Tag: Kevin Abrams

Report: Giants wanted to hire Ryan Poles as assistant GM

The New York Giants were interested in hiring Ryan Poles as their assistant general manager before he joined the Chicago Bears.

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Even prior to Dave Gettleman announcing his retirement from football, the New York Giants had begun to look forward. They knew a major overhaul was necessary and that included a new general manager and, likely, a new assistant general manager.

In the end, the Giants landed on Joe Schoen, who had previously been with the Buffalo Bills, as their next GM. But that decision only came after an exhaustive search that included a multitude of interviews.

Several candidates rose to the top alongside Schoen, including Ryan Poles.

Poles had served as the executive director of player personnel for the Kansas City Chiefs and was widely viewed as a rising star. And the Giants were so impressed with his interview that although they settled on Schoen, had begun to consider other options for Poles.

While appearing on Talkin’ Giants this week, ESPN reporter Jordan Raanan revealed that the Giants considered hiring Poles as the assistant GM — a job that ultimately went to Brandon Brown after Kevin Abrams took on a different organizational role.

“The Giants loved him. To the point where they had an idea, ‘okay, if we hire another guy, we’d love to hire Ryan Poles as our assistant general manager.’ If he didn’t get another job, which he eventually did,” Raanan said.

Poles, of course, went on to land the Chicago Bears general manager role — a position Schoen had also interviewed for.

Ultimately, the Giants went with Schoen over Poles based on his overall experience in the game of football. He was a player who became and intern and then rose through the ranks. Poles, although impressive, didn’t have quite the resume to match.

It’s no guarantee Poles would have agreed to join the Giants in a lesser role, but the organization was certainly prepared to offer him a position. Instead, Poles will now be an NFC opponent of the Giants and Schoen.

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Giants named Kevin Abrams to SVP of football operations

The Giants named Kevin Abrams the senior vice president of football operations and strategy.

The New York Giants named Kevin Abrams their new senior vice president of football operations and strategy on Saturday in an announcement from the team.

Abrams, 50, had been serving as the Giants’ vice president of football operations since 2018, has been the assistant general manager since 2002 and salary cap analyst since 1999.

Abrams will be replaced as the assistant general manager by Brandon Brown, who was also hired on Saturday.

“Kevin has been and will continue to be an invaluable resource for me and our staff,” general manager Joe Schoen said in a statement. “In his new role, Kevin will be assisting with the day-to-day football operation, administration and strategy of the organization moving forward.”

It appears the Giants are basically pushing Abrams aside when to comes to personnel decisions by creating a position with an amorphous title. Its is clear that Schoen is taking charge and is swiftly remolding the Giants’ front office.

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Giants, Joe Schoen aim to clear $40 million in cap space this offseason

The New York Giants and GM Joe Schoen will look to clear upwards of $40 million in salary cap space this offseason.

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The New York Giants may have a new regime in place but they still have many of their old problems.

Peter King of NBC Sports reports the Giants’ new general manager, Joe Schoen, will be concentrating on repairing the team’s out of control salary cap situation he inherited from his predecessor, Dave Gettleman.

The Giants have to either fix Daniel Jones or replace him in 2023, and Schoen told me Saturday he’ll have to clear out $40 million from a bloated and mismanaged salary cap this spring.

“When we first got to Buffalo,” said Schoen, “we had $55 million in dead cap money we had to manage. We had a plan there, and we’ll have one here. We may have to make some decisions that hurt, but I do not want to kick the can down the road with the cap. I want to get it fixed.”

How Schoen intends to do that is unknown. At his introductory presser he briefly mentioned there would be tough decisions ahead, but looking at the team’s salary cap table, there’s very little to be saved by simply cutting players.

Because of that, the Giants will have to get some of their higher-paid players to agree to restructures or pay cuts.

“It’s a concern and it’s real,” Schoen said of the cap situation last week. “Kevin Abrams and I haven’t talked about it yet. We looked at it, we’re going to get together at the end of the week or first of next week to start formulating a plan, but we’re going to have to get below the salary cap.

“Obviously, we’re going to have to clear some money, but when the new head coach gets in here, the new staff, we’re going to get together, we’re going to watch the film, we’re going to evaluate everybody, we’re going to talk to the support staff. Who are the guys that kind of fit the vision that we’re looking for? Who are the guys that are going to buy into the program? Then, we’ll make educated decisions once we have more information. There are going to be difficult decisions that are going to have to be made.”

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Giants will retain Kevin Abrams, Ed Triggs

New York Giants GM Joe Schoen says the team will retain assistant GM Kevin Abrams and director of football operations Ed Triggs.

