The New York Giants effectively cleaned house Monday, firing head coach Ben McAdoo and general manager Jerry Reese in rapid succession. It wasn't altogether surprising, but news from East Rutherford quickly reverberated in league circles as the final circus act of the Reese-McAdoo era reached its inevitable conclusion in real time.
Although it's certainly possible to be dissuaded from entertaining a job with the Giants amid what's been a nightmare season, they will present the most lucrative head coach and general manager vacancies this winter. If the Giants do their due diligence, play up their historical reverence, and remain patient, they will be able to outline the quickest path to a full rebuild among the league's basement dwellers.
Few expected the Giants to disintegrate completely during the 2017 season, coming off an 11-5 record in 2016. Some even billed the Giants as a sleeper Super Bowl contender entering the year and the team is still brimming with talent, particularly on the defensive side of the ball with Landon Collins, Janoris Jenkins, Damon Harrison, and Jason Pierre-Paul still playing at a high level. But with Odell Beckham Jr. and Brandon Marshall suffering season-ending injuries early in the year, the Giants simply haven't played up to the sum of their parts. With better coaching, it wouldn't be a surprise for the Giants to become a marquee franchise again.
Related: 3 reasons why the Giants should tune Ben McAdoo out
The vast majority of the blame for the lost season should fall squarely on McAdoo's shoulders. McAdoo's conflict with Eli Manning has been analyzed ceaselessly after he called his quarterback out in September. Additionally, he picked feuds with Jenkins, Collins, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, and allowed other outlets to attack Beckham's character with impunity. Lauded for his offensive genius, McAdoo failed to show what the Giants saw in him as the team posted a putrid 15.8 points per game this season - only the 0-12 Cleveland Browns have scored less. McAdoo handed play-calling duties to offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan in October, which should've been interpreted as a red flag.
The Giants, however, can and will do better than McAdoo.
Reese is guilty to some degree for this year's calamity. Showing a resolute aversion to running backs and linebackers in the draft throughout this tenure, Reese failed to address some of his team's biggest woes. The architect of the team's 2011 Super Bowl win, Reese was afforded plenty of good will and some of his measures worked - spending $200 million to renovate the defense paid off and the next GM can work off the nucleus of his grand plan. Ultimately, Reese's poor draft record and inability to command the room led to his downfall but it should be noted that he did a far better job than McAdoo.
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Being the head coach and GM of the Giants are two of football's vaunted positions. This is the same franchise that correctly plucked Bill Parcells out of the Air Force and watched him become one of the defining coaches of his generation. Parcells birthed the rise of Bill Belichick, who excelled as his defensive coordinator, before eventually becoming the icon he is today. Wellington Mara, George Young, and Ernie Accorsi are three venerable men who elevated the position of Giants general manager into the national conscience. Along with the built-in advantage of playing in the New York market, the Giants ought to have their pick of top-tier candidates, as long as they learn from their mistakes of rushing to hire McAdoo and keeping Reese for too long.
The Giants will have $29.9 million in cap space for the 2018 season, according to OvertheCap.com. It's not a massive sum to work with but considering the team's pre-existing level of talent, an asset to work with in Manning and an impending top pick, the next executives for the Giants will have enough to work with. New York is too talented for a full-scale rebuild in the vein of Cleveland or San Francisco, not tied to a potentially damaged asset like Indianapolis with Andrew Luck, nor is it in a full-scale identity crisis like Denver or Chicago.
Frank Sinatra said it best: "I want to be a part of it, New York, New York."
