New York Giants: Can Big Blue Nation ever trust Dave Gettleman again?

First New York Giants General Manager Dave Gettleman said the team didn’t sign Odell Beckham Jr. to trade him later. Then he did it earlier this week. Why should Big Blue fans believe anything the GM says again?

Flashback to last August. Odell Beckham Jr., New York Giants marquis receiver signed an extension with the team that drafted him back in 2014. The contract was for an additional five years and $90M, with $65M of it guaranteed. At that time, both parties were ecstatic.

On the Giants end, everyone from head coach Pat Shurmur, to Gettleman, to team ownership had glowing things to say about the deal. They locked up their megastar, and looked forward to him wearing the blue “NY” helmet the rest of his career, for what Gettleman described as “generational money.” Here are co-owner Steve Tish’s comments from Giants.com.

"“It’s a great day for our franchise and our fans, I am excited about our future, especially with Odell and Eli and their teammates operating in Pat’s offense. We have seen Odell grow. His enthusiasm and work ethic are contagious, and my hope for him and for us – and I know he feels the same – is for him to be remembered as one of the great Giants of all time.”"

Then there was this from Gettleman:

"“I learned a long time ago, you build the team you want, on offense, you got to have a quarterback, you got to have touchdown scorers. On defense, you got to have guys that sack the quarterback. Well, this guy’s a touchdown scorer. He can score from anywhere on the field, which is huge.”"

Rather than going into all of Beckham’s comments from then, here is his Instagram post. “God, I can’t even put into words my gratitude. This is only the beginning…. #ImThankful”

Fast forward to recent months when the pressure of a failing team and tight budget restraints caused speculation that the G-Men need to open up some cap space. Rumors were floated that Gettleman had been shopping his star wideout. At the combine he was asked if Beckham Jr. was on the trade block, the GM responded OBJ wasn’t resigned only to be traded.

Then lo and behold OBJ was sent to the Cleveland Browns this week in what turned out to be a mega-deal. Big Blue sent Beckham Jr. and outside linebacker/ defensive end Olivier Vernon to Cleveland in exchange for guard Kevin Zeitler, safety Jabril Peppers, a 2019 first round pick (17th overall), and a 2019 third round pick (95th overall).

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So in the end, after repeated denials, Gettleman went back on his word. He dealt his “touchdown scorer” away. Why would New York Giants fans ever believe anything their general manager says again? He was so adamant about keeping OBJ.

After the trade, Gettleman said there was more to the deal than what appeared on the surface. At his press conference, the GM said: “We do have a plan, and this is a part of it.” He went on to say that he thinks it’s possible for the G-Ment to both rebuild and win at the same time.

I actually think it was a good move, but that’s beside the point. Suddenly the G-Men have a plan? Just out of nowhere there is a grand plan to return Big Blue to glory. Why should anyone believe this? After dealing away OBJ despite repeated denials, Gettleman’s credibility is suspect.

It’s hard for the fans to believe there has been a master rebuilding plan in play all this time. Why should they? This “plan” literally came out of nowhere and sounded more like a justification than something that was in the works for months.

The bottom line is that Gettleman has to earn back some trust from Big Blue Nation. Recent free agent signings Antoine Bethea, Markus Golden, and Golden Tate seem like shells of the men they are respectively replacing Landon Collins, Vernon, and OBJ. Those moves are more like cost-cutting than part of a rebuilding plan.

Additionally, the departed players were some of their biggest leaders. Is part of the plan to get Shurmur more control of “his” New York Giants locker room? Who knows?

Next. How the Odell Beckham trade impacts the Giants’ draft. dark

What will cure all is winning, or at least the appearance that the Giants are making progress toward a better future. A disaster like last year could blow the whole thing up and make Gettleman’s tenure brief. This draft and the free agents he picks up before camp starts in July will be the key indicators.

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