New York Giants: A deeper dive into front office changes

For a team that historically avoids major change, the New York Giants have seen plenty of it this offseason.

Undoubtedly, these changes likely represent a change in philosophy for the New York Giants franchise. One can easily conclude that player procurement had grown stale and possibly outdated recently.

And there are certainly reasonable conclusions that can be drawn simply by connecting the dots.

Per the team’s official website, the New York Giants general manager Dave Gettleman announced promotions of Kevin Abrams, Mark Koncz and Chris Pettit. Other downstream changes were made as well.

Starting with Abrams, he added the title of vice president of football operations. He also continues in his role of assistant general manager. By linear deduction, it appears that Abrams was a very serious contender for the open general manager position that ultimately went to Gettleman.

It’s difficult to know what Abrams’ relationship and job entailed under former general manager Jerry Reese. Right now, the franchise values him, and he is likely being groomed as the general manager-in-training.

In addition, Abrams clearly gives co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch the continuity they crave. The conclusion of Jerry Reese’s tenure as GM seems to point to dysfunction existing on and off the playing field. Ironically, these promotions and hirings represent a unique blend of continuity and newness.

Blast from the past

In terms of Mark Koncz, he brings previous experience working with Gettleman in the Carolina Panthers front office. He was hired by Big Blue as a consultant before the NFL Draft and gets hired as the permanent director of player personnel.

Last year, Panthers owner Jerry Richardson abruptly fired Gettleman, after a fairly successful stint in Charlotte.  Richardson then brought back former Carolina Panthers executive Marty Hurney on an interim basis.

According to reports, the turmoil continued in North Carolina, as Hurney dumped Koncz. Interestingly enough, Koncz had been with the Panthers in various roles since their inception in 1994. Somehow faith, and perhaps trust, in Koncz was gone.

Per The Charlotte Observer:

"“[Koncz] started as an intern in the ticket office in 1994 before moving to football operations the following year. He joined the pro scouting department in 1998 and became the director two years later.”"

New York Giants

Naturally, speculation continued to follow about the state of the Panthers front office. One thing seems clear, Hurney is in charge. Once again, thinking linearly, these terminations seem to have nothing to do with job performance.

One man’s trash may be another man’s treasure.

Cruz control

Many fans probably have never heard of Chris Pettit. Now, he has been appointed as New York Giants director of college scouting. His elevation represents a well deserved reward after years of service.

According to Giants.com:

"“[Pettit] joined the Giants’ scouting staff in 2005 after spending the 2004 season as a scouting intern for the team. Pettit first worked for the Giants as a training camp pro personnel intern from 1998-2000.”"

In case you didn’t know, Pettit is the scout credited with bird-dogging wideout Victor Cruz back in 2009. Everyone knows that Cruz was an important cog on the Super Bowl XLVI championship team. A scout’s job remains an art and not a science, and the Cruz signing showed how random a process it really is. His gut was right about Cruz and likely many other players in his tenure.

ESPN wrote about the Cruz – Pettit relationship in 2012:

"“Pettit evidently saw something special. He liked Cruz so much that he did something he usually doesn’t do. The next day, he drove to the UMass pro day for a second look.”"

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Now Pettit will be in charge of uncovering the next Victor Cruz for the New York Giants. In making these and other hires, it appears that the front office may have more additions than the final team roster.