Tag: John Mara

Should Giants consider Colin Kaepernick as a backup to Daniel Jones?

The New York Giants are in the market for a backup to QB Daniel Jones and Colin Kaepernick apparently still has asperations of playing.

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The New York Giants aren’t likely to exercise quarterback Daniel Jones’ fifth-year option this spring and that has led to speculation on whether or not they are souring on their former first-round pick.

What the Giants are expected to do however, is bring in competition this summer in the form of free agents (Mitchell Trubisky, Cam Newton have been rumored) and/or a possible high draft pick to challenge Jones, who has yet to convince the masses that he is a franchise quarterback.

One interesting option on the free agent market is — wait for it — Colin Kaepernick, who is said to be working out again and is in “the best shape of his life.”

It’s unlikely the Giants would entertain Kaepernick as an option, even as a backup, for several reasons.

The fan base would reject the idea. Even though it’s been five years since Kaepernick set off a maelstrom in the NFL (and the country) by kneeling during the National Anthem before games, his name will be eternally connected to the controversy.

Second, CEO John Mara wasn’t on board then and isn’t likely to have softened much to the idea over time.

“All my years being in the league, I never received more emotional mail from people than I did about that issue,” Mara said back in 2017. “If any of your players ever do that, we are never coming to another Giants game. It wasn’t one or two letters. It was a lot. It’s an emotional, emotional issue for a lot of people, more so than any other issue I’ve run into.”

The controversy would be the last thing this floundering franchise needs. They need to get back to basics, fly under the radar and turn their listing ship around. Kaepernick’s presence would be a major distraction on many fronts.

Then there’s the issue of rust. The 34-year-old Kaepernick may be in great shape but he’s been out of football since 2016. There’s shape and then there’s football shape. Plus, how would he react to being a backup? He clearly wants to be a starter or nothing.

Finally, the financial cost would be too high. Kaepernick is a businessman and won’t come cheap. He has turned down some lucrative offers in the past and isn’t likely to take a low-level deal simply to gat back into the league.

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Giants’ Brian Daboll unsure who will call plays in 2022

New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll has not yet committed to an offensive play-caller, whether that be he or Mike Kafka.

When the New York Giants introduced Brian Daboll as their next head coach, general manager Joe Schoen said he’d prefer if Daboll did not call offensive plays.

Daboll’s offensive play calling in Buffalo is likely a big reason he got the job with New York, and the hope is certainly that he can help fix the Giants’ offensive woes.

As the Giants enter their most important scouting combine in recent memory given their two top-10 picks, Daboll spoke to the media on Tuesday and still was unsure who will be calling the plays on offense.

As much as the upcoming season will be a rebuilding year for the Giants, that doesn’t mean it isn’t still a crucial year for the development of Daniel Jones and the team’s offense.

Co-owner John Mara has already admitted how much the constant change in coaching staff has plagued the development of Jones. Whether or not Jones is the quarterback beyond 2022, the development of the offense around him is equally important.

As the Giants go into this offseason, you’d hope there would be a more definitive answer about who the offensive play caller would be since the coaching staff has been intact for a few weeks now. But that isn’t the case and we’ll all have to wait to find out with bated breath.

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Gregg Rosenthal ranks Daniel Jones among worst NFL starting QBs

Gregg Rosenthal ranks New York Giants QB Daniel Jones among the worst starting quarterbacks in the NFL, but that comes with an asterisk.

The 2021 season was supposed to be the year we found out if Daniel Jones was the New York Giants’ long-term solution at quarterback. It was also supposed to be a year in which Big Blue turned a corner and returned relevance again.

Instead, Jones and the Giants left plenty to be desired on the field. Whether Jones is the primary reason to blame or not, many believe New York should move on from the 24-year-old.

Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com recently ranked the quarterbacks around the league and had Jones listed at 24th overall. That, coincidentally, is the same rank Jones earned following the 2020 season.

Nothing validated my take that Jones was playing better than his numbers showed quite like watching the Giants try to play without him. It’s impossible to overstate how poor his protection and coaching have been, and he’s shown enough flashes for me to believe he could be an average starter. Whether he can be better than that is the question the Giants need to answer.

In Rosenthal’s explanation, he pinpointed the poor protection and coaching — aspects that may have hindered Jones’ development. That is also something co-owner John Mara acknowledged this offseason, admitting that the organization has done everything possible to screw DJ up.

It’s tough to say where the Giants stand with Jones. However, many, including Rex Ryan and Dan Orlovsky have said that head coach Brian Daboll is a fan of Jones.

