The Draw Play

I take back any defense I ever made of David Gettleman. Any time I defended his decisions, told folks to take the long view, to consider that maybe things were more complex than expected and we can’t quite judge him yet. I take it back. What a fuck.

It’s all clear now. Every criticism made of the dude’s choices so far was right. He DID actually think the Giants could win now last year and drafted Saquon thinking that would be the one piece to make it work. Now we have a generational talent who’s best cheap years will be woefully wasted as we passed on several QB options. When they kept Eli it seemed like an obvious transition move, to have him ride out while the new QB soon to be drafted learns the ropes a bit. Now it looks like a move meant to placate the fans, a continued piece of oversteering after the benching debacle. If we are going to ship off most of our mega contracts, not pay other fan favorites contracts, why are we not also cutting the biggest, most intrusive contact of them all? Now Eli, bless the poor man, is going to be stuck with a worse team around him, probably riding out into the sunset on a 2-14 garbage dump, throwing 40 picks in a situation our maligned goofball hero never deserved. He’s already been the subject of endless mockery. This is going to be the saddest farewell season anyone will have.

We had a few pieces to make the transition into the next era reasonable. The Giants weren’t going to be great, but they could stay mildly competitive while shifting things around. Draft a QB, he has a revamped line to work with and Beckham + Barkley. Collins might not have been a total package but he could help offer leadership as an anchor of sorts and by the time the team was likely to get back into the fight his contract would be more reasonable to manage. Now the Giants have zero defense, a lame duck QB on offense, and a stud running back that is going to run into a wall on every play because there isn’t a superstud WR on the outside to keep things honest. The Giants could have rebuilt with Beckham, Collins, and Barkley as centerpieces. Now Barkley’s gonna be run into the ground, a career wasted, by the time the team sniffs 6 wins again.

I kind of get the trade. A day later there is some sense to it. Beckham, while he was never the diva team cancer a lot of the media and morons make him out to be, is still a diva, and having him spend his prime on a rebuilding team might end up pissing him off into another AB situation. May as well get what you can if you commit to the suck. Of course, they could have NOT PAID HIM UNHOLY MONEY FIRST and then have a press conference telling everyone how HE ISN’T BEING TRADED. YOU FUCK. Plus, they could have gotten more for him than second round pick, a bottom half first round pick, and a decent safety. One of the best WRs in the league and we can’t even get a top 10 pick for him. At least we got more than the Steelers did for AB.

I’m happy for Beckham. He gets to play with his buddy in Cleveland and the Browns look like a genuinely fun team now. There is still far too much hype. I’ll say it till they prove me wrong: The Browns do not deserve the benefit of the doubt until they have successfully shown they can win, and continue to win. One half season of pretty good football doesn’t mean Baker is god now and that Freddie Kitchens is gonna work out. Make the playoffs Browns, then we’ll talk. I’m pulling for you though.

Lastly, fuck you David Gettleman, for the greatest sin of all: making me wonder if Ben McAdoo and Jerry Reese weren’t so bad. The one thing I didn’t think you’d be dumb enough to do, and you did it. This move is an all-time whoops (Especially if Beckham goes HoF) and this one move makes it incredibly likely that you won’t survive the very rebuild you are attempting to pull. The fans are all against you now. Every move you make will now be viewed with extreme skepticism. Nobody can trust your statements now either. You have completely lost all your goodwill among the fanbase, and that shit gets people fired. It got Jerry Reese and Ben McAdoo fired. Mara overreacted once, he can do it again, and this implosion you just caused will be your only legacy. You fuck.