Tag: Michael Lombardi

Ex-NFL GM believes Giants have wrong approach for success

Former NFL general manager Michael Lombardi, a long-time New York Giants critic, is taking shots at their roster-building process again.

This week, New York Giants co-owner John Mara committed to general manager Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll despite their second 2-5 start in as many years.

The regime Mara is hanging his hat on is 17-23-1 since taking over the club in 2022. They began by winning six of their first seven games that year and eked into the playoffs, but since that streak, their record is 11-22-1.

Most new general managers and coaches concentrate on beating the teams they need to beat to win their division. In the Giants’ case that would be the NFC East rivals: Dallas, Philadelphia, and Washington.

Since Schoen and Daboll took over the Giants are 0-5 against Dallas, 1-5 (including playoffs) versus Philly, and 3-1-1 against Washington but lost their first game versus them this season with Jayden Daniels under center and Dan Quinn as the head coach.

Former NFL executive Michael Lombardi pointed out on the Pat McAfee Show this week that the Giants — Mara, Schoen, and Daboll — aren’t preparing themselves for success, which begins by winning games within the division.

“You win the division, obviously, and you get in the dance and have a home playoff game,” said McAfee. “And anything can happen from there.”

Referring to the footage aired by HBO’s Hard Knocks, Lombardi and McAfee were both shocked at how the Giants brass made their plans to build their roster for the season.

“They never said one time in the entire Hard Knocks, ‘How do we beat Philly? How do we beat Dallas?'” Lombardi said.

When they decided to trade for Carolina Panthers Pro Bowl defensive end Brian Burns, which was highlighted in the docuseries, Lombardi pointed out that the group never discussed Burns’ performance against their NFC rivals.

“That’s the stuff we (general managers) talk about and it wasn’t there,” he said. “It looks like people were doing their fantasy draft … and that’s offensive to me.”

The numbers don’t lie. In the NFL results are what counts. No one cares how smart you are or think you are. If you don’t win, you’re out.

Daboll and Schoen are safe for now but one wonders if they can’t even match last year’s win total of six this year, will Mara still feel the same?

“I think you focus on what you can control, and I’ve said this numerous times, we have a very good communication process, a good relationship,” said Daboll. “Again, nobody’s happy about the results or the record, but the communication and the process and the people, I believe in them.”

It’s sink or swim time for this latest version of the Giants front office.

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Michael Lombardi: Giants’ Joe Schoen ‘insulting to my profession’

Former NFL executive Michael Lombardi says New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen is “‘insulting to my profession.”

Former Cleveland Browns general manager and Philadelphia Eagles director of pro personnel, Michael Lombardi, has never been shy about his criticisms of the New York Giants. They have persisted for many years.

Those criticisms continued on Monday, this time with Lombardi taking specific aim at current Giants general manager Joe Schoen.

During the latest episode of The GM Shuffle podcast with Lombardi, the former executive looked back on “Hard Knocks: Offseason with the New York Giants” and took personal offense to what he saw.

“When you watch that, there were no models, there was no, ‘How are we building this team?’ It was really amateur hour,” Lombardi said. “What it did, it was insulting to my profession. It made people (who) hang out at sports bars think they can be a GM. So, to me, it was really embarrassing.”

Lombardi went on to suggest that fans have quit on Schoen, no longer have any confidence in him as general manager, and they are aware his product is no good.

Perhaps some of that is projection, but there may also be a level of truth to it.

“I feel bad for the Giants fans. I really do because I don’t see how it gets better,” Lombardi said. “How are they getting to five wins?”

Lombardi went on to praise head coach Brian Daboll as a friend but suggested he stands no chance in New York due to the construction of the team. It doesn’t matter how good of a coach he is, the former GM says, because he has nothing to work with.

“You can’t make chicken salad out of chicken (expletive),” Lombardi added.

