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The New York Giants are on a roll in free agency and general manager Dave Gettleman and his assistant Kevin Abrams deserve a ton of credit for the moves this offseason in an effort to turn this franchise around.
But another person in the organization could be the real driver for the changes. Changes in culture, changes in philosophy and, ultimately, changes in the outcome of games and seasons.
That man is head coach Joe Judge, who many of the new and current players (as well as onlookers) are crediting with this potential Giant turnaround, including Tiki Barber.
https://twitter.com/TikiBarber/status/1374506773873233925
“Honestly, I just love this organization. I love the way I’ve been getting coached here under Coach Judge and his staff,” defensive lineman Leonard Williams said after re-signing a long term deal with Big Blue last week. “I love the way they treat people here. I love the guys that they’re bringing into the building, player-wise. Overall, it just seemed like a good fit. I’m just glad to be back.”
Judge was instrumental in the Giants landing prized wide receiver Kenny Golladay last weekend in free agency. Golladay met with Judge and knew he wanted be a Giant.
“Just hearing the vision that Coach Joe Judge had and Coach Jason Garrett had as far as the offense,” Golladay said about choosing the Giants. “That had me right there. And just walking around the building, everybody greeting me and with them pretty much telling me that they wanted me here and I’m expressing the same thing. It was kind of like a no-brainer and I’m glad it worked out.”
This week, the Giants inked former first round pick Adoree’ Jackson, who they hope will fulfill his promise as top cornerback.
“What sold me was him just being straightforward and straight up. It was comfortable just being able to talk to him, your head coach, just being comfortable and talk face to face, laugh here and laugh there and to be able to kind of relate in a sense and understand each other, so that was one of the things that kind of sold me on him. About the culture that he’s bringing, it’s just something that you feel and you know and what you want to see,” he said. “If I was a coach, I would want some of those similarities, so understanding that everything that he was saying was lining up with what I wanted to be as a player and what I wanted to do, and from the team aspect it just makes sense for me.”
The Giants went into free agency with an uncertain future. A few tweaks here and there to their payroll plus a little push from Judge has given them much more solid path to follow going forward.
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