CAP IT OFF
INDIANAPOLIS — There is no time to waste and Giants general manager Jerry Reese insists the franchise can get out of the doldrums and back atop the NFC East now, not later.
The Giants are coming off backtoback 610 seasons and have not qualified for the playoffs since 2011, a losing legacy that cost former coach Tom Coughlin his job. Yet Reese sees brighter days ahead, immediately.
“This is the National Football League,’’ Reese said Thursday at the NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. “You can get well pretty quickly in the National Football League. You can get players in free agency, you can get players in the draft, you can get players in trades.
“We lost a lot of close games. A couple snaps here or there and our season could’ve been a different way. But it didn’t. We have work to do obviously but we’re close enough to believe that we can compete for the NFC East. I don’t think anyone is running away with it. I think the NFC East is a close division still. I think we can put together a team that can challenge for that NFC East crown next year.’’
The Giants hired Ben McAdoo, all of 38 years old, to replace Coughlin and get the team back on track but it is up to Reese to give McAdoo what he needs: Better players. Lots of them. Reese is here scouting the top college prospects and the Giants own the No. 10 pick in the NFL draft, hoping to add an impact player along the lines of Odell Beckham Jr. Before that, though, comes NFL free agency on March 9, and Reese — put on notice by co owner John Mara — needs to get it right.
He certainly will have the resources.
The Giants could enter free agency close to $60 million under the cap, a total inflated when they gained $11,193,231 in unused salarycap money from last season. This is far and away the most money the Giants have ever possessed heading into free agency.
“We’re pretty healthy with our cap situation right now,’’ Reese said. “We have to wait and see who’s going to hit the market. We’ll definitely look in the market and see if there’s players available for us to recruit and hopefully we will be able to land some guys who are available.’’
No matter if, as expected, Broncos linebacker Von Miller does not become a free agent. Perhaps the Giants can refortify their ailing defense with lineman Malik Jackson or linebackers Danny Trevathan, Derrick Johnson, Bruce Irvin or James Laurinaitis, or safety Eric Weddle. Tackle Cordy Glenn would fit perfectly on the offensive line. If the Giants target someone, this time around they should not get outbid by anyone.
McAdoo made it clear a day earlier that he wants to see the Giants resign Jason PierrePaul, whose price tag is expected to take a dramatic drop because of his permanently injured right hand. It sure sounds as if Reese wants to make a deal with PierrePaul, who underwent offseason surgery to try to regain the ability to grip with his right middle finger.
“We know him better, I think, that anybody else would know him,’’ Reese said. “So we’re hopeful that this procedure that he had after the season helps him with respect to the hand injury that he has. It’s really — after you look at that injury — it’s really, for me, people like to throw miracle around, I think it’s a miracle that he was able to walk out there and play for eight games for us. It’s really unbelievable after you really see what happened to his hand.’’
Reese pointed to all the close games the Giants lost in 2015 as evidence that a quick turnaround is possible.
“We had the lead late in the fourth quarter in a few games,’’ Reese said. “We didn’t close them out, for a number of reasons. It’s personnel, we made some bad decisions. Those kind of things.
“A few plays here or there and we could be 106 instead of 610. That is what the National Football League is. There are not a lot of blowouts. You have to go in there and finish games out and we didn’t do that. We want to do that better this time.’’
Providing McAdoo with an improved roster is the first step.