Giants general manager Jerry Reese simply didn't do a good enough job of drafting talent from 2008 to 2013. As I wrote in a 2013 piece for Grantland, a shocking number of Reese's picks suffered serious injuries before finishing their rookie deals, and that was before
Johnny Gaudreau Jersey 2012 first-rounder David Wilson was forced to retire with spinal stenosis. Many of the midround picks who stayed relatively healthy, such as Jayron Hosley, Jerrel Jernigan and Ramses Barden, weren't any good. And the Giants showed little faith in some of the veterans who did pan out, with Prince Amukamara and Linval Joseph leaving after solid careers in New Jersey. Reese hasn't shown much aptitude for handling the draft. He deserves credit for drafting a pair of superstars, Beckham and Landon Collins, in recent years, but he has shown little interest in acquiring extra draft picks. He hasn't traded down a single time during his 10-year tenure as general manager, and while Reese did trade up for Collins, his other trade-ups were to grab Barden, Nassib, Bryan Kehl and Adam Bisnowaty, who combined to start six games in East Rutherford. The Giants traded up to grab Bisnowaty this year, then cut the sixth-rounder in camp, although he remains on the practice squad. And while the 2015 draft did deliver Collins, a Pro Bowl safety, it has otherwise been a mess. But more on that in a minuteIn response, to fill out his roster, Reese did what desperate teams do: He spent oodles of money in free agency. First, he pursued a bevy of midtier free agents with limited success, paying premiums to add replacement-level players such as Dwayne Harris, Rashad Jennings and J.T. Thomas to fill spots smarter teams would occupy
http://www.officialcalgaryflames.com/Adidas-Kris-Versteeg-Jersey with draft picks. The Patriots have targeted veterans to fill those roles from time to time, but they often do that in trading for guys who require no long-term commitment and offer the possibility of draft pick compensation if they leave in free agency. The Giants were signing these players in free agency and foregoing the compensation themselvesWhen that didn't work, Reese raised the stakes. After the Giants finished 30th in defensive DVOA in 2015, Reese went into free agency last offseason and cleared out the bank account. He re-signed Pierre-Paul to a one-year deal and spent top dollar to bring in free agents Damon Harrison, Janoris Jenkins and Olivier Vernon. The moves worked. All four of the players were wildly productive before Pierre-Paul went down with a core muscle injury in December. Collins matured into a superstar in his second season, and first-round pick Eli Apple overcame a slow start to play well as a rookie, which allowed the Giants to paper over some of their holes on defense. New York finished the season second in defensive DVOA and rode that defense to the playoffs. Buoyed by his success, Reese doubled down this spring. He re-signed Pierre-Paul to a massive deal, giving the oft-injured defensive end a four-year, $62 million contract with $49.5 million due in the first three seasons. When former Jet Brandon Marshall expressed interest in taking a pay cut to stay in the New York area, Reese
http://www.officialdallasstars.com/Adidas-Dino-Ciccarelli-Jersey signed the 33-year-old wideout to a two-year, $11 million deal. In an attempt to give Manning extra weapons, he followed things up by spending the Giants' first-round pick on tight end Evan Engram. After Reese threw asset after asset at improving his team's top-tier defensive talent, he was going to do the same thing to its passing game. The spending also has incurred an enormous opportunity cost in terms of improving the weaker spots in the Giants' lineup. The Giants did not have the financial wiggle room to target any of the veterans available in free agency this season along the offensive line, limiting them to a Chargers castoff, D.J. Fluker. They sat out the free-agent market at running back and came back with 2016 fifth-round pick Paul Perkins, who hasn't shown much aptitude to be an NFL starter, as was the case with predecessor Andre Williams, a fourth-round pick in 2014. The Giants did invest previously in Shane Vereen, but it took an injury to Perkins for them to give the more promising duo of Orleans Darkwa and Wayne Gallman a shot against the Chargers. Their
Esa Lindell Jersey linebackers remain a mix of overmatched special-teams players and inexperienced late-round selections or undrafted guys. On the whole, the 2017 moves haven't been effective. And while the Giants will surely suggest otherwise, it wasn't really hard to see those problems coming after 2016