From Ben McAdoo to Pat Shurmur to Joe Judge to Daboll, it’s all been a mess. And although Dabes may be his friend, Lombardi feels it’s time for a professional to take over in East Rutherford.

Could that be where this franchise is headed? More regime turnover? It’s a never-ending cycle.

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Ex-NFL GM trashes Giants after premiere of ‘Hard Knocks’

A former NFL GM slammed the New York Giants after their “Hard Knocks” debut, claiming they lack an identity and will continue to fail.

On Tuesday night, “Hard Knocks: Offseason with the New York Giants” premiered on HBO and peeled back the curtain on the Joe Schoen-Brian Daboll regime a bit.

There were several notable takeaways from the 40-minute episode, as well as some under-the-radar moments. However, how the show was interpreted varies from fan to fan and from analyst to analyst.

In the mind of former NFL general manager Michael Lombardi, who is often critical of the Giants, it showed a franchise without an identity.

During Wednesday’s edition of the Lombardi Line podcast, Lombardi began his critique by slamming Schoen and the Giants for their continued commitment to quarterback Daniel Jones.

“To me, there’s a disconnect,” Lombardi said. “There was a sense. . . that somewhere on some tape that I can’t find that Daniel Jones has played above the line. I can’t find that tape. I don’t see it.

“They act like if he’s healthy, (they’re) going to be really good. And I’m missing that. So, for me, that was a hard thing to understand and get my arms around.”

Lombardi also argued that the Giants have gotten away from what has worked for them historically, namely the process put in place by the late George Young. The further removed the organization has gotten from that, the more failure and turnover they have experienced.

“They’ve gone through so many coaches and they’ve gone through so many staffs, that the staffs are now instituting the philosophical nature of the company and that’s when companies often fail,” Lombardi said.

Things aren’t going to get any better for the Giants in Lombardi’s eyes. He doesn’t believe Schoen has the proper power structure in place and argues that there are too many opinions being shared around the table.

“When you’ve got that many people involved in decision-making, you’re going to make a bad decision. You’ve got too many opinions,” Lombardi said. “There should be a pyramid of opinions. . . They really don’t know who they are. They don’t know what a Giant player is. To me, that’s the biggest problem I took away from (the show).

“What is a Giant player? Like, who are we? What is our identity? You can’t get that from Shane Bowen. You can’t get that from Mike Kafka. You have to have an identity from who you are as a team.”

Lombardi continued, claiming the Giants are lost at sea without an identity.

“If you don’t know who you are, how the hell do you find players out there who can fix it?” he said. “To me, it was about ‘we’re picking players here. We’re just picking players here.’ There was no real conversation about what wins in the league because the Giants had that formula for years.

“If you’re wondering why they’re not being successful, I think it’s because they don’t have an overall philosophical belief in who they are as a football team.”

If what Lombardi says proves to be true, it won’t be long before the Giants are back on the market looking for a new general manager and head coach.

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Former Patriots assistant questions Mac Jones’ likeability in locker room

Is there a disconnect between Mac Jones and his teammates? One former Patriots assistant believes so.

Former New England Patriots assistant Michael Lombardi believes Mac Jones isn’t well-liked in the locker room, which has only added to the problems he’s having right now on the football field.

He pointed to examples such as Jones’ teammates having “no sense of energy,” when talking about him. Lombardi also believes that the quarterback “blames everybody through his body language, through his mechanics.”

“Nobody wants to hang out with Mac Jones,” Lombardi said on his “GM Shuffle” podcast, as transcribed by Boston.com. “Nobody wants to hang out with him. You can see it on these teams. So when you see a bad quarterback like (Tommy) DeVito — they’ll hang out with him. They’ll go over to his house and have chicken parm. Like, they like him. He’s no good — they like him, though. And I think that’s where we lose sight of it a little bit when we’re evaluating these quarterbacks. Because what is the likability of the player?”

Jones has had a difficult season overall. He has thrown for 2,120 yards, 10 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. There’s a chance he won’t even start in this week’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers.

