Over the past 20 years or so, the NY Giants have turned plenty of heads with great play, appearing in three Super Bowls and winning two. Even when they aren't winning it all, the Giants have usually been a pretty solid team aside from the last four years or so (prior to 2022 that is).
However, this does not mean that New York hasn't made some pretty big mistakes in terms of talent management, especially in recent seasons. Each of these five players were once with the G-Men, but things didn't last as long as they would have hoped for.
While they may not have shown much during their time with the Giants, the team would have had a very different trajectory if the front office was just a little more patient:
5. WR/KR Kalif Raymond
Not many may know that Kalif Raymond once played for the Giants, as he only spent six games with the team in 2017 before being released. However, since being released, Raymond has found a home with the Detroit Lions and has broken out into a pretty great player.
Raymond is primarily a kick returner who has also provided value for Detroit as a receiver. This is something this current GIants squad could really use, especially with his returning prowess. New York has really failed to land a consistent kick/punt returner over the years, so keeping a player like Raymond around would have been a huge boost for the Giants special teams unit.
Last season with the Lions, Raymond caught 47 passes for 616 yards and zero touchdowns while also returning 20 punts for 264 yards and one touchdown, being named to an All-Pro team in the process. Losing Raymond isn't the biggest loss in the world, however, there are no doubts that he would play a very crucial role on this current Giants team if they had opted to keep him around past the 2017 season.
4. OG Justin Pugh
One of the first moves made by former general manager Dave Gettleman was to let both Justin Pugh and Weston Richburg walk in free agency in order to free up cap space to sign Nate Solder, completely destroying the Giants' offensive line at the time.
Left tackle was certainly a need for the Giants, but to completely tear down the rest of the offensive line to sign an aging veteran is a hilariously bad idea. Imagine how much better the Giants could have been if they had opted to sign a lower-cost tackle and retain these two.
While Richburg would only remain in the NFL for two more years before retiring in 2019 due to injuries, Pugh has remained one of the more solid offensive guards in the league over the last five seasons for the Arizona Cardinals.
Pugh has hinted at potentially reuniting with the Giants down the road, however, he never should have left in the first place. Having a consistent guard like Pugh on a rebuilding Giants team would have gone a long way in the development of Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley.
3. DT B.J Hill
After three solid, but not great seasons with the Giants, Dave Gettleman stupidly decided to trade B.J Hill to the Bengals for Billy Price, who was far from an adequate player during his time with New York. Since joining the Bengals, Hill has become one of the better defensive tackles in football, posting career numbers in his first two seasons with the team.
Hill may not be a star, but keeping him on this Giants team alongside Dexter Lawrence and Leonard Williams would have been huge last season. Especially when you consider the fact that Williams missed five games.
One of the biggest issues with the Giants' defense in 2022 was its lack of really any depth on the defensive line. Adding Hill to this roster would have immediately solved that problem. While he may primarily be a defensive tackle, Hill has plenty of experience all over the defensive line - that versatility is great for any team.
We're glad to see that Hill has become a very good player, which is something that likely wouldn't have happened playing behind Williams and Lawrence. However, having this good of a player as depth is something not every team can say they have.
2. DT Dalvin Tomlinson
Here we have yet another defensive tackle Gettleman stupidly got rid of. However, unlike Hill, losing Dalvin Tomlinson hurt a lot at the time, and still does to this day. Since being drafted, Tomlinson has consistently been arguably a Top-10 player at his position. Yet, in the summer of 2020, Gettleman let him walk in order to free up cap space to sign Kenny Golladay.
This is just another example of Gettleman completely destroying other positions in order to make flashy moves in free agency. Imagine a defensive line today constructed of Tomlinson, Lawrence, and Williams - very few teams can match that talent in the trenches.
Tomlinson has been an incredible run-stopper for the Vikings, being one of the few bright spots on their miserable defense. Considering how poor the Giants' run defense was last season, we can only imagine the impact Tomlinson would've had if Gettleman made the right decision to re-sign him three years ago.
The Golladay signing was one of the last moves made by Gettleman to save his job at the end of the line and as we all know, it worked out in the worst way possible. Forget how bad the signings were in general, the players lost in order to make these moves may outweigh the money paid to these two themselves.
1. DT Linval Joseph
Again, another defensive lineman the NY Giants let go of too soon here. However, unlike the previous two, Linval Joseph was not let go of by Gettleman, instead, Jerry Reese let Joseph walk in the summer of 2014 when he signed with the Minnesota Vikings.
Joseph was rather solid during his time with the Giants, but once he joined the Vikings, he took the next step into stardom, making two consecutive Pro Bowls in 2016 and 2017. Since then, Joseph has remained as one of the better DL in the NFL. While in recent seasons he has taken a step down, this is more due to the fact that he's 34 years old more than anything else.
Adding Joseph to a Giants defensive line that at one point featured Jason Pierre-Paul, Olivier Vernon, and Damon Harrison would have made for arguably the best tandem in the NFL at the time. Keeping Joseph wouldn't have been a league-shattering move, but keeping him around with what was once an elite defensive line core would have been so much fun to watch.
This move may not have had dire consequences like other players previously listed, but Joseph has arguably been the best since leaving New York and is a player the team should have kept around regardless of how good the Giants were at the time.
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