Dave Gettleman was the worst general manager in New York Giants history. In four seasons as Giants GM, Gettleman’s teams won just 29 percent of games they played in, putting up an abysmal 19-46 record.
Anything Gettleman touched while running the Giants turned into dust. Whether it was atrocious coaching hires, horrendous free agent signings, or brutal missed draft picks, the Gettleman era was a complete and utter disaster.
The former GM does deserve credit for drafting Daniel Jones, Dexter Lawrence, and Andrew Thomas, but it’s no coincidence all three had career seasons the year after Gettleman retired. With that said, here are the five worst moves of the Dave Gettleman era – the list includes bringing in Kenny Golladay, who was recently released by the Giants. But first…
5. Hiring Joe Judge as head coach
Fans were stunned and disappointed when the Giants hired Joe Judge in January of 2020. Despite a near NFC East title in 2020 that got the hopes of the fan base up, the Judge era ended exactly like most would have predicted.
A year after drafting Jones No. 6 overall, Gettleman fired Pat Shurmur, an offensive-minded coach who Jones was showing serious promise under, to hire Judge, a special teams and wide receivers coach. Judge’s wide receiving unit in New England in 2019 was one of the worst in the NFL. In no realistic scenario would hiring a special teams coach to develop a young quarterback ever work.
Judge went 9-23 in two seasons as the Giants coach. His fake tough guy act got old quickly in the locker room and in the media. The Giants inability to hold on to a lead or run a functioning offensive were both direct reflections of Judge’s inept head coaching abilities.
Judge consistently mismanaged the clock and was absurdly conservative, which consistently drew the ire of the Giants faithful. When Judge ordered his offense to run a QB sneak on third down in the 2021 season finale, it was the most embarrassed I have ever been as a die-hard Giants fan.
QB sneak on 3rd & 9 is peak Giants
— PFF (@PFF) January 9, 2022
pic.twitter.com/C4ha2rd6Ml
4. Trading up to draft CB DeAndre Baker
After selecting Jones and Lawrence in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft, Gettleman traded back into the first round to make a third first-round selection. Gettleman selected DeAndre Baker, a highly touted cornerback out of Georgia.
Gettleman traded away a second-rounder, fourth-rounder, and fifth-rounder to move up to get the corner, who had significant character concerns. Baker had a horrible rookie season in which teammates ripped him for bad work ethic, and he received a 48.4 grade by PFF. In the following offseason, Baker was arrested for an alleged role in a Florida armed robbery.
The charges against Baker were dropped, but the Giants released him. Baker and Kadarius Toney were two first-round draft choices made by Gettleman, but neither made it through 20 months with the Giants. That is unfathomably bad.
3. Signing OL Nate Solder
Gettleman loved Hog Mollies, yet somehow he never put one on the Giants actual roster. Nate Solder signed a four-year, $62 million contract in 2018, one of the first acts of the Gettleman era. How did that turn out for him?
Solder was just 29 years old and was regarded as one of the best tackles in football when he signed with Big Blue. If GMs have learned tough lessons, it should be that when the Patriots let someone go, do not sign them, as they have nothing left in the tank. Solder embodied that. He quickly went from an elite tackle to an unplayable tackle.
In 2018, Solder allowed seven sacks, tied for ninth most in the NFL. In 2019, Solder allowed 11 sacks, the third-most in the NFL. In 2021, Solder allowed six sacks, tied for 14th most in the NFL. It did not matter what quarterback played behind Solder, he was going to let them get hit. He was one of the biggest busts in team history. Speaking of busts…
2. Signing WR Golden Tate
Signing Golden Tate made zero sense. In the offseason of 2019, Gettleman famously preached “we did not sign him to trade him” referring to Odell Beckham Jr., and then the GM promptly traded him to Cleveland, just one year into his five-year extension.
The Giants had to take an absurd dead cap hit to trade OBJ, and then the team signed Tate to a three-year contract in an attempt to replace OBJ.
That plan failed miserably. Tate was suspended for the first four games of the 2019 season for violating the NFL’s Performance Enhancing Drugs policy. Tate claimed it was from the fertility medication he was taking.
Tate also had a bizarre interaction with Judge following a loss to Tampa Bay on Monday Night Football game in 2020 after he yelled into the camera about wanting the ball. The conversation with Judge resulted in Tate missing practice and meetings later that week, likely as a disciplinary action.
Tate had just over 1,000 in two seasons with the Giants and was cut before his third. Gettleman did not want to trade OBJ, then did, and then he signed Tate to appease the fanbase, but then eventually cut Tate too. A decision circle of incompetence.
1. Signing WR Kenny Golladay
Gettleman signed Golladay to a 4-year, $72 million in the 2021 offseason. The Golladay market had gone completely stale, and many reports indicated the Giants were the only team seriously interested in the wideout.
Somehow, Golladay ended up getting a monstrous contract, despite there being no market for him! A Gettleman masterclass – negotiating against himself. Golladay had a disastrous two seasons in New York, catching just 43 passes for 602 yards and one touchdown.
Golladay was always in the news for something during his time with Big Blue. Whether it be for not running routes hard enough, lazy work ethic, inability to separate from corners, or causing some sort of stir by complaining to the media, Golladay was a major headache for the entire organization.
Golladay was supposed to be the Giants long-term WR1, but he fell off so hard that he ended up playing with the Giants third-stringers in 2022. He was officially released on March 15.
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