New York Giants: 10 worst moves of Dave Gettleman era

7. Jonathan Stewart signing

Another move that probably isn’t getting the justice it deserves being so low on this list, the signing of Jonathan Stewart is one of the more puzzling moves you’ll ever see a general manager make. So often, we see productive, young runningbacks hit the open market in their early-to-mid 20’s and not even sniff the type of deal Stewart got. Those runningbacks just didn’t have the luxury of dealing with the only GM in football that still thinks runningbacks are the focal point of a roster.

Despite being 31-years-old, and recording averages of 3.4 and 3.8 per rush in his two prior seasons, Stewart was able to extract a 2/8.4M$ contract from his former boss in Carolina. The Giants ended up paying him about half of that for 17 rushing yards and six carries. Talk about return on investment.

The icing on the cake here is that Gettleman went on to draft Saquon Barkley with the #2 overall pick in the 2018 draft only about a month later, further making this move one of the more laughable ones of all-time. To put that in perspective, in a league where most teams are using committees or investing only mid-round draft picks on runningbacks, Gettleman tossed 8M$ and the #2 overall pick in the draft at the position in just a months time.

It wouldn’t of even mattered much if Stewart was to play well, but it makes it so much worse that he wasn’t even able to get on the field for Big Blue.

Another one of those situations where Gettleman had to be bidding against himself.