Who’s next?
The Giants officially flicked the detonator switch when they sent defensive lineman Damon “Snacks” Harrison packing to Detroit for a fifth-round pick Wednesday. There was plenty of speculation that the Giants began the demolition process a day earlier when they sent cornerback Eli Apple to New Orleans and Harrison’s jettison confirmed it.
The rebuilding phase has begun.
Say goodbye to any hopes for the 2018 season.
The Giants have abandoned their quick-fix, two-year plan. To their credit, they have acted quickly and not waited until January to put their new plan into motion.
GM Dave Gettleman will shed most of the $200 million former GM Jerry Reese spent on the defensive unit two years ago. Gettleman’s main acquisitions were on offense, and they would be the last to go.
Cornerback Janoris “Jackrabbit” Jenkins reportedly is the next hit on the list. Jenkins is making roughly $15 million, but he would only cost a team $7 million with his restructured deal.
Defensive lineman Olivier Vernon, who recently returned to the lineup, also could be out the door. Vernon,however, has battled injuries over his two years with the club.
Still, both of them will be attractive on the market.
Both of them are high-priced veterans who can help the club shed salary toward a deeper salary cap in 2019 and help them stockpile draft picks.
Others on the hit list could be tight end Rhett Ellison, defensive lineman Kerry Wynn, and possibly even linebacker Alec Ogletree and guard Patrick Omameh. However, the latter two were signed this season. Yet, Omameh has been a bust.
Overall, the Giants’ roster is fairly young and full of players with less than seven years experience.
Does Eli Manning go?
There is a good chance they will send Manning to Jacksonville even though there are reports to the contrary. It now looks like the Manning era will end after this season, and the Giants want to send him off properly.
If they continue to lose, Manning would be benched and Kyle Lauletta would get a look even though he has as much as a chance as Davis Webb to be their starter next season.
Look for the Giants to try and unload Manning on their bye week after the Washington game this weekend. It would be a good time to break in LauIetta.
Does Odell Beckham Jr. go?
Not anytime soon. But Gettleman will sure work the phones in the offseason as the team has realized their mistake in signing him. This team will not be back on track for three years, and Beckham likely will be miserable losing.
They can send Beckham packing with a shrewd deal.
If anything, these next two months will be interesting. This also may be unbearable to watch at times.
But we all knew this was coming after their two-year plan didn’t work. Give them credit for rapidly responding.
It’s time to think about a rookie franchise quarterback in next year’s or the following year’s draft to help turn the franchise around.
Sound familiar?
