As New York Giants general manager Dave Gettleman was walking out of the locker room following the loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in week 17, he quickly barked to patient reporters, “We’ll talk Tuesday.”
Gettleman seems confident that he will remain with the organization beyond what was a tumultuous 2019 season, but head coach Pat Shurmur couldn’t say the same during his press conference. He mentioned that “it’s only going to get better,” and that he wasn’t given the most talented roster to play with this season, but nothing in regards to his future with the Giants.
Tuesday will likely spell the end of at least one coach, and Shurmur is undoubtedly on the hot-seat, especially with Ron Rivera being available as his replacement. Gettleman is close with Rivera, who spend multiple years with him in Carolina, putting together a playoff-caliber team.
Theoretically, the Gettlman/Rivera tandem makes the most sense for owner John Mara. However, for everybody else, it seems like another go around the circle of failure. Being trounced by the Eagles in what was likely Eli Manning’s final game in blue was a disgrace, and co-owner Steve Tisch’s “tear it down” attitude might finally come to fruition, but the “let the Mara’s figure it out” mentality will surely reignite once again.
Is Dave Gettleman’s job safe with the New York Giants?
Gettleman has done plenty wrong to justify his firing, starting with his attempt at piecing together the offensive line. Left tackle Nate Solder has been a huge miss, and he will count $19.5 million in cap next season. On the flip side, Gettleman did draft Daniel Jones who seems to have the tools to become the next franchise quarterback for Big Blue. He also hit on multiple late-round picks, UDFAs (Ryan Connelly, Darius Slayton, Kaden Smith, Nick Gates, etc.), some of which have a limited sample size.
I would say Gettleman is about 50/50 on his hits and misses, maybe a bit more on the negative side, but he’s a voice Mara is intimidated by and won’t be keen to fire in the coming days. That’s the issue with hiring Gettleman in the first place. He’s close with the Mara’s. One day, John will learn not to mix friends with business.