The New York Giants may have a new general manager and a new head coach, but it’s beginning to look like little else will change.

Following Brian Daboll’s introductory press conference on Monday, GM Joe Schoen also briefly met with reporters. And during that time, revealed the Giants will retain assistant general manager Kevin Abrams and director of football operations Ed Triggs.

In addition to assistant GM, Abrams also holds the title of vice president of football operations. It’s unclear if he’ll surrender each or both of those titles, but his actual role with the organization is unlikely to change.

Eventually, Schoen will bring in some executives he’s familiar with to pair with some holdovers, but that means more of a restructure than a full rebuild. Abrams and Triggs are well-respected in the organization and around the league.

In addition to Abrams and Triggs, the Giants also intend to retain defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, assuming he is not hired as the next Minnesota Vikings head coach.

As many things change, so many stay the same.

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Giants rolling over league’s least amount of unused cap space

The New York Giants will carry over just under $14,000 in unused salary cap space into 2022, the league’s lowest amount (by far).

After every season, the NFL determines how much empty salary cap space each team has available to carry over into the next season.

One would think that the New York Giants, who finished 4-13 in 2021, would be carrying over a sizable sum into 2022. That’s not the case.

According to ESPN NFL reporter Field Yates, the Giants are only carrying $13,986 into 2022. That’s among the lowest unintentional rollovers of unused cap space in NFL history.

The Giants have outgoing general manager Dave Gettleman and current assistant general manager Kevin Abrams to thank for that. They were forced to pad the roster with free agents after Gettleman’s drafts failed to produce, signing players to some egregious contracts that had GMs around the league up in arms.

As a result, the Giants are in ‘salary cap hell’ and are approximately $5.7 million over the 2022 cap at the moment. The new general manager will have his hands full trying to rectify the sorry roster Gettleman left behind with hardly any cap space to operate with.

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Report: Kevin Abrams not a candidate for Giants’ GM job

Kevin Abrams is not considered a candidate to replace Dave Gettleman as the New York Giants’ next general manager.

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Long before Dave Gettleman announced his retirement, there was speculation that Kevin Abrams would be a favorite to land the New York Giants’ general manager job.

Even before the dust settled on Gettleman’s retirement on Monday, a report surfaced that Abrams was first up to interview for the position.

As it turns out however, that may not be the case at all.

During Monday’s rush to request interviews, the Giants seemingly passed over Abrams. In fact, Art Stapleton of USA TODAY reports that Abrams is not even considered a candidate to replace Gettleman after twice interviewing for the job over the years.

That, of course, will come as music to the ears of Giants fans. Although Abrams has served as more of a cap guy, there has been a desire for a fresh start in East Rutherford brought about by an outside hire.

With Abrams out of the GM picture, it really does appear as if Giants co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch intend to hire from outside of the organization and get a new, fresh set of eyes on things. And that is precisely what needed to happen.

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Giants GM search: Interview list up to five names

The New York Giants general manager search is off to a hot start with five names on the interview list — four from outside the organization.

Dave Gettleman unceremoniously announced his retirement on Monday, which thrust the New York Giants into a general manager search.

Led by co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch, the Giants hit the ground running. They requested interviews with Buffalo Bills assistant general manager Joe Schoen and Kansas City Chiefs executive director of player personnel Ryan Poles.

It was also reported that the Giants would interview in-house assistant general manager Kevin Abrams.

But the Giants didn’t stop there. After interviewing just four candidates in 2017 prior to hiring Gettleman, the team has already requested five total interviews this time around.

In addition to Schoen, Poles and Abrams, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports that the Giants have requested interviews with Tennessee Titans vice president of player personnel Ryan Cowden and director of player personnel Monti Ossenfort.

Ossenfort is another name we’ve frequently written about in recent weeks:

Monti Ossenfort is the director of player personnel for the Titans and spent last season interviewing for general manager positions. He is an up-and-coming executive in football and has helped the Titans be one of the most dominant teams in the AFC over the past few seasons.

Ossenfort earned a second interview with the Panthers last year for the general manager position and this may be the year he finally is able to achieve that role but for the Giants.

Cowden has spent the last six seasons in Tennessee, where he began as the director of player personnel. Prior to that, he spent 16 seasons with the Carolina Panthers where he crossed paths with Dave Gettleman. He climbed the ladder from area scout to director of college scouting.

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Tiki Barber: Giants have one of the ‘worst situations in football’

Tiki Barber believes the New York Giants currently have one of the “worst situations in football” and need an outside GM to take over.

The New York Giants will head into the offseason having lost double-digit games for the fifth consecutive season. They have gone to the playoffs just once since winning Super Bowl XLVI and will be moving onto their third general manager over that same span.