Still, Jones didn’t move the needle one way or the other in 2021. But on the other side of things, there was plenty of blame to go around between the offensive line, the coaching staff and some big-name weapons underperforming. If the play of the backup QBs in Jones’ absence due to injury showed us anything, it magnified the poor play of the offensive line.

For now, unless something unforeseen happens, Jones will likely be the starter next season. With the Giants in salary cap disarray and an ugly group of quarterback prospects coming in, Jones is likely the best option with the team in rebuild mode once again.

Hopefully, the new coaching staff can get the most out of Jones and mold him into a franchise quarterback soon. If Jones is unable to rank higher on this list following next season, it’s likely because he hasn’t made that big jump and ultimately Big Blue may have to move on.

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Rex Ryan: Giants’ Daniel Jones will ‘be a lot better’ under Brian Daboll

Rex Ryan believes New York Giants QB Daniel Jones will be “a lot better” under head coach Brian Daboll — even if nothing else changes.

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Once the New York Giants secured their new general manager, Joe Schoen, and their new head coach, Brian Daboll, many wondered what it all meant for big name players and their future with the team. That included quarterback Daniel Jones.

It didn’t take long for Daboll to praise Jones and for Schoen to make it clear that they would build around Jones. Now, we are quickly learning Daboll feels strongly in that particular praise although some members of the media are clearly against the Jones experiment at this point.

First it was ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky who talked about the Giants’ new head coach being a fan of Jones, and now a second ESPN employee is echoing the same sentiment regarding Daboll’s feelings on Jones.

Former New York Jets and Buffalo Bills head coach Rex Ryan was quick to call Daboll “tremendous” and said he would do a great job while commenting on the Jones situation.

“I’m excited to see him — and I know he said don’t compare Daniel Jones to Josh Allen. But I’m not kidding you: I know for a fact Brian Daboll really likes Daniel Jones. And I do, too. He’s an athlete. He’s got the physical skill set you look for. And he’s got the mental makeup. So I think the kid is going to do well with Brian,” Ryan said, via NJ.com.

Giants owner John Mara recently admitted they haven’t helped Jones given the constant turnover at the head coaching and offensive coordinator positions.

Meanwhile, Daboll was also recently critical of the Jones/ Allen comparisons. Luckily, Daboll seems to be a fan of Jones and many feel that the Giants’ new head coach could be great for the 24-year-old, who clearly has a make-or-break year coming up in 2022.

Ryan doubled-down on the impact he expects Daboll to have on Jones, saying the young QB would be better regardless of any other changes.

“Yeah, well, no kidding,” Ryan said. “But this kid will be a lot better. Even if nothing changes, he’ll be a lot better. I think Brian will do a great job with him.”

The Giants clearly need an improvement along the offensive line but with limited cap, they may be looking at the 2022 NFL draft for those answers.

After what was supposed to be Jones’ make-or-break year last season, we still don’t know if he is the long-term solution. Hopefully, for the sake of the Giants moving forward, Daboll can help Jones bring his game to the next level and put to rest any doubt that the former first round pick can be the long-term solution at quarterback.

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Giants unlikely to appear on HBO’s ‘Hard Knocks’ in 2022

The New York Giants do not meet the criteria to appear on HBO’s “Hard Knocks” in 2022 and you can bet John Mara won’t volunteer for it.

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New York Giants co-owner John Mara is adamant that his team will never appear on the hit HBO docuseries “Hard Knocks.” And thanks in part to another major turnover, it’s a problem he won’t even have to worry about in 2022.

With general manager Dave Gettleman retiring and head coach Joe Judge getting the boot, the Giants have ushered in another reset. Joe Schoen will now serve as general manager, while Brian Daboll has been hired as head coach.

Based on NFL rules, that eliminates the Giants from “Hard Knocks” contention.

As a reminder, here is the league’s criteria for eligibility:

  • No teams with a first-year head coach.
  • No teams who were in the playoffs in the last two seasons.
  • No teams which have been featured on “Hard Knocks” in the last 10 years.

The Giants, obviously, do not fit the basic criteria based on the hiring of Daboll. And although the NFL does have a “forced inclusion” clause it could use in the event no team volunteers, Big Blue is not among those the league can demand appear.

In fact, the only way the Giants could appear on “Hard Knocks” in 2022 is if no one else volunteers except for them. And let’s be honest, that’s not going to happen.

“That announcement (to appear on “Hard Knocks”) will come,” Mara told the New York Daily News in 2010, “when I’m next to my father in Gates of Heaven cemetery.”

