If you thought there was drama between Brian Daboll and Wink Martindale before, it looks like things are only getting started. On Monday, news broke that Martindale had resigned from his post as defensive coordinator for the NY Giants.
As soon as that happened, buzz grew that Martindale could make his way to a new team soon. Hold the phone on that, as Martindale is still under contract through the 2024 campaign. Because of this, Daboll and Joe Schoen aren't going to let him just walk and join any other team.
As The Athletic's Dan Duggan notes, this includes Wink packing up his bags and going to the Eagles, an organization he's been linked to multiple times already. Yeah, this can't happen.
Wink's agent and the Giants' front office will sort out the terms of the resignation. But there's no way this is going to be a smooth process with all of the acrimony that exists. From today's story: https://t.co/3VtBCKQ3Vl pic.twitter.com/oY1hdvH3uW
— Dan Duggan (@DDuggan21) January 9, 2024
Wink Martindale leaving the Giants to join the Eagles simply can't happen
"If Martindale gets head-coaching interest, which seems unlikely, he can pursue those opportunities. But it’s hard to imagine the Giants will let him walk to any defensive coordinator job of his choosing.The last thing the Giants want is for Martindale to head to Philadelphia, whose defense has disintegrated down the stretch. That’s why a firing was unlikely, since that would have paved the way down I-95 for Martindale."The Athletic's Dan Duggan
Early on in the campaign, Jay Glazer reported that there was anomosity between Coach Dabes and Martindale and that the relationship was fractured. Martindale closed out the season with Daboll, but him resigning less than 24 hours after the win over Philly sure was telling.
Per multiple reports, Daboll fired Martindale's 'right-hand man' in outside linebackers coach Drew Wilkins on Monday about an hour before Wink decided enough was enough. However, his official resignation hasn't been submitted yet. So, what in the heck is going on?
It appears there's more to this story right now, but it's hard to imagine things between Daboll and Martindale are going to get fixed. The Giants will be looking for a new defensive coordinator this offseason, but it's up in the air what will happen with Martindale. Schoen and Daboll aren't going to help him move to a new squad, especially not a division rival. Things were a mess before, but it feels like they're going to get even worse over the next few days/weeks.