Yet, despite all of the noise surrounding Jones, his teammates continue to back him in front of the media.

New England could have a chance to revamp the quarterback position in the 2024 NFL draft. Currently, they hold the third overall selection for next April’s event.

At this point, a change of scenery for both Jones and the Patriots organization may do some good.

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Michael Lombardi blasts Commanders HC Ron Rivera

Lombardi does think Sam Howell will be a lot better than Washington’s QBs last season and therefore, win more games.

Former NFL executive Michael Lombardi is not very impressed with Ron Rivera right now.

Lombardi, who was an NFL scout, player personnel director and general manager, offered sharp criticisms of Rivera when he was a guest on the “Grant and Danny Show” on Thursday.

Lombardi expressed that the Commanders really struggled in the 2022 season primarily because of the struggles of their quarterbacks Carson Wentz and then Taylor Heinicke.

As a result, Lombardi does not understand/agree with the Commanders over/ under on 2023 wins, only being at 6.5. He was adamant he believes Sam Howell will be a better quarterback than what they had in 2022.

“How much worse could Howell be than those two guys? He can’t be any worse.”

Lombardi pointed to three items that he thinks reflect poorly on Rivera. Not knowing they could be eliminated from the playoffs following the loss to the Browns, his statements regarding Eric Bieniemy during training camp and now admitting he didn’t realize in 2022 what Sam Howell could do.

“What it does is it shows he was seeing practice but was not observing practice. People that are only seeing don’t get anywhere.”

Lombardi pointed out that Rivera has all the authority, and can make any move he wants to make.

Lombardi feels this reveals there is not enough observation and interaction with Rivera’s assistants regarding the player personnel.

Rivera even became the butt of Lombardi’s jokes as Lombardi compared Rivera to Jedd Clampett of the old Beverly Hillbillies, luckily striking oil.

“The quarterback of the Washington Commanders was costing them games. That’s pretty clear. Lombardi pointed in particular to the 2022 loss to the Titans “because the quarterback couldn’t make a play.”

He was emphatic that Wentz was killing the Commanders in games last year. He also pointed to Heinicke struggling and that Rivera should have noticed what Howell was doing on the scout team last season.

“New Commanders owner Josh Harris should be concerned now,” expressed Lombardi. He asked, “Did the 2022 coaching staff have a meeting after the first quarter of the season to discuss everyone on the roster?”

Were the Commanders making notes of the players on the scout teams, observing their progression and or regression? “But if you are not paying attention to it, if you are not aware of it. You’re the general manager of the team. That is not a good look for you,” declared Lombardi referring to Rivera.

There was more, but the overall tone was that Lombardi feels Rivera has revealed he is not working hard enough and not communicating enough with his staff concerning their roster and player personnel.

Lombardi was quick to qualify his comments, stating Rivera is a good man; he was not attacking Rivera as a person. He did reassert he is questioning Rivera as a businessman.

NFL fans ripped Michael Lombardi for his wildly insensitive comments on Trey Lance’s future with 49ers

What are you talking about, Michael Lombardi?

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Trey Lance certainly has an uncertain future in the NFL, as it looks like he’s competing for the 49ers backup job right now.

Kyle Shanahan bluntly confirmed this week that quarterback Brock Purdy should hold down the team’s starting gig, which may mean that Lance eventually ends up elsewhere in the NFL to contend for a starting job.

However, his situation is far more complex than whatever former NFL general manager Michael Lombardi seems to think about it.

Discussing Lance’s future on his DraftKings show The GM Shuffle, Lombardi made some ridiculously unfair assessments of the quarterback’s general abilities and flatly says that Lance doesn’t have “quarterback instinct.”

“As you go down this road with Lance, it just becomes harder and harder and harder,” Lombardi said on his show, “and you can show all the clips of him moving and all that stuff. At the end of the day when his momma lifted him from the crib, he just didn’t have that quarterback instinct.