At last check, John Mara’s heart is still very much beating. Accordingly, you can put to an end any notion that the Giants will be featured on HBO next season.

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Steve Mariucci: Jury still out on Giants QB Daniel Jones

Steve Mariucci says the “jury is still out” on New York Giants QB Daniel Jones, but admits he’s been dealt a raw hand.

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New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones is entering his fourth year as the team’s starter and, depending on how things pan out, it could be his last.

New general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll are willing to give Jones one more shot to succeed this season after owner John Mara publicly admitted that the team did ‘everything to screw this kid up‘ his first three years in the league.

True. Jones has had to operate under an unstable framework that saw the Giants go through two head coaches, three offensive coordinators and an unusually high amount of injuries and illnesses. Jones himself missed games due to injury each the last three seasons.

Former NFL head coach and current NFL Network analyst, Steve Mariucci, chimed in on Jones’ prospects of success as he entered the final year of his rookie contract. That is, unless the Giants exercise his fifth-year option.

“Like any quarterback you have to have a supporting cast,” Mariucci told Newsday this week. “It was a shame that Saquon Barkley was hurt and it’s a shame that they had some offensive line failures. That roster needs to improve, let’s face it.”

The Giants have very little cap room to go on a free agent splurge this offseason, but they do have quite a bit of draft capital that they can utilize to change the direction and face of the club.

“There’s nothing fair,” Mariucci said, “It’s just how it is. He’s got to do the best he can with what they have.”

And what they have is very little at the moment. That could change is Schoen can bring in an impactful rookie class. They can improve their sagging offensive line significantly through the draft as this is a strong class for ‘hog mollies.’

“If Daniel Jones has a better offensive line, has some more weapons on offense, maybe,” Mariucci said. “And then it comes down to him not playing catch-up so the defense has to keep him in games or keep it close so he is not having to throw the ball so much.

“We’ll see how that goes. The jury is still out. I’m rooting for him.”

So are we all, but expect the Giants to have a strong Plan B if Jones continues to falter.

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Giants say Brian Flores accusations are ‘disturbing and simply false’

The New York Giants have released a second statement on Brian Flores’ lawsuit and say the accusations are “disturbing and simply false.”

On Tuesday, it was revealed that former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores had filed a lawsuit against the NFL and its teams — three teams were specifically named.

Among them was the New York Giants, who Flores accused of racist hiring practices, claiming they forced him through a “sham” interview. The purpose, the filing stated, was to portray serious interest in a minority candidate simply to satisfy the league’s Rooney Rule.

The Giants promptly issued a short statement denying the allegations.

“We are pleased and confident with the process that resulted in the hiring of Brian Daboll. We interviewed an impressive and diverse group of candidates. The fact of the matter is, Brian Flores was in the conversation to be our head coach until the eleventh hour. Ultimately, we hired the individual we felt was most qualified to be our next head coach,” the statement read.

On Thursday evening, the Giants released a secondary statement. This time, they called Flores’ allegations “disturbing and simply false.”

Brian Flores has raised serious issues in the filing of his complaint. The specific claims against the Giants and Mr. Flores’ allegations about the legitimacy of his candidacy for our head coach position are disturbing and simply false.

After we interviewed six exceptional and diverse candidates, the decision on who we would hire as head coach was made on the evening of January 28, one day after Mr. Flores spent an entire day in our offices going through his second interview for the position, meeting with ownership and other staff members, and receiving a tour of our facility. (See the itinerary below). There is additional concrete and objective evidence to substantiate we did not make our decision until the evening of the 28th.

The allegation that the Giants’ decision had been made prior to Friday evening, January 28, is false. And to base that allegation on a text exchange with Bill Belichick in which he ultimately states that he “thinks” Brian Daboll would get the job is irresponsible. The text exchange occurred the day before Coach Daboll’s in-person interview even took place. Giants’ ownership would never hire a head coach based only on a 20-minute zoom interview, which is all that Mr. Daboll had at that point.

The Giants expanded on the Bill Belichick text messages, stating that the New England Patriots head coach does not speak for the organization and does not have a current affiliation with the team.

Further, the Giants shared their timeline on the hiring process, including Flores’ contact and involvement in establishing interviews.

In addition, Mr. Belichick does not speak for and has no affiliation with the Giants. Mr. Belichick’s text exchange provides no insight into what actually transpired during our head coaching search.

