The Bad
Although he’s had some better picks in recent years, there’s plenty to scrutinize from Gettleman’s tenure regarding the draft.
Especially in his first couple as the NY Giants’ general manager.
For starters, he consistently neglected edge rushers as a premier position and a massive need for the defense.
One of Gettleman’s first moves was trading away defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers along with a 4th round pick, and in return received a third and a fourth-round pick.
The decision to trade JPP wasn’t necessarily a bad one, as he never lived up to the player he was in 2011 and it got the Giants out from under the remaining three years left on an extension that Jerry Reese gave to him.
However, Gettleman drafted defensive tackle B.J. Hill and quarterback Kyle Lauletta with the picks from the deal. Hill fizzled out in his three years with the Giants before resurging with the Bengals in 2021 following a trade for center Billy Price, while Lauletta lasted just one season as a backup to Eli Manning and hasn’t seen an NFL snap since.
Additionally, Gettleman selected Lorenzo Carter in the 3rd round and signed Kareem Martin to a three-year, $15 million deal to make up for the loss of JPP off the edge. Safe to say those guys inadequately filled the hole, as Martin tallied just 1.5 sacks in 21 games across two years with the team, while Carter has struggled to find consistency in his four years with the team .
Oshane Ximines was drafted in 2019 in the 3rd round and has played just 13 games between 2020 and 2021. Markus Golden was signed in 2019, recorded 10 sacks before being traded the following season to the Arizona Cardinals for a 6th round pick, where he has tallied 11 sacks this season. Ximines, much like Carter, hasn’t panned out while Golden has produced nicely with Arizona.
As aforementioned, Azeez Ajulari has turned out a quality rookie season as an edge rusher notching eight sacks so far, but it’s too little, too late for a defense that’s long been starved of production at one of the most important positions in football.
On the offensive side of the ball, Gettleman gave his first large extension to Beckham, whom he was able to deal after just one year, but then he signed a 31-year old Golden Tate to a 4-year, $37.5 million deal the following offseason. Tate amassed just over a thousand yards in 23 games across two seasons. Not to mention the time he was relegated to the scout team for publicly vocalizing his displeasure with his role in the offense.
Gettleman also gave afour4-year, $72 million deal to Kenny Golladay, who dealt with a plethora of injuries in Detroit and he handed out a 4-year, $41 million deal to Sterling Shepard, who has played just one full season since his rookie year.
Golladay and Shepard are good players, but to give them both lucrative deals before drafting Kadarius Toney in the 1st round seems like improper use of funds and/or draft capital.