Odds are you’re acquainted with the NFL Movies product of Arduous Knocks, a documentary sequence that chronicles a staff all through the course of coaching camp and the preseason and finally ends proper because the common season begins.
Lately NFL Movies has produced an in-season model of the present the place they comply with groups all through the course of an NFL season. That’s fairly self-explanatory.
Tuesday evening noticed the debut of a brand new model of the present. This newest HK follows the New York Giants over the preliminary a part of this offseason and focuses on how the G-Males assembled their workers and staff. It’s at all times fascinating to get these peeks behind the scenes and now we bought a peek at an space that was earlier off limits.
In case you are a HK veteran like myself then in watching it lots of issues possible really feel the identical to you. A part of the problem of this present is that there isn’t a breaking information of any sort on condition that when something huge occurs it’s then given to us within the subsequent episode. There may be comparatively little shock worth.
That is true for the Giants as we clearly know what they did all through all of free company and the NFL Draft; nevertheless, the debut episode was loads about one thing that they didn’t do… pay operating again Saquon Barkley.
New York chosen Barkley with the second total decide in 2018 and went via fairly the track and dance with him as soon as they lastly bought right down to contractual negotiations. Barkley performed on the franchise tag in 2023 so the time for a critical choice arrived this offseason and the Giants watched him stroll in free company to a division rival within the Philadelphia Eagles.
This topic is touched on all through the episode however within the closing minutes Giants GM Joe Schoen is having a dialog along with his mind belief and finally notes that they aren’t paying their quarterback in Daniel Jones what they’re for him handy the ball off.
Tim McDonnell, Director of Participant Personnel: Take this a step additional. We lose Saquon proper… what’s our id going to be on offense now? What’s our plan? What’s the following step of that, I suppose is what I’m pondering. We’re shedding… our explosiveness, our touchdowns. Quarterback, if it’s Daniel, is dependent upon the run recreation.
Joe Schoen, Basic Supervisor: We’ve bought to improve the offensive line and also you’re paying the man $40M. It’s to not hand the ball off to a $12M again. My plan is handle the offensive line sooner or later right here in free company. We’re sitting at 6, there’s an opportunity there’s an offensive weapon there. That is the yr for Daniel. The plan all alongside was give him a few years. Is he our man for the following 10 years or do we have to pivot and discover someone else?”
To be clear this dialog was had earlier than the Giants finally noticed Saquon go away, keep in mind that NFL Movies is capturing these occasions in actual time.
The advantage of hindsight tells us that the Giants did precisely what Schoen mentioned in that they signed a number of offensive linemen in free company (headlined by Jon Runyan) and took LSU vast receiver Malik Nabers at quantity 6 total within the 2024 NFL Draft.
As somebody who roots for and covers the Dallas Cowboys I’ve taken a large amount of pleasure in laughing on the Giants and their decision-making for the final 15 or so years, but when we’re honest about all of this then they did completely nothing unsuitable.
I’ll acknowledge that the Giants don’t precisely take pleasure in the doubt and that Daniel Jones shouldn’t be precisely somebody I might strongly imagine in personally, however that is nonetheless the NFL and constructing across the quarterback is probably the most logical method ahead. In truth the Giants failed miserably at attempting to construct round Saquon Barkley for all of his Giants profession.
Individuals will chuckle and roll their eyes at what the Giants did particularly as a result of Howie Roseman is the Eagles’ common supervisor and is considered being superb at his job, so it seems just like the Giants made an enormous mistake that the Eagles capitalized on. Once more, good thing about the doubt sort stuff.
However the Giants lastly made the exhausting choice that they prevented for thus lengthy. Good for them I suppose.