It has been well documented how much research and due diligence we did on Mr. Flores as it related to his candidacy. John Mara called Mr. Flores two days after he was dismissed in Miami. Mr. Mara expressed to Mr. Flores in that January 12 call that once we had our new general manager in place, we would begin the process of hiring our head coach and we wanted to meet with Mr. Flores because we considered him a serious candidate for the position. Mr. Mara and Mr. Flores then had their first formal conversation in a 25-30 minute zoom call on January 18 (at Mr. Flores’ request) to further discuss his candidacy.

In between those initial conversations and Mr. Flores’ in-person interview on January 27, there were several other communications between Mr. Flores and members of our organization. This included a dinner with our newly hired general manager, Joe Schoen, the night before Mr. Flores’s in-person interview. The consensus from within the Giants organization after this dinner remained that Mr. Flores was an outstanding candidate, and we looked forward to sitting down with him in person the next day.

Our hiring process and, most certainly, our consideration of Mr. Flores was serious and genuine. We are disappointed to learn that Mr. Flores was under the mistaken impression the job had already been awarded.

Finally, the Giants doubled-down on their decision to hire Brian Daboll as their next head coach, using Flores’ own words to justify the decision.

In his CBS interview yesterday, Mr. Flores was asked if “clubs have the right to hire the person they think is the best qualified for the job or the person they feel is right for them?” Mr. Flores responded “They do. That’s very reasonable to me . . .”. That is exactly what we did.

We hired Brian Daboll as our head coach at the conclusion of an open and thorough interview process. No decision was made, and no job offer was extended, until the evening of January 28, a full day after Mr. Flores’ in-person interview and day-long visit to the Giants.

The full itinerary for the Flores interview in East Rutherford was also made public:

Brian Flores Interview Itinerary – Head Football Coach

January 27, 2022

8:45am – arrival at Quest (Joe Schoen)

9:00am – meet w/ John Mara, Chris Mara, Steve Tisch, & Joe Schoen

12:00pm – Lunch / Facility Tour – Tim McDonnell

1:00pm – Pat Hanlon/Jen Escalante/Dion Dargin

1:45pm – Ronnie Barnes/Jessie Armstead

2:30pm – Allison Stangeby/Pete Guelli

3:30pm – Joe Schoen

More to come…

Was Daniel Jones a selling point during Giants’ GM, coaching search?

Nearly all general manager and head coaching candidates interviewed by the New York Giants expressed excitement over Daniel Jones’ potential.

Many of the candidates who interviewed for the New York Giants’ general manager job were asked — or gave — their opinion on fourth-year quarterback Daniel Jones.

Not that their answers or opinions would sway ownership either way (or shouldn’t have), but it was a prime subject in the discussions.

“I think we did (nine) general manager interviews and (six) head coach interviews, and every single interview was positive about Daniel,” Giants co-owner John Mara said last week.

“Now, they’re not willing to say that they think he’s going to be the next Patrick Mahomes or anything like that, but they were excited about the potential he has and the possibility of working with him. That, to me, was reassuring because that’s the way we feel as well.”

The Giants aren’t saying they are locked into Jones and new general manager Joe Schoen has indicated such, as has Daboll.

Both agree that Jones is talented and can succeed with the right the tutelage and support. Jones has had two head coaches and three offensive coordinators in his three seasons here. Each of his seasons has been marred with games missed due to injury and and inconsistent cast around him.

Some stability would do Jones good and finally the Giants might get to see what they have in him. Jones was the sixth overall selection in the 2019 NFL draft and showed flashes early on as a rookie only to falter the next two seasons.

Mara himself admitted recently that the club had failed Jones.

“We’ve done everything possible to screw they kid up,” Mara said. “We certainly haven’t given up on Daniel Jones.”

And that is evident with the hiring of Schoen and Daboll, who have created a monster offense in Buffalo and hope to replicate that here in East Rutherford.

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Emotional Tiki Barber comes to defense of Giants, owners: They aren’t racist

Tiki Barber came to an emphatic defense of the New York Giants on Wednesday and shared an emotional story about Wellington Mara.

Since his controversial retirement at the conclusion of the 2006 season, Tiki Barber has had a rocky relationship with New York Giants fans. He has not, however, had as rocky a relationship with the team or its owners.

On Tuesday, former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores filed a lawsuit against the NFL and its teams, including the Giants, alleging racism in their hiring practices. He accused New York of running him through a “sham” process to make it appear as if a minority candidate was being seriously considered.

The Giants released a statement emphatically denying the allegations, noting that Flores was considered a finalist for the job.

“We are pleased and confident with the process that resulted in the hiring of Brian Daboll. We interviewed an impressive and diverse group of candidates. The fact of the matter is, Brian Flores was in the conversation to be our head coach until the eleventh hour. Ultimately, we hired the individual we felt was most qualified to be our next head coach,” the statement read.

