New York Giants Football: Fixing the Giants (part one) 5 moves that should be made at GM & the coaching staff

1. Fire Dave Gettleman and replace him with Ed Dodds

Dave Gettleman’s failures are well documented (here is our piece on his top ten worst moves for those that missed it earlier this week), as he has epically failed with free agent signings such as Nate Solder, Jonathan Stewart, Josh Mauro, Antoine Bethea, Patrick Omameh and Kareem Martin to name a few. He completely botched the Leonard Williams trade and likely cost the New York Giants a top 70 pick (at least) this year and fourth-round pick next year, not to mention likely signing him to a huge contract extension he is not worthy of. Most egregiously, Gettleman put the Pat Shurmur regime in place, so all those “but it’s coaching” excuses don’t really hold water.

Conversely, Ed Dodds has been extremely successful in helping to develop winning franchises. In Seattle as a senior personnel executive, he helped to orchestrate the rosters responsible for the Seahawks Super Bowl births. Following his time in Seattle, he became the assistant general manager of the Indianapolis Colts, where he has served as the “right hand man” of general manager Chris Ballard.

Dodds, who is regarded as arguably the best scouting talent in the NFL, utilizes analytics that place a high regard on athleticism of the player. He was with the Seattle Seahawks for 10 seasons, six of which were winning seasons, including five NFC West titles, ten playoff wins and two Super Bowl appearances. During that time, Dodds was complicit in drafting and signing the players that made up the Legion of Boom defense such as Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas, Kam Chancellor, Bobby Wagner, KJ Wright, Byron Maxwell, Cliff Avril and Brandon Browner to name a few. Additionally, Dodds assisted with the drafting of notable players such as Russell Wilson, Golden Tate III and Max Unger, while acquiring high caliber players such as Marshawn Lynch, Michael Bennett and Jon Ryan. His track record as the senior personnel executive of the Seahawks was so impressive that he was named the Colts assistant general manager following the 2016 season.

After joining the Colts in 2017, Dodds has been an integral part of the team’s drafts, helping to make the notable selections of Quenton Nelson, Darius Leonard, Braden Smith and Nyheim Hines. He also help orchestrate the free agent signings of Eric Ebron, Denico Autry, Kenny Moore, Justin Houston and Pierre Desir. In all, he has helped make significant additions to the Colts that have allowed them to remain competitive, despite the unexpected retirement of their superstar quarterback Andrew Luck, compiling a solid resume for a  brief two year stint with the organization.

Moving on from Gettleman’s archaic ways of managing a team and embracing the analytical and scouting genius of Dodds would prove valuable for a Giants organization that has now struggled to  consistently find talent via the draft during most of the Jerry Reese era and has botched most of the trades and free agent signings of the Gettleman tenure.

The Giants have important draft picks coming in the 2020 NFL draft, as well as significant cap room to sign free agents in the offseason, making it imperative that they sign someone with the ability of Ed Dodds to properly scout and analyze the best players for the roster. Dodds will be highly sought after as a general manager in the offseason, so the Giants must act with swiftness and prudence to land him.