“He is not going to be the backup quarterback. I don’t know what they’re going to do with him, but there’s no chance. There is no chance based on the evidence that I’ve seen and based on what I’ve heard.”

While no one can say for certain that Lance will be able to win a starting NFL job one day, trying to obliterate the basic quarterback instinct that earned him being drafted so high in 2021 is just incorrect.

Lance had plenty of quarterback instincts when he was tearing it up at North Dakota State, and it’s not Lance’s fault that his career has been riddled with injuries so far.

He would’ve started a full season last fall had he not gotten hurt, and it’s not on Lance that the 49ers want to roll with Purdy this fall after the latter played so well.

Plus, the backup quarterback battle definitely isn’t over in San Francisco. Sam Darnold has struggled since being taken at the same pick as Lance, but we don’t hear Lombardi critiquing Darnold’s quarterback instincts.

The jury is still out on how Lance will be as an NFL quarterback, which is far more judicious than Lombardi’s wildly off-base hot takes about the quarterback.

As you can imagine, NFL fans ripped Lombardi for this take.

Browns: Former GM calls Cleveland a ‘sleeper team’ to win the AFC North

The Browns former general manager Michael Lombardi has his eyes Cleveland to make a run at an AFC North crown.

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Is head coach Kevin Stefanski facing a make-or-break season as the Cleveland Browns look to get back into the playoffs in 2023? After two straight seasons of missing the playoffs, the Browns made massive upgrades to their roster and are officially out of excuses.

And one of their various former general managers thinks they are a sleeper team to sneak to the top of the AFC North after finishing last in the division a year ago. Michael Lombardi joined The Pat McAfee Show to discuss the Browns, and he thinks the move to hire Jim Schwartz as their new defensive coordinator could push them over the top.

You can see what Lombardi had to say about his former employer here.

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Ex-NFL exec likes Dalvin Cook fit for Patriots over DeAndre Hopkins

This is a strong case for the Patriots going after Dalvin Cook

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There have been talks of free agent wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins potentially signing with the New England Patriots for weeks.

But what if the five-time All-Pro wideout wasn’t really the best fit for the team? What if it was actually four-time Pro Bowl running back Dalvin Cook instead?

Former NFL executive Michael Lombardi, who was also a former Patriots assistant, threw out the idea of Cook being the better fit of the two players in New England.

“I actually believe Dalvin Cook would be a better fit than Hopkins for them,” Lombardi said, when appearing on The Pat McAfee Show. “[Rhamondre] Stevenson is a great player. There’s no question. But without Stevenson, if he goes down, it’s Pierre Strong and Kevin Harris. They need another back, back there, and I think Cook is one of those really good change-of-pace, catch a screen, go a long way. I think he’d make a huge difference for the Patriots offense with Stevenson.”

There is no doubt the combination of Cook and Stevenson would do serious damage to opposing defenses.

With that said, Cook is a bit of a premium option for a Patriots team that does need help at receiver. There are other potentially cheaper options out there like Ezekiel Elliott and Leonard Fournette with Ty Montgomery, who had a tremendous spring showing, serving as the change-of-pace option for New England.

Those cheaper moves coupled with the addition of Hopkins might suit the team as whole even better.

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Michael Lombardi not a big fan of pending Commanders owner Josh Harris

Lombardi also famously once said Doug Pederson “might be less qualified to coach a team than anyone I’ve ever seen.” How’d that one turn out?

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It’s no secret to 106.7 The Fan listeners that Michael Lombardi was no fan of Dan Snyder or Bruce Allen.

Thursday Lombardi, a guest on the “Sports Junkies” morning show on 106.7 The Fan, offered some open opinions on current Philadelphia 76ers owner and pending Washington Commanders owner Josh Harris.

Lombardi has worked for the 49ers, Eagles, Browns, Raiders and Patriots. He has never shied away from presenting his opinion.

