DON’T GET FOOLED
Column: Even a win to spoil Eagles’ season shouldn’t save Giants’ Shurmur
Emotions — good or bad — have a tendency to cloud our judgment and fuel our worst impulses. And there will certainly be plenty of them at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
When the Giants host the Eagles, it will undoubtedly be Eli Manning’s last time walking through the tunnel onto the field and standing on the sidelines in a Big Blue uniform. That will mean something to the fans and executives in the building, even though Manning already had his curtain call moment in his final start two weeks ago against the Dolphins.
There are actual stakes again in the rivalry, too. An Eagles win guarantees them the NFC East title. The Giants can’t make the playoffs, but they have a chance to play spoiler and beat Philadelphia for the first time in more than three years.
That outcome should make New York fans cautious, if only for the possibility that co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch become prisoners of the moment.
To be perfectly clear: The Giants need to dump head coach Pat Shurmur and general manager Dave Gettleman, regardless of what happens on the field Sunday.
“That’s been a weekly question,” Shurmur said of his future on Thursday. “That’s probably a better question for later on. We’ll see. My focus, quite frankly, is we have a short horizon. We have a game Sunday. That’s where my focus is on.”
Think about it. If the Giants prevail, they’ll end the season on a three-game winning streak. Would anyone be shocked if the front office, which has already made dumb decisions lately, uses that as rationale that the team is heading in the right direction? That Shurmur has this locker room together and fighting for better days? That Shurmur and Gettleman need more time to build around promising rookie quarterback Daniel Jones? That would be nonsense. Competing hard in meaningless games against mostly bad teams is irrelevant. The Giants recently tied a franchise record with nine consecutive losses and have shown no real improvement over last year’s 5-11 team. They’ve been a total embarrassment for far too long. That’s the bottom line.
Youth can’t be an excuse for this regime — not when Shurmur simply looks in over his head as a head coach and Gettleman has contradictory philosophies on how to construct a team.
“Obviously that’s a little above my pay grade, but I’ve really enjoyed working with coach Shurmur and I think he’s done a whole lot for my development and my growth,” Jones said. “Yeah, he’s been great for me.”
Yes, there’s a good chance
Jones becomes the Giants’ franchise quarterback for a long time. Gettleman deserves credit for drafting him despite naysayers, and Shurmur for developing him into a player who’s shown tons of upside beyond the fumbling. The problem? That’s pretty much all they have going for them at this point.
Since stepping into the job in December of 2017, Gettleman has one made one miscalculation after another. A 3-13 season that year screamed total rebuild, yet Gettleman has failed in his plan to simultaneously make the Giants a winner while retooling the roster.
Speaking of being a prisoner of the moment, that’s exactly what Gettleman was when he claimed Manning’s Week 15 game against the Eagles in 2017 was not a “mirage.” So he continued to carry the full extent of Manning’s bloated contract against the salary cap at ages 37 and 38. And all it did was prohibit Gettleman from allocating more financial resources to pressing needs.
Re-signing Odell Beckham Jr. to a record extension, only to then trade him and incur $16 in dead money against the cap for him to be in Cleveland this season, was unequivocally terrible. Trading safety Landon Collins before he walked into a mega deal with Washington in free agency also made little sense. Those types of moves speak to Gettleman’s fundamental flaws in thinking.
Is this really the guy that fans want making key decisions this offseason? Spotrac projects that the Giants will have $70.4 million in cap space — ninth-most in the NFL.
Again, especially as it pertains to Jones, Gettleman’s strongest attribute has been drafting. Still, that strength been blown out of proportion by some. No one in the 2018 class has really taken a step forward in 2019, and 10 rookies have started at least one game this season mostly by necessity — not because they’re a collection of future stars.
Mara and Tisch no doubt want this franchise to have stability again, and changing the guard for a second time in three years wouldn’t be a good look. But optics shouldn’t matter right now.
Giants ownership simply can’t double down on mistakes and maintain stability with the wrong people. That won’t get New York back to winning. It will only prolong the losing.
For more Giants coverage follow Greg on Twitter @gregp_j and reach him at gjohnson@21stcenturymedia.com