New York Giants flounder as ex-players thrive

The New York Giants (2-9) are hard to watch these days. From top to bottom, they seem like a rudderless franchise with no known direction.

No one is happy right now and almost every decision the team makes seems to backfire on them in an almost comical fashion.

#Giants fans have been through enough and probably don’t want to hear this, but the number of former Giants players having big games—Saquon Barkley, Xavier McKinney, Leonard Williams, Julian Love—is alarming.

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) November 25, 2024

The Saquon Barkley situation is just one of the personnel decisions that have come back to haunt the team. After the Giants were flattened by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at home on Sunday, Barkley had a record-setting game on national television on Sunday night, leading the Philadelphia Eagles to a convincing 37-20 road win over the Los Angeles Rams.

Barkley racked up 302 yards of offense on Sunday, 57 more than the entire Giants offense could muster against Tampa’s 30th-ranked defense.

It was the latest dagger to the heart of Giants co-owner John Mara, who lobbied general manager Joe Schoen to try to find a way to keep Barkley in the fold.

Instead, the Giants let Barkley test the free-agent waters. He signed with the Eagles on the first day of free agency.

Ever since then, Barkley has played at an All-Pro level, leading the NFL in rushing, and could be on his way to not only another 2,000-total-yard season but a possible Super Bowl appearance as well.

The reality is, Barkley isn’t really missed that much by the Giants. They have proven that they can run the ball without him and have a glut of young offensive talent on their roster.  They just don’t know how to use them.

Barkley was adroitly signed by the Eagles as the last piece to their puzzle. With the Giants, Barkley would have been the first piece of the puzzle. Big difference. Schoen is trying to build from the inside out, not the other way around.

Schoen was right to pass on McKinney, who was signed to a four-year, $67 million deal by the Green Bay Packers. Many believed that was way too rich for a player who almost blew up his career with a foolish off-field injury several years ago.

The fact that McKinney leads the NFL in interceptions (7) while the Giants have just one as a team this season is irrelevant. The Giants replaced McKinney in the second round of the draft this year with Tyler Nubin.

As for Leonard Williams and Julian Love, I would say I was disappointed they let Love walk. He was a versatile and productive player that they probably should have kept.

Williams was also a productive player but the Giants paid a king’s ransom to both get — and keep — him. They had to shed themselves of his contract.

So, Schoen, in an effort to undo all of the damage his predecessor Dave Gettleman did, is getting pounded for doing what the fans hoped he would do.

It’s just not working out for him right now, that’s all. And the optics are quite poor, especially if Barkley and McKinney end up wining the Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year Awars.