I can't help but feel the Giants made a huge blunder in October

[MightyGiants]

Right now, it sounds like both Barkley and McKinney are long shots to be re-signed to the Giants.

Last October, the Giants were realistically out of the playoffs.   Before the Oct 31 deadline, NYG traded away Leonard Williams for a 2nd round pick. Yet, if they didn't plan on re-signing McKinney and Barkley, why didn't they trade them away as well???

Had they done that, I don't think we would have had the 3 game-winning streak and Devito mania.  I think the Giants would have ended the season with a draft pick in the top 3. Plus (and I will be conservative), they would have had two more 3rd round picks.

So, instead of the Giant's current situation being a ton of needs and little need to fulfill all those needs, they would have had enough resources to get a QB, get a quality WR, fix the O-line, and prevent any significant holes.

So why the half measures?   Was Mara adamant he didn't want to be embarrassed again by a very poor finish?   Did Schoen believe the team still could make the playoffs (and DJ's 2nd neck injury was no big deal)?

Sometimes, you need to take a small step back to take a big step forward.  It's frustrating that, for whatever reason, the Giants didn't see that reality.

[Gmo11]

They certainly should have sold off everybody at the deadline.  I'm not really sure why they didn't to be honest.  I might GUESS if they had held out hope of re-signing them after the season you don't want piss them off on the way out...maybe? Maybe the offers they got were so low it wasn't worth tanking the season?  Although I'd say there's not much I wouldn't have taken at that point in the season. 

Or maybe they foolishly thought they could climb back into the playoff picture somehow cause the NFC was so terrible? I would love to get a private moment with Schoen to ask him about that.  It has been curious to me from the minute the deadline passed until now.

[Bob In PA]

I don't know, but I trust Schoen (to the extent he actually has "complete control" over personnel moves).

If he didn't act, he didn't act for a reason. 

Spitballing... maybe the Wink thing had something to do with McKinney... IMO, that one is more "inexplicable" to me than the Saquon thing. 

More spitballing... could it be that they intended all along to use the "tag" on one of those two guys but wanted to see how things played out the rest of the season to decide which one?  (no one has mentioned that yet - in the sports media).

Just some random thoughts on your issue.

Bob

[MightyGiants]

They certainly should have sold off everybody at the deadline.  I'm not really sure why they didn't to be honest.  I might GUESS if they had held out hope of re-signing them after the season you don't want piss them off on the way out...maybe? Maybe the offers they got were so low it wasn't worth tanking the season?  Although I'd say there's not much I wouldn't have taken at that point in the season. 

Or maybe they foolishly thought they could climb back into the playoff picture somehow cause the NFC was so terrible? I would love to get a private moment with Schoen to ask him about that.  It has been curious to me from the minute the deadline passed until now.

It's a shame our reporters don't like doing quality work.  Instead of sharing the painful details of the Daboll vs Wink feud, finding out the thinking in the building as to why they didn't position themselves for a proper offseason rebuild would have been far better.

[MightyGiants]

I don't know, but I trust Schoen (to the extent he actually has "complete control" over personnel moves).

If he didn't act, he didn't act for a reason. 

Spitballing... maybe the Wink thing had something to do with McKinney... IMO, that one is more "inexplicable" to me than the Saquon thing. 

More spitballing... could it be that they intended all along to use the "tag" on one of those two guys but wanted to see how things played out the rest of the season to decide which one?  (no one has mentioned that yet - in the sports media).

Just some random thoughts on your issue.

Bob

The Giants knew (thanks to borrowing so much $$$ this season, plus 3 big contracts) that the upcoming cap situation wouldn't be great, making the use of the tag (which is very cap unfriendly) challenging.

[Giant Jim]

Not trading players that will be free (UFA) at the end of the season when the team has a losing record at the deadline makes about as much sense as trading draft picks away at the deadline for a DT/DE that's going to be a UFA at the end of that season. The more changes they make, the more things remain the same.

[Sem]

There may or may not be a very valid reason those trades didn't take place. We, of course, aren't privy to such information. I suppose it's possible Schoen tried to move McKinney but the offer(s) didn't meet his expectations. Or maybe he wants X as a core member of the defense going forward, and plans to use any means possible to extend him. Who knows....
Once the chips fall we'll have a better idea.

[Philosophers]

Right now, it sounds like both Barkley and McKinney are long shots to be re-signed to the Giants.

Last October, the Giants were realistically out of the playoffs.   Before the Oct 31 deadline, NYG traded away Leonard Williams for a 2nd round pick. Yet, if they didn't plan on re-signing McKinney and Barkley, why didn't they trade them away as well???

