Big Blue Huddle

It's pretty obvious that the Giants are finally following the modern blue print for building a team by not over-paying for a running back.  The departure of Barkley needed addressing, and the Giants did it with low-cost signing.  At 5m+ a year (and unlikely to see all 3 years), the Giants secured a veteran who can continue to show the youngsters the ropes while not breaking the bank. 

Devin Singletary will not be Saquon Barkley, but most people won't get the intent and will only think Schoen signed a middling running back while puking over the loss of Barkley. 

Why don't you let the offseason actually conclude before throwing a temper tantrum?

It would be really interesting to see deals reported as % of the cap instead of aggregate numbers.  While everyone seems to know that the guaranteed money is really the only number that matters, I doubt this is misaligned with a percentage of the cap, especially given that the cap just went up an excessive amount.  Does it reset the market in terms of dollars?  Yes, but every year every top free agent or signing does.  If it doesn't move the needle on the percentage of the cap, then we're not really "resetting" anything.

Anyone remember that guy who flooded the board with posts about the magnificence of John Jerry and how he was the best guard in the league?  I'm beginning to get that feeling again with some of this....

The Giants could very well draft a quarterback this year.  They could also choose to roll with Jones again.  I won't presume to know because I'm not Joe Schoen.  The presumption and insistence illustrated lately here that we have to take a quarterback is beyond tiresome.  We could literally be talking about the opening of free agency but instead we'd rather continue to argue about whether or not Daniel Jones is the future at QB, despite the fact that we really have no say in the matter.

Quote from: DaveBrown74 on March 08, 2024, 04:42:42 PMWhy has he not been able to do the same thing with Mac Jones or Bailey Zappe?

I imagine it had something to do with Matt Cassel throwing to Randy Moss and Wes Welker while Mac Jones is throwing to some cast-offs and nobodys.

I'd also imagine that Matt Cassel having the benefit of sitting the bench and learning the game for 3 seasons behind the best coach/qb combo ever before actually seeing action might have something to do with that as well.

Quote from: madbadger on March 08, 2024, 02:27:14 PMWell if you said it than it must be 100% true. Coaches don't make players, they can only hamper them. I remember dolts trying to claim that Belichek was the real genius not Brady. How'd that work out in the end?

So by your logic a coach-less team is ideal because nobody can get in their way?  I'm glad to see that every sport in this history of sports that has coaches has gotten it wrong.  Very enlightening.  The 2007 Giants had a single player that made the Pro Bowl but won the Superbowl.  How do you explain that?

I've always loved the revisionist history about the Patriots and Belichick/Brady as well.  Tom Brady was not always Tom Brady.  He was a nice player who played well within a system for the formative years of his career.  The Patriots had a great defense and a team that won championships as the team was usually greater than the sum of it's parts from 2001-2006.  Tom Brady has said so himself on many occasions.  Belichick absolutely benefitted immensely from Brady by 2007 and beyond, and many of those teams would not have won championships without Brady at the helm. 

The simple reality is that great players are more valuable than great coaches.  To suggest that great coaching doesn't matter, or can't make players better is an absurd notion though.

There's the very real possibility that teams are interested in Fields, simply not at the Bears' asking price.  That seems more plausible than no team having any interest.  Early reports that the Bears initial asking price included multiple picks and none lower than a 2nd round pick.  He hasn't done anything in his short career to warrant such a bounty.  This feels like the Bears thinking they can fleece a team and get their new QB in Williams moreso than the market sentiment about Fields.

Quote from: madbadger on March 08, 2024, 12:50:06 PMWTF? He's a hall of fame quarterback who, statistically, was in the upper third of all quarterbacks last year, despite having a dirtbag coach who tried to torpedo him constantly. lol

Is this real?  My god do you have it all wrong about Russell Wilson.

