DEMOLITION MEN
Turns out win-now Giants are in full rebuild mode
The Giants never took out a loudspeaker and blared, “We are in win-now mode’’ as this new regime got cooking. It was their actions that indicated they were taking a short view rather than a long one as they put this team together.
They hired seasoned NFL veterans in Dave Gettleman as the general manager and Pat Shurmur as the head coach. They committed wholeheartedly to 37-year-old Eli Manning, eschewing a young quarterback prospect with the No. 2 pick in the draft. With that pick, the Giants selected Saquon Barkley, knowing full-well running backs do not have as long a shelf-life as many other positions on the field.
The Giants made Nate Solder, 30, the highest-paid offensive tackle in the league. They gave a two-year deal to Jonathan Stewart, a 31-year-old running back. They signed Connor Barwin, a 31-year-old outside linebacker.
Most of all, the presence of Manning on the roster and in the huddle made this feel as if the Giants believed they could make another run at a Super Bowl with their elder-statesman quarterback, who is signed through the 2019 season. Shurmur called Manning “the fittest 37-year-old’’ he had ever seen.
Well before Halloween, the only direction the Giants are in is “win-only-onenow’’ mode. They are 1-5 and cannot lose this weekend because they do not play. That record before this weekend’s slate of games is the worst in the NFL. Could it be one year after the franchise had its highest draft pick in 37 years they will be owners of the No. 1 pick in 2019?
Since last season, the Giants are 4-18, and in that span only the Browns (2-18-1) have won with less frequency.
When the idea of rebuilding was relayed on Monday to Shurmur, he chose not to repeat that term in his response, as if it was an obscenity he dare not utter.
“When you come into a new situation, you don’t know what to expect because every situation is different,’’ he said. “I don’t know what my expectations are. I expect us to win every week, and I think we have a team that can go out and win every week if we play the right way. That’s what I expect.’’
There is little doubt Gettleman and Shurmur — as well as ownership — viewed this as a team capable of competing for a playoff berth. There is even less doubt the pairing of Barkley with Odell Beckham Jr., along with a completely revamped offensive line added to Shurmur’s offensive acumen, was seen within the franchise as a gateway to scoring binges and newage offensive football.
Do not mistake this confidence with a conviction about this roster. There was a feeling inside the front office the talent inherited by Gettleman was quite poor and it would take time to unravel the mess and restock the shelves. Again, the belief — at least the hope — was the Giants could compete as they rebuilt. It has not worked out that way.
It was a bad sign when the Giants, the day after their initial roster cuts in late August, claimed and were awarded six players off waivers, meaning six players with the team throughout the spring and summer were sent packing in favor of castoffs from teams around the league. When the roster settled, more than half of the players were new to the team.
For the delicate contend-while-rebuilding fulcrum to remain balanced, a team has to hit on its immediate moves. Gettleman has not hit on many of them and Shurmur’s offense has lagged so far behind it is at times non-functional.
The offensive line, in particular, has disappointed. Shurmur said Solder has “absolutely’’ been everything he hoped for and called him “a very outstanding player.’’ Solder has been less than that in his first six games for the Giants after seven seasons blocking for Tom Brady with the Patriots. Veteran Patrick Omameh, signed from the Jaguars, has labored at right guard. Center Jon Halapio was lost to a leg injury and John Greco as the replacement is only serviceable. Ereck Flowers lasted two games before getting benched at right tackle and now plays for the Jaguars. Rookie Will Hernandez at left guard looks like a keeper, but there are firstyear growing pains. The most Manning has been sacked in a season is 39 times. He is currently on pace to be sacked 53 times. Barkley, “touched by the hand of God’’ in Gettleman’s view, is as good as advertised, living up to the immense hype. Beckham after signing a contract extension worth up to $95 million remains the focus of every opposing defense and has as many touchdown receptions (one) as touchdown passes (one) and created organizational headaches with some of his comments and antics, distractions he was supposed to have left behind. It was supposed to be so much better than last season, but it is not. “We’re trying to grow away from 3-13, so the young players that weren’t here — the Saquon Barkleys and the Will Hernandezs, and the guys that are getting a lot of experience, the rookies have to understand that, they weren’t part of it,’’ said Shurmur, who was not part of it, either. “But they are going to help the guys that were here a year ago, we want to try to help forget that and keep moving, and the record doesn’t speak to that right now. I get that.’’ Caught in the web is Manning, who looks tentative and too eager to dump the ball off amid shabby protection, his own survival instincts on high alert. He is not playing a winning brand of football and, understandably, does not want to hear about rebuilding. “As a player, I don’t think you ever use that term,’’ Manning said. “That’s not something, I don’t think, athletes use in talking about your team.’’ They do not like to hear it, but they cannot deny it. The Giants are rebuilding, a process that is rarely pretty or painless.