PAINTING THE TOWN GREEN!
Overnight, New York becomes a Jets town
Start spreading the news: The Jets are about to rule the New York football landscape for the foreseeable future. An historic Tuesday night/ Wednesday morning crystallized the new reality in this town: The Giants are a disjointed mess, while the Jets are about to take flight. Hours after Dave Gettleman inexplicably traded away Odell Beckham, Jr., Mike Maccagnan reeled in Le’Veon Bell for a relative bargain. It’s the Bizarro World these days with the starcrossed little brothers making all the right moves. The Giants might have tradition and the Lombardi Trophies on their side, but old jewelry is largely worthless in this bottom-line industry where the only thing that matters is where you’re headed, not where you’ve been. The green-and-white arrow is making a bee-line to the Moon. The blue one is headed to the center of the Earth. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. The Giants appear lost in the wilderness with an ad hoc
plan that deserves heaps of criticism.
Consider their headscratching “strategy” in the past year: They drafted a running back instead of a potential franchise quarterback. They doled out a five-year, $90 million contract to their superstar wide receiver only to trade him less than seven months later (and carry a $19.5 million dead money charge on the cap). They're rolling with a 38-year-old quarterback who just lost his best pass-catching weapon.
That type of knee-slappin' hilarity is rare indeed.
Meanwhile, the Jets have secured a promising young quarterback and one of the game's best dual-threat offensive weapons.
Sam Darnold and Bell will be Gang Green's headliners entering this season. Sprinkle in rising star safety Jamal Adams, new perennial Pro Bowl linebacker C.J. Mosley and Leonard Williams into the mix and you have the makings of a formidable bunch.
The Jets are likely covering their mouths to suppress their laughter at what's going on with their MetLife Stadium roommates. Think about it: The Giants could have had Darnold throwing to Beckham for the next 5-7 years.
Instead, they have an aging Manning and Saquon Barkley.
Yikes.
The reversal of fortunes has been a long time coming for the Jets, who have missed the playoffs for eight consecutive seasons. The franchise has made waves in the past several days by adding important pieces that should make them relevant again.
(Of course, it would be nice if Gang Green could actually draft impact players, so they could re-sign their own and not have so much money to spend in free agency, but I digress).
The truth is that the Jets aren't the only ones to struggle in this town for a while. The Giants haven't exactly been relevant either for much of the seven seasons since they won the Super Bowl. It's been ugly for both teams, who have had five losing seasons apiece since 2012.
The Jets are a hide-thewomen-and-children 9-23 the past two seasons. The Giants are 8-24.
Translation: New Yorkers have seen a hefty dose of horrific football recently.
However, there's a decided difference between the teams now. It's easy to see promise with the Jets, who have the type of young quarterback that can flip the script.
Maccagnan's ability to deliver a dynamic offensive weapon in Bell for new coach Adam Gase was massive. Give credit where it's due: The Jets had a firm handle of Bell's market and made an aggressive – but not reckless – deal to land the game-wrecking dual-threat to help Darnold & Co.
The Jets made a smart, lowrisk high-reward trade for Raiders' Pro Bowl guard Kelechi Osemele over the weekend and agreed to a deal with talented slot wideout Jamison Crowder. Maccagnan's moves have Jets faithful giddy with anticipation.
The Giants, on the other hand, seem to be flying by the seat of their pants with a disjointed vision. Nobody in their right mind would trade arguably the best wide receiver in the NFL in his prime one season after giving him a big payday. The notion of passing up on Darnold for a running back (no matter how dynamic) never made sense.
So are the Giants rebuilding, trying to win now or just sort of seeing where the wind takes them with 38-year-old Eli Manning and a putrid defense? Asking for a friend. The New York football world looks mighty different these days.