Thursday, Lombardi warned Commanders fans that he feels Harris is too interested in making sure his players are happy.

“As a Washington fan, I’d be concerned he is too player-friendly and wants too much for the players to be happy,” Lombardi said. “I’ve never been part of a program that worked if you’re not driving the players to be the best that can be. A former Canadiens (NHL Montreal franchise) player once told me they hated Scotty Bowman 363 days a year, but the day they got the Stanley Cup, they loved him.”

Lombardi was direct in saying Harris listened to those who were into analytics, resulting in the 76ers trading away Mikal Bridges for Zhaire Smith and Smith is not even in the G League, while Bridges is an All-Star.

“After 35 years studying players, I can tell you there are no two players who are exactly the same – so there’s no question Josh Harris will spend money and has the will to win, but what makes this tough with new ownership is, do they know how to make moves and build a culture within the building? The Commanders haven’t had a culture in the building since Dan Snyder bought the team, so this will take a lot of work.”

Lombardi doesn’t buy into the narrative that Ron Rivera has built a winning culture for the Commanders or the Panthers.

“What you hear is that he’s a player-friendly coach, but somebody has to drive the bus and run the program – if you’re player-friendly and not demanding? I’m not saying that you have to have a hard edge, but you have to be demanding and put the burden on the players to be the best they can be,” Lombardi said. “The Commanders are talented, but talent alone isn’t going to win anything. Ultimately, you have to be able to put the players in a situation to succeed.”

Lombardi does not take too kindly to Harris’s in-game involvement either.

“He sits right next to Doc Rivers on the bench, and to me, you shouldn’t be sitting there because that’s an awful message,” Lombardi said. “You need to have a global view of it. One of the reasons the 76ers don’t achieve is because they spoil all their best players. That comes from ownership; teams that win in the NFL, the owner drives the culture by saying the kind of team they want. If you want to be player-friendly, that’s great, but you’re never going to win a championship.”

There was more, but space does not permit it here. Check out the link I’ve provided above. The discussion was well worth the listen.

Ex-Patriots assistant thinks Mac Jones should show accountability

Should Mac Jones take accountability? One former Patriots assistant believes so.

The 2022 New England Patriots might not have been a mess of quarterback Mac Jones’ doing, but his reaction to it, especially on the football field, should come with some form of accountability, according to former Patriots assistant Michael Lombardi.

“Did the Patriots mess up with their decision with the staffing? I think that’s fairly obvious, and I think he’s admitted that. Okay? So that’s one,” Lombardi said, when appearing on The GM Shuffle. “Did Mac Jones’ behavior, conducive to that of an ultimate leader? No. He’s got to admit that, too. So there’s culpability on both sides.

“This isn’t a one-sided, let’s favor the player route. Let’s understand the player has to show a sincere accountability for his behavior, his lack of maturity. Some of that late tackling stuff on the field, that didn’t endear himself with his teammates either. So he’s going to have to cover that up. He’s going to have to show that he’s mature, too.”

To be fair, coach Bill Belichick has never fallen on the sword for some of the staffing blunders he made last season. Sure, he made the necessary changes in the offseason, which suggests he knows what he was doing wasn’t working.

But he hasn’t actually come out and admitted publicly to getting it wrong and changing course, which is absolutely fine as long as the necessary changes are being made.

Lombardi does make some good points about Jones. The frustrations with the way things were going and some of the decisions being made with the team are completely understandable.

Jones, a former Pro Bowler and first-round draft pick, was basically trotted out onto the field as a crash test dummy for a Belichick-approved vehicle with Matt Patricia at the wheel. But the controversial tackles out of frustration, alleged backchanneling with Alabama coaches and on-field tirades were a bit much for a player only in his second NFL season.

This isn’t just on the Patriots to get right.

Both Jones and Belichick need to figure it out together if they have any hopes of competing, much less winning a stacked AFC East division.

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