During Wednesday’s edition of First Take, host Stephen A. Smith took harsh aim at the Giants.

“Let me say this to the New York Giants. As an organization, when it comes to black coaches, I don’t believe a damn word you have to say,” Smith said. “There’s no one more incriminating than the New York Giants when it comes to black coaches. We are in the year 2022. All of these years, damn near a century for crying out loud, there is one single franchise that has not had a black coach. That is the New York Giants.”

There are six teams that have never hired a Black general manager or head coach on a full-time basis. Although the Giants did have a Black GM — Jerry Reese — they have never had a full-time Black head coach in their history.

Despite that, Barber took exception to Smith’s comments and came to defense of the Giants during the Tiki & Tierney on Wednesday.

“I just don’t think that the Maras, who I’ve known for 25 years, are racist,” Barber said, via Big Blue View.

“I’m not willing to scream and yell that the Giants, an organization that I revere, that I had a great relationship with, to say that they’re racist simply because they haven’t had a black head coach or a black quarterback.”

Barber then became emotion as he recounted a never-before-told story about visiting Wellington Mara’s bedside before the late owner passed away.

“I went to his bedside and I just tell him thank you for making me a Giant,” Barber recalls. “The fact that the Maras, and I always said this with the Tisches as well, they embraced me like I was family. I know them intimately, so when I say I don’t believe they’re racist it’s because I know they’re not … I know they’re not a racist organization.”

Although Barber firmly believes the Giants are not a racist organization, he admits the NFL has a problem with hiring minority coaches.

“[The Giants] hired a general manager [Joe Schoen] who had an idea of who he wanted to be the head coach, and Brian Flores is lighting a match to the Giants’ organization and to the league, which needs to be explored. I’m not saying this doesn’t need to be explored,” Barber said.

“We’ve known this for two decades. The fact that there are Rooney Rules proves that we know this is an issue. The Rooney Rule is not perfect. It’s never going to be perfect because the pipeline for Black candidates is not wide enough, is not big enough. At the end of the day you try to do the best you can, and I think the league and the Giants, they’re trying to do the best they can.”

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Giants’ Daniel Jones intends to pick brain of Josh Allen this offseason

New York Giants QB Daniel Jones will reach out to Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen this offseason and pick his brain on Brian Daboll’s offense.

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This past week, the New York Giants have hired a general manager and a head coach off the payroll of the Buffalo Bills, partly because they believe that Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll can turn quarterback Daniel Jones into a franchise quarterback like they did with Josh Allen.

Well, something like that. The Giants say they simply hired the best candidates and their opinions — Jones was not necessarily the deciding factor.

Both men believe that Jones can become the player the Giants had hoped when they selected him sixth overall back in 2019. Jones had some early success but then stumbled after a myriad of negative circumstances befell him — injuries, poor coaching and a lack of sufficient talent around him.

Even owner John Mara admitted publicly that the team did everything to “screw this kid up.” But with the Buffalo contingent in charge now, they hope that Jones will prosper with some much seeded stability and tutelage.

Jones himself is not siting back and waiting for the cavalry. He plans on tapping into the Buffalo vein by reaching out to Josh Allen for some guidance.

Allen has become one of the game’s most prolific and dynamic players and possesses some of the same traits as Jones — size, mobility and a big arm.

“Going forward I plan to try to get in touch with him,” Jones told The Post about Allen. Quarterbacks have a close-knit society and the two know each other, a relationship that is about to get closer.

“Obviously Josh is a great player, he’s done a lot of great things in this league, and fun guy to watch, and a guy who’s had a lot of success,” Jones said.

What exactly does Jones plan on picking Allen’s brain about?

“I think just kind of general stuff on how they made it work so well. … How he went about building that relationship, and how he learned best and just made it work,” Jones said.

Many will argue that Jones is not Allen, not even close in some cases. But that won’t preclude him from looking into taking the same pat to success.

“My goal is not to be him, or try to emulate him. I understand I got my own skill-set, my own game, so I’ll try to be the be the best version of that, be the best version of myself,” Jones said. “Coach Daboll has said that to me, and I think that’s what he expects. I look forward to learning from Coach, and obviously there’s a lot of things he was able to teach Josh, and I’ll look forward to learning from that, and try to be the best player I can be.”

With Daboll at the helm, the Giants will almost assuredly be better offensively and that will benefit Jones. We’ve seen him do exceptional things on the field and now he’ll finally get the platform to put those traits on display full time.

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