The incoming GM will likely have head coach Joe Judge and quarterback Daniel Jones forced on them, meaning an outside hire is unlikely. It also leaves the entire lot in a precarious and perhaps fleeting situation.

It’s not ideal. In fact, in the mind of retired Giants running back Tiki Barber, it’s one of the worst situations in all of football.

“That disconnect from top to bottom is something that’s really hard to reconcile in the NFL,” Barber told NJ Advance Media. “I think everybody, except for whoever the new GM is, is basically on a one-year, prove-it deal. It’s hard to operate like that.

“They’re in an untenable situation. It’s one of the worst situations in football. And I know that’s saying a lot, especially with the Jaguars. But the Jaguars have no expectations. So I think the Giants — because of their history and the former perception of the team as this ideal to live up to — they’re in one of the worst positions in the league.”

Barber believes the Giants need to go with an outside hire — someone who is younger and not wrapped up in believing they know it all and have seen it all.

That means no Kevin Abrams.

“(They need someone) who approaches it from a different perspective than: ‘Oh, I’ve been here, and I’ve seen it for 30 years,'” Barber said.

However things ultimately shake out, Barber is correct. The Giants are not a desirable location and that’s compounded by their commitment to Judge and his commitment to Jones.

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Ex-Giants scout warns against hiring Kevin Abrams as GM

Former New York Giants scout Steven Verderosa says the team should avoid hiring Kevin Abrams as their next general manager.

The New York Giants are expected to part ways with general manager Dave Gettleman at the end of the season. Whether that comes via retirement or an outright firing remains to be seen.

The question is, who will replace Gettleman if the Giants intend to keep both head coach Joe Judge and quarterback Daniel Jones?

The obvious answer is assistant GM Kevin Abrams, who held the interim title after the team fired Jerry Reese in 2017.

Abrams is familiar with the organization, will be more inclined to take on the baggage that is Jones and Judge, and seems like a natural fit if little else is changing. He’s also drawn support from several former Giants player, including kicker Lawrence Tynes.

“I would like to see Kevin Abrams be named general manager of the New York Giants,” Tynes said. “I say that because he’s been here for a long time. He should have been hired last cycle before Gettleman and I think we would have avoided this mess that we’re in.

“But I think he deserves a shot to run this team. And here’s how I’ll say it: If we’re keeping Judge, you give Abrams one year and if it doesn’t work out, you fire everyone next year. I know that’s what we want to keep doing but I would love to see Kevin Abrams get a shot at running this team.”

Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports also recently reported that Abrams will draw “strong consideration” as a potential Gettleman replacement.

But Steven Verderosa, a former Giants scout of more than three decades, has cautioned against hiring Abrams.

“Kevin has been the one negotiating the bad signings (Nate Solder, Kenny Golladay, etc.). He is not a football guy — never played, coached or scouted. Need a football guy!” Verderosa tweeted.

Verderosa, who joined the Giants in 1988 after spending time in the scouting department of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was let go in 2020. Since then, he’s taken on a role for Pro Football Network and frequently offers his opinions on the Giants.

Verderosa has obviously spent a lot of time around Abrams and knows the ins and outs of the Giants’ executive structure, so his opinion is worth a little more than a pinch of salt. Perhaps two pinches of salt.

Still, it’s interesting to see the conflicting opinions on Abrams play out publicly. Some former Giants players, scouts and personnel support him. Others do not.

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Report: Giants will bring back Joe Judge, Daniel Jones in 2022

As expected, the New York Giants intend to move forward with head coach Joe Judge and quarterback Daniel Jones.

The New York Giants are likely to part ways with general manager Dave Gettleman in the coming weeks, but head coach Joe Judge and quarterback Daniel Jones appear safe.

On Sunday morning, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the Giants intend to bring both back in 2022 despite the upcoming shift at GM.

The New York Giants are planning to bring back head coach Joe Judge and quarterback Daniel Jones for the 2022 season, league sources tell ESPN.

The Giants believe both Judge and Jones deserve the opportunity to demonstrate their talents next season, even though New York already has been eliminated from the playoffs and has clinched a fifth consecutive season with double-digit losses.

Schefter adds that several other “difficult conversations” are likely to occur and that Judge will be involved in those discussions.

The Giants still are expected to have difficult conversations with multiple members of the organization in an attempt to diagnose all that has gone wrong in recent seasons, and Judge will be a key part of those conversations.

Retaining Judge and Jones adds a wrinkle to any potential GM search. Most incoming executives would want to build their own coaching staff and roster, which strengthens the possibility of the Giants promoting assistant general manager Kevin Abrams.

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