New York Giants: 10 worst moves of Dave Gettleman era

  5. Nate Solder signing

Many will likely be surprised to see this one not higher on the list, but like I said in the beginning, it was very hard to separate these terrible moves. I tried to weigh multiple factors when determining which move was truly the worst, and for a few reasons Nate Solder slides in just at the middle of this list, instead of at the top. The fact that he only checks in at #5 has a lot more to do with how bad some of the other moves are, much more than with anything Solder has done on the field.

For starters, as mediocre as Solder has been, he’s at least been on the field and made some type of contribution to the team, as lukewarm as that contribution has been. For the most part, Solder has given up far too many big plays to opposing edge rushers, as he’s gotten Eli Manning and Daniel Jones killed time and time again. However, he seems to hold up okay for most of the game, only to get beaten badly two or three times.

While that’s very bad, and not something you want to give a record contract to (Solder signed the highest OL contract of all-time), it’s still not as bad as some of the things still lingering on this list. I don’t want to downplay how horrendous of a move this was, as paying a guy a record contract who had been in the league for years and never even made a pro bowl is as outlandish as it gets.

This move reeked of desperation, and although Jerry Reese’s biggest criticism has always been that he didn’t put enough resources into the offensive line, at least he was able to use those resources in other places. Gettleman on the other hand, invested a ton into the offensive line to only get the same (or really even worse) results. Solder has allowed the second-most sacks in the NFL this year, and has been a horrid run blocker during his time with Big Blue.

To really put the icing on this poop cake, Gettleman thought it was wise to kick the can further down the road in 2019, as the GM actually restructured this already all-time bad contract to make Solder an almost lock to be on this team in 2020.

Ugh.