New York Giants cut Patrick Omameh in latest bad trend

The latest personnel move speaks volumes about the state of the New York Giants.

According to the team’s official website, the New York Giants cut one-time starting guard Patrick Omameh on Saturday. Omameh was one of general manager Dave Gettleman’s big free agent signings this offseason. He was replaced on the roster by return specialist Quadree Henderson, who was also cut but then re-signed this week.

No one disputes that Omameh played himself off of the New York Giants. That much is crystal clear. What’s a little more nebulous is how he arrived in the Big Apple. Certainly, Big Blue was in need of offensive line help, and the team had lost out on fellow guard Andrew Norwell.

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But admitting your mistakes is a far different reality than upgrading your personnel.

Head coach Pat Shurmur addressed the transaction. Per Giants.com:

"“It’s always hard when you release a veteran, especially a guy like Pat – probably one of my favorite people that I’ve met doing this. Sometimes, it’s about the player. Sometimes, it’s about the situation, the numbers, and all that, but we wish Pat well.”"

How’s that for putting lipstick on the pig?

Placing full faith and trust in Ereck Flowers at right tackle, not only wasted money, it wasted time. Ditto for Omameh. Nothing in the professional past of either player could give anyone the impression that these guys were ready to bust out.

It has everything to do about the situation, and absolutely nothing to do about the numbers.

In fact, both players’ history portended the eventuality that we saw come to fruition. So was this a case of the front office thinking that their coaching staff could grind improvement out of these players?

At least in the NFL, past performance is an indicator of future gains. Enough with trying to jam that round peg into a square hole.

If we give Gettleman the benefit of the doubt, then it’ll be acknowledged that he has a tough job ahead of him. But it also points to the fact that NFL clubs must primarily build through the draft. That goes for the Giants as well. They don’t get to shortcut the process.

Revisionist history

Many of us like to play revisionist history, especially when it comes to the NFL Draft. It’s a fair point because no one can argue that cornerback Eli Apple and tackle Ereck Flowers were over-drafted.

Instead of shrugging our collective shoulders, take a deeper dive into what went wrong. Why was it that former general manager Jerry Reese thought it was wise to draft tight end Evan Engram over tackle Ryan Ramczyk?

It was obvious that even back then the G-Men could use offensive line help. Reese created a narrative with Engram that has yet to play out. Some will say it was bold, but it also certainly lacked logic, especially after Flowers and Apple arrived on the scene as under-achievers.

Yet too many New York Giants fans remain content with the hit some – miss some mindset.

That mentality spawns an inept roster because it doesn’t contemplate pushing the odds in your favor. Is it any secret that the Cleveland Browns have had inept drafting and inept coaching for the better part of two decades?

Bad decisions beget bad win-loss records.

As the Browns have accumulated high draft picks over the years, their record hasn’t improved. Perhaps, Cleveland provides a template for what not to do with an NFL team.

Quarterback Johnny Manziel had the talent to be a productive NFL player. He also had more personal issues than you can shake a stick at. He wasn’t worth the risk for a floundering franchise.

And that’s the point. Stop throwing stuff at the wall to see if it’ll stick.

The truth remains that the New York Giants are a long way away from championship tinder. The franchise can continue to try and hit homeruns on 0-2 pitches, or it can decide to chip away at the problem. Eat the elephant one bite at a time.

Chipping away means largely staying away from the overpriced free agent market.

Do the fans have the patience for that? More importantly, does Dave Gettleman possess the patience for that approach? It’s the critical question as we conclude another barren season, and plan for another offseason of change.