Mike Kafka was open to leaving Giants after being scapegoated in 2023

The New York Giants replaced two of their three coordinators this offseason. They hired Shane Bowen to take over the defense after the team parted ways with Wink Martindale and fired special teams coach Thomas McGaughey in favor of Michael Ghobrial.

The one coordinator that stayed put — Mike Kafka (offense) — also had a bit of a tumultuous offseason. He was actively being courted for (and reportedly sought) opportunities elsewhere after Giants head coach Brian Daboll pinned a huge portion of their offensive woes on him.

From SNY’s Connor Hughes:

There was absolutely tension there. The idea there wasn’t is comical. This is no different than when so many tried to convince you there wasn’t an issue with Daboll and Wink Martindale. Kafka had his playcalling revoked at points last season — scapegoating him for the unit’s problems. He was open to leaving — maybe even more than that, I was told. The Giants prevented it. They were never going to let him leave for a lateral position.

And that promotion given to Kafka? Well, there was a little self-serving motivation behind that, too.

The promotion, or added job title, comes with a pay boost. That’s commonplace in the NFL. A team prevents you from leaving, but gives you extra money in response. To view that as a sign all is A-OK between the two in Giants land is silly.

The Giants were one of the NFL’s least productive offenses in 2023. They were 30th in points per game (15.6) and 29th in yards per contest (280.0).

Injuries to the offensive line, all three quarterbacks, and two of their key producers (Saquon Barkley, Darren Waller) led to inconsistency and dysfunction when the Giants had the ball.

Blaming Kafka was the easy way out. The bottom line is very little went right and there were few or no solutions in many of those situations.