Signs pointing to Gettleman

IT’S THE the Big Blue Derby and the race is on for the coveted positions of general manager, coach and franchise quarterback, the three most crucial positions in the ganization. Dave Gettleman continues as the clear favorite — as the Daily News reported first moments after Jerry Reese was fired last week — to be the new GM in the first of the franchise-altering decisions for the suddenly dysfunctional Giants.

The Browns hired John Dorsey on Thursday night to replace GM Sashi Brown, who was fired hours earlier, knowing Dorsey was scheduled to interview with the Giants on Tuesday. Cleveland acted proactively to jump ahead of the Giants and Dorsey jumped knowing he was no higher than second on the Giants’ list behind Gettleman.

John Mara hired former Giants GM Ernie Accorsi to assist him and Steve Tisch to hire a new GM. Gettleman and Accorsi are best friends. Gettleman also has close ties with Mara after working for the Giants from 1998-2012, all but the first year as pro personnel director. He added to his resume as Panthers GM from 2013 until he was fired by Carolina owner Jerry Richardson in July as their personalities were no longer compatible.

Richardson loved Gettleman as recently as the 2015 season when the Panthers were 15-1, even though they were upset by the Broncos in the Super Bowl, failing to take advantage of a physically compromised Peyton Manning, whose arm strength barely registered on the Jugs gun. The Panthers fell apart last year, going 6-10.

Gettleman’s falling out with Panthers veterans Steve Smith, Josh Norman and DeAngelo Williams led to their departures and the feeling in Carolina was with negotiations coming up with Greg Olson and Luke Kuechly things could get nasty, so Richardson bailed. If Gettleman is not Secretariat in the Belmont, the other candidates for the Giants are straining to get sighted in the rear view mirror.

Here are some thoughts on Gettleman:

l AGE: 66. Will that work against him? Well, he likely won’t hold the job for 10 years, but he can either bring in a strong personnel person to develop as a potential replacement or the Giants can turn it over to interim GM Kevin Abrams, whose main responsibilities have been cap-related. Sources say Gettleman was blind-sided when Richardson fired him and very much wants the Giants job. Abrams interviewed for the Lions GM job two years ago when Accorsi was consulting with Detroit.

l ONCE A GIANT, ALWAYS A GIANT: Is that a bad thing? Critics of the Giants will say they need a fresh start and fresh ideas and should go outside the organization. There is value in that, but the system has paid off in four Super Bowl titles in the last 31 years — only the Pats have more — as George Young handed off to Accorsi, who then agonized before recommending ownership promote Reese over Gettleman in 2007. It was basically a photo finish between Reese and Gettleman. Accorsi was later hired as a consultant by Richardson and he recommended Gettleman.

Gettleman picked up valuable experience running the Panthers and seeing how another organization conducts its business. Before working for the Giants, he was a scout for the Bills and Broncos.

l TIMETABLE: Gettleman can be hired this week if he’s the guy and the Giants comply with the Rooney Rule. Considering Dorsey was supposed to be interviewed by the Giants on Tuesday, it’s logical that Gettleman will have his turn this week. But I think Mara will want to conduct a thorough search before he decides. Potential candidates include Green Bay’s Eliot Wolf and Brian Gutekunst, Baltimore’s Eric DeCosta, Dallas’ Will McClay and Minnesota’s George Paton. League rules prohibit contact with football operations employees until the end of their season, but sources say exceptions have been made. The Giants would benefit from having their new GM in place by the end of the regular season so they can get a head start on the coaching search.

The new GM will assist Mara and Tisch picking a coach with the owners having final say. But the GM will make the quarterback decision in April. The winless Browns just about locked up the first pick in the draft after blowing a 14-point fourth-quarter lead to the Packers on Sunday and losing in OT. he Giants are sitting in the second spot at 2-11 with the Colts and 49ers at 3-10. If the Giants finish behind them, they each could be receptive to a trade. Indy is set at QB as long as Andrew Luck can come back from his shoulder surgery, which cost him the entire season. The 49ers recently acquired Jimmy Garoppolo, who is 2-0 since taking over the starting job.

The Giants are running out of time to get a good look at rookie Davis Webb, increasing the chance they will try to find their next franchise QB in the 2018 draft.

The first step is the GM and all signs point to Gettleman.

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