NY Giants’ hot seat tracker: Taking temperatures entering 2021
The NY Giants are facing a pivotal make-or-break season that will define the franchise for years to come.
The NY Giants can’t have another losing season this year.
If they do, it will lead to another year of sweeping changes from players to coaches to decision-makers in the front office.
Simply put, if the Giants don’t have a winning record in 2021, there will be several jobs open at key positions with big names going out the door.
The NY Giants have suffered through four consecutive losing seasons. Team Owner John Mara won’t put a mandate on a successful season, but anything less than 9-8 would be short of another major disappointment.
New York finally has put together what looks like a real-deal, solid football team.
The NY Giants have put together an exciting and young roster full of talent, they have a leader of men in their Head Coach, they have a promising Defensive Coordinator, and Dave Gettleman has shown signs of righting the ship that has been stuck in the Bermuda Triangle for far too long.
The Giants have several key figures entering the hot seat this season.
These men can’t be surprised to see their names here as they must face the realistic pressure that comes with the much-scrutinized and publicized jobs of working in the NFL as a Coach, GM, or Player.
Here’s a look at the NY Giants’ hot seat situation heading into 2021.
NY Giants General Manager: Dave Gettleman
Hot Seat Temperature: Scorching Hot
Dave Gettleman may have the No. 1 hottest seat in New York sports heading into the fall of 2021.
Gettleman has done a lot in his four-year tenure as the NY Giants’ General Manager. He’s traded their best player in Odell Beckham Jr., he kept Eli Manning around maybe a year or two too long, he took his QB successor in a surprise spot with Daniel Jones at No. 6 overall in 2019, and he ignored conventional wisdom by taking a running back in Saquon Barkley at No. 2 overall in 2018.
Altogether, these moves have not moved the needle in the NY Giants’ favor much. The team has shown little winning ways in his three years, with win totals of 5, 4, and 6 wins. If this team can’t win in 2021, it’s likely that Gettleman will never build a winner in New York.
Simply put … If Dave Gettleman’s football team he assembled himself doesn’t have a winning record this year, he will lose his job and never have built a winning team in New York.
There’s been too much losing in Gettleman’s reign as GM, even John Mara won’t be able to convince this fanbase (or himself) that Gettleman is the right guy for the job.
The NY Giants went out on a spending spree this offseason, targeting high-end free agents at marquee positions. Even more importantly, the Giants filled some of their biggest holes this offseason with huge question marks at wide receiver, cornerback, and pass rusher. They signed the most expensive contracts on the free-agent wide receiver and cornerback markets while also spending a Round 2 draft pick on Azeez Ojulari in the pass-rush department.
The general review is that the Giants overpaid for their free agents but that’s usually how the business works in free agency. The Giants need immediate returns from their offseason signings along with draft picks in Ojulari, Kadarious Toney, and other former picks such as Saquon and Daniel Jones.