Pete Carroll is the Hall of Famer, and Russell Wilson's career is a testament to Carroll's ability to take middling players and make them better.  Russell Wilson is an average passer who used to have some juice in his legs.  He throws an amazing deep ball.  He's durable and doesn't miss time.  He benefitted massively from a ground game featuring Marshawn Lynch and a defense that revolutionized against the modern passing games effectiveness.  The results since the "Let Russ Cook" campaign took effect haven't shown anything that would lead you to believe Wilson is a player capable of carrying a team.  He has passed for 4k yards only 4 times in a career spanning 12 years, a feat that many find rather pedestrian in today's game where passing yards come in massive chunks.

His abilites (and realities) as a player also don't highlight some of the "intangibles", which for Wilson aren't stellar.  His teammmates do NOT like him, and many former teammates have stated that with remarkable clarity.  They believe (and many) that he's a "me first" guy.  That he's more interested in being a power couple with Ciara than being a quality football player. The front office openly stated they couldn't wait to trade him and get him to the airport by the time his course had run in Seattle.  His lack of success in Denver only continues to highlight his deficiencies.  Sean Payton appears to be a terrible human being who is a good coach.  He couldn't make much out of Wilson and is moving on from him after a single year, despite the INSANE cap hit they're going to take.  That's not a glowing vote of confidence from either of his last 2 organizations.

I couldn't greet the news that the Giants met with him, even in just an exploratory phase with more disgust.  Please pass on this guy.  We already have a middling passer in Daniel Jones.  And for all his warts, he's a good teammate. 

Yes, I'm really hoping he's off the board by the time the Giants select, or that the Giants simply remove him from their board.  While I don't think it will happen, I'd actually love to see him slide like Rodgers back in 2005.  Humility is a good quality to have, and clearly one he needs to work on.

The leash on Schoen and/or Daboll is NOT tied to the selection of a QB in the upcoming draft.  Period.  End of story.  They hitched their wagon to Daniel Jones and they won't get a "free pass" if they select a new QB under the guise of "he needs time".  That doesn't mean that won't draft a QB.  That doesn't mean they will get fired if they eschew a QB and go again with Jones.  Their future will hinge on the team showing improvement regardless of who is under center and the continued development of their picks and free agents.

There were 12 players last year who rushed for 1k yards and only 4 of them were first rounders.  The Giants are doing the right there here.  Don't spend too much of your cap on a running back, and don't expend too much draft capital either.

With the other rbs on the market they're value will be suppressed even more. Why pay a franchise rate when you can get another for less? Guarantee that at least 2 of the Henry, Jacobs, Barkley, Pollard group are still free agents after the draft

Honestly it's this kind of thinking that has me avoid talking about the draft.  You know who was a "really good" wide receiver?  Odell Beckham Jr.  Antics/behavior aside, this guy was on an absolutely meteoric pace his first few years in the league.  He was destroying records held by Randy Moss and other Hall of Famers.  And the Giants continued to lose.  He made insane one-hand grabs despite being interfered with.  And the Giants continued to lose.  Well surely that must be the result of STILL not having enough "weapons"?!?!?!  So 4 years later we go out and get Saquon Barkley instead of trading down and taking Quenton Nelson who has 4 All-Pros and 6 Pro Bowls to his name.  And the year before that we also over-looked the line and went for Evan Engram.

But yes, please let's go get another wide receiver.

Williams should do what he thinks best. That said agents can:

- help prepare a prospect to navigate the predraft process.
- game the Combine ala Mike Mamula.
- ensure the prospect stays out of trouble.
- enhance his clients image with teams
- negotiate the best possible terms within the roookie contract, of which there are a lot.
- provide financial advise and help set up tax shelters.
- help with logistics related to moving for training or securing housing after being drafted.
- find endorsement opportunities for secondary income streams.
- act as a messenger to teams and take the brunt of public opinion if they express they don't want to play somewhere.
- secure the best trainers and nutritionists.

The Chiefs and Giants show that turnover differential is pretty negligible depending upon the competency of your offense.  The Giants' ability to convert turnovers into even field goals was abysmal last year.  I can't tell you how many times we go the ball via turnover, even in plus territory and thought "oh great we MIGHT be able to get a field goal out of that".  Conversely, the Chiefs could often shrug off a turnover and say "our defense will handle it" and be right.