'IT'S ABOUT WINNING'
EVERY move made by the Giants this offseason was designed to improve the talent level on the roster and ensure the culture in the building and environment in the locker room is in lockstep with the demeanor and personality of Pat Shurmur, the new head coach.
What these moves are not: Part of a grand design to rebuild.
A case can be made the Giants, coming off a 3-13 season — their worst in 43 years and the most losses in any season in franchise history — need a teardown, a startover, a total reconstruction. Ownership does not see a terrible team needing several years to get back to playoff contention. And so, the hiring of Dave Gettleman, a 67year-old general manager, who hired Shurmur, a soon-to-be 53year-old head coach. Together, they committed to Eli Manning, a 37-year-old quarterback.
This does not mean the Giants are only tweaking their roster, as the depth chart is undergoing serious renovation. The moves are designed for win-now performance, though. No team looking deep into the future hands the ball to a 15year veteran quarterback. Left tackle Nate Solder turns 30 on April 12, and the Giants made him the NFL’s highest-paid offensive lineman. Why did Gettleman sign Jonathan Stewart, a 31-year-old running back, if not to impart wisdom and gain some tough yards now, not later?
“It’s about winning and I’ve seen someone told one of the reporters I’m in the teardown,’’ Gettleman said recently. “We’re not spending $62.5 million on Nate Solder, spending the money on [28-yearold guard] Patrick Omameh, we’re not trading for Alec Ogletree. If it’s a teardown, we’re not doing that. We evaluated the roster, we’ve developed a plan moving forward. It’s about winning now. Who wants to lose? I don’t.’’
The only move that can be construed as weakening the present to help the future was shipping Jason Pierre-Paul to the Buccaneers for a 2018 third-round draft pick and a swap of fourth-round picks. It is quite possible the player the Giants find to replace JPP this season will be a downgrade — unless they get North Carolina State defensive end Bradley Chubb in the draft. The Giants were not adamant about parting ways this year with Pierre-Paul, but they always had an eye on his cap hit in 2019. They were pleasantly surprised they could get a third-round pick for him and as a result, dealt him away.
“That’s just business,’’ Shurmur said. “We feel it was fair value on both sides. He’s obviously been an outstanding player. I’ve had [to coach] against JPP, got to know him a little bit. We feel like we got good value.’’
The notion the Giants are ripping things apart surfaced in an ESPN report, citing an unnamed NFL general manager conveying what he believed Gettleman’s strategy to be. Gettleman denies this is his approach and a source with knowledge of his thinking told The Post this is not a complete roster teardown but, rather, an attitude reset.
“Maybe it was misconstrued as far as tearing it down,’’ the source said. “I think Dave is adamant, I’ll rephrase that, I know Dave is adamant about getting rid of the guys in the locker room that are not all-in. If that can be construed as tearing it down, so be it. If you’re not totally committed to the New York Giants, your ass is out.’’
Co-owner Steve Tisch said, “That expression, ‘blowing up,’ is overused, and it can have a sort of negative connotation.”
What happens at the end of the month will further amplify what the Giants are thinking. If they take a quarterback with the No. 2 pick in the draft, it is a nod to the future. If, as expected, they bypass the quarterback prospects and take a player at another position — Chubb and running back Saquon Barkley come to mind — that player would be tasked with having an immediate impact on the 2018 season.
“Dave and I have spoken about this and we really believe this, we want to make our team better one move at a time,” Shurmur said. “I don’t believe that narrative that it’s a reboot, it’s a rebuild. We’re trying to make this year’s New York Football Giants — I like saying that, New York Football Giants — as good as we can be going into September.’’