. I don’t understand why that’s a question. Really and truly, you can win while you’re building. Down in Carolina, I walked into a different situation. The first year, we go 12-4. Then the next year, we had to build a little bit. We had a crazy year, go 7-8-1, but make the playoffs because the NFC South was struggling. We win a playoff game, lose a playoff game. Then the next year, we did everything but win the ultimate prize. You can win while you’re building. They’re not separate pieces.”
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