Had they done that, I don't think we would have had the 3 game-winning streak and Devito mania.  I think the Giants would have ended the season with a draft pick in the top 3. Plus (and I will be conservative), they would have had two more 3rd round picks.

So, instead of the Giant's current situation being a ton of needs and little need to fulfill all those needs, they would have had enough resources to get a QB, get a quality WR, fix the O-line, and prevent any significant holes.

So why the half measures?   Was Mara adamant he didn't want to be embarrassed again by a very poor finish?   Did Schoen believe the team still could make the playoffs (and DJ's 2nd neck injury was no big deal)?

Sometimes, you need to take a small step back to take a big step forward.  It's frustrating that, for whatever reason, the Giants didn't see that reality.

Brilliant email Rich.

We knew DeVito would not make us a playoff team.  More importantly, we knew that as much as we may like Saquon Barkley, he has few good years remaining and for a team in a huge rebuild would probably be more valuable to a contending team.  We might have gotten a 3rd rounder for him. That would have been very valuable.

[katkavage]

The Giants always try to play it safe. They don't like bold move (part of the Mara tradition). They are a conservative organization. As a result, with a few exceptions when they broke that mold (George Young, a dynamic though troubled playmaker (LT), Trade for Eli) we Giant fans suffer with continuous mediocrity.

[Bob In PA]

The Giants always try to play it safe. They don't like bold move (part of the Mara tradition). They are a conservative organization. As a result, with a few exceptions when they broke that mold (George Young, a dynamic though troubled playmaker (LT), Trade for Eli) we Giant fans suffer with continuous mediocrity.

kat: I think we see the organization very similarly (for better or worse). Bob

[jgrangers2]

The Giants always try to play it safe. They don't like bold move (part of the Mara tradition). They are a conservative organization. As a result, with a few exceptions when they broke that mold (George Young, a dynamic though troubled playmaker (LT), Trade for Eli) we Giant fans suffer with continuous mediocrity.

Conservative and far too aware of optics

[kingm56]

Not trading players that will be free (UFA) at the end of the season when the team has a losing record at the deadline makes about as much sense as trading draft picks away at the deadline for a DT/DE that's going to be a UFA at the end of that season. The more changes they make, the more things remain the same.

The irony is, a significant portion of fans on this site thought the LW trade was a good move, as well as retaining Barkley until the Giants were officially eliminated. In short, there seems to be a lot of hindsight lately.  Reflection is great; however, it seems unfair for the same fan who defended retaining Barkley/trading for LW to now criticized the franchise and those transactions...

I agree with Rich; the Giants made a huge mistake by not trading away thier limited assets in October.  This isn't a new revelation though as it was painfully obvious back in October, or even before the season began.  Concerning the latter, it was clear the Giants core players were VASTLY overrated and this team would struggle to win 50% of the thier games...

[MightyGiants]

The irony is, a significant portion of fans on this site thought the LW trade was a good move, as well as retaining Barkley until the Giants were officially eliminated. In short, there seems to be a lot of hindsight lately.  Reflection is great; however, it seems unfair for the same fan who defended retaining Barkley/trading for LW to now criticized the franchise and those transactions...

Let me get this straight

4 years ago, the Giants traded away a third and a fifth-round draft choice to acquire LW

4 years later, the Giants traded away LW for a 2nd round pick and a 5th round (2025) pick

So please explain to me exactly how terrible the original LW trade was.  They received the services of a good DT for 4 years, and they netted the value of 2nd rd pick against a third rd pick for the privilege.

 

[Ed Vette]

We don't know how committed they are to Barkley or McKinney as to what degree, but they left themselves open to negotiate with them because they were players they wanted to retain at the right price.

[MightyGiants]

I agree with Rich; the Giants made a huge mistake by not trading away thier limited assets in October.  This isn't a new revelation though as it was painfully obvious back in October, or even before the season began.  Concerning the latter, it was clear the Giants core players were VASTLY overrated and this team would struggle to win 50% of the thier games...

I fear that Schoen may have engaged in the sunk cost fallacy.  Remember, Schoen borrowed future cap money and traded away draft capital (to acquire Simmons and Bogey Basham).  When Jones suffered that second neck injury, any thoughts of moving forward with DJ should have immediately ended and the team should have focused on assuring a path to acquiring his replacement.

I wouldn't disagree that the Giants overestimated their talent level, but I wonder how much of the painfully slow start was due to coaching errors (like Daboll's country club training camp)