With the NY Giants in the midst of another disappointing season, general manager Dave Gettleman could be on the hot-seat, and could be on his way out this offseason
John Mara repeated his now semi-annual mantra that he needed to see progress from the NY Giants in 2021 if Dave Gettleman was to return in 2022.
“Let’s see what happens during the season,” Mara said back in August, echoing a similar sentiment the NY Giants’ owner made regarding Gettleman and Pat Shurmur’s futures in 2019. “Let’s see what kind of progress we’ve made.”
At 2-5, it’s difficult to see any progress being made, outside of some strides made by Daniel Jones in the quarterback’s pivotal third NFL season.
Whether Gettleman returns for a fifth season, despite a 17-38 record, or is fired at season’s end, the NY Giants’ general manager is going to have quite a mess to clean up.
From deciding whether to extend former No. 2 overall pick, but recently oft-injured running back Saquon Barkley to replacing potentially as many as four starters along the offensive line, and building a stable of edge rushers — virtually from the ground up — the NY Giants are seemingly closer to the beginning of a rebuild than the end of one.
So, who will be in charge of the NY Giants’ future?
FanSided spoke to several league sources to get a sense of who some candidates outside the organization — besides assistant general manager Kevin Abrams, Vice President of Player Evaluation Chris Mara, etc. would make sense as the NY Giants’ next general manager.
Here are three potential replacements for Dave Gettleman as NY Giants general manager:
Alonzo Highsmith
Current position: Seattle Seahawks personnel executive
While Highsmith has never served as a general manager, he has been a personnel executive for three of the more stable and successful front offices of the past decade.
Highsmith worked under general managers Ron Wolf and Ted Thompson as a Green Bay Packers senior personnel executive from 2012-2017, before spending the next two seasons as the Cleveland Browns’ Vice President of Player Personnel until 2019 before joining the Seattle Seahawks as a personnel executive last season.
“He has the experience of being around some great, great personnel executives over the years,” a veteran NFL executive tells FanSided. “He’s a solid evaluator, but he’s even better at building relationships inside a building and out. He’s learned from some of the best, and certainly has the temperament to be a general manager.”
The teams Highsmith has been part of have made six trips to the postseason. If the NY Giants are looking for a new voice, and a first-time general manager, Highsmith’s experience and wealth of connections make him a strong candidate for the general manager role.
Dave Caldwell
Philadelphia Eagles Personnel Executive
It remains to be seen whether Dave Caldwell, fired as Jaguars general manager last November, is looking to return to the general manager’s chair, but he was a popular suggestion for the NY Giants job among league insiders.
“Dave is someone who has been around,” a current pro personnel director tells FanSided. “He understands how to build a defense, just look at some of those drafts in Jacksonville. He’s been there, done that.”
While Caldwell might be a tough sell to some NY Giants fans, off a 37-86 record as the Jaguars’ GM, the 47-year-old did build a roster that carried Jacksonville to the AFC Championship Game in 2018.
Caldwell has an incredible eye for defensive talent in the NFL Draft, selecting the likes of Josh Allen, Myles Jack, Jalen Ramsey. He also mined as receivers such as D.J. Chark, Allen Robinson, and Laviska Shenault Jr.
If Joe Judge and staff remain, the NY Giants seemingly have a quarterback in place in Daniel Jones, which could make filling the holes on the roster more manageable for a general manager with Caldwell’s history of success in the draft.
John Dorsey
Detroit Lions senior personnel executive
John Dorsey became a driving force in kickstarting the rebuilds of the Kansas City Chiefs and Cleveland Browns. Could he do it again? Who knows.
But, Dorsey has significant interest in returning to a front office as a team’s general manager this offseason.
“If you’re looking for a list of his best traits,” an NFC personnel director tells FanSided. “He’s got a lot of them. He has the resumè a franchise like the Giants need, and just look at all the talent he brought in to Kansas City and Cleveland.”
Dorsey has been a winner in each of his stops across the NFL, drafting the likes of Patrick Mahomes, Baker Mayfield, and 16 Pro Bowlers during his seven seasons as general manager of the Chiefs and Browns.
By comparison, since becoming the NY Giants general manager in 2018, Barkley is the only Pro Bowler Gettleman has drafted in 32 picks.
In addition to the two marquee quarterbacks, Dorsey also drafted Eric Fisher and Travis Kelce, Dee Ford and Marcus Peters, Steven Nelson, and Chris Jones, just to name a few. Dorsey, of course, also acquired Odell Beckham Jr. in a trade with Gettleman and the NY Giants.
Dorsey’s teams have had their share of cap issues over the years, which is among the reasons he was let go by the Browns in 2019, along with concerns over his management style.
If Judge and Dorsey can find a way to coexist, Dorsey has a lengthy history of identifying franchise-altering talent in the NFL Draft, something the NY Giants are largely bereft of across much of the roster.