Giants GM Dave Gettleman has faced some heavy scrutiny this offseason so far. He traded Odell Beckham Jr. after signing him to an extension last offseason. He's made some moves that have puzzled Giants fans. Monday, he contined to insist that Eli Manning is their quarterback and there isn't truly another option at this point of time.
Gettleman joined WFAN's Mike Francesa on Monday afternoon to address what he said in his press conference and what the future of the Giants holds. Manning's future was the starting point of the conversation.
"We are really pleased with the way Eli handled last year, with the way we finished the season," Gettleman told Francesa. "When I looked at it at the end of the year with the way we finished scoring points, moving the ball. The guy can still make the NFL throws.
With the potential that this is Manning's final year, the question is if the Giants will be drafting a QB in April.
"Obviously we have to address it. I'd be a real clown to not admit to that," said Gettleman. "There's some quarterbacks in this year's draft. I made the statement I really like the Kansas City model. For years it was everybody's model. The ideal situation is you bring a young kid in and let him learn from the old pro. That's the way we would like to approach it."
What did the conversation with Manning sound like exactly when it happened after the season?
"I told Eli that we were gonna consider everything, consider all our options," Gettleman said. "The conversation was early January. Obviously, we have done nothing. I think everybody can figure out what option we have decided to go with. Moving forward, he's our starting quarterback."
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Is it going to be a QB coming from the draft?
"We're not all the way through the process. We're looking at the film," said Gettleman. "We'll have our private visits where they spend a day in the facility. The way the college game is right now it's really a very basic and simple game. You got to find out how much knowledge they really have."
Can the Giants win next season while they build their team?
"I have this crazy idea that you can win while you're building. We addressed some more offensive needs. We signed Golden Tate, who is a damn good professional football player. We brought in a quality veteran offensive guard in Kevin Zeitler. Defensively, we have holes. And that's what the draft is for. We've got 12 draft picks."
Gettleman had some critics of the OBJ trade and was asked what changed after the GM said 'we didn't sign him to trade him.'
"It was a football business decision. I got the preverbal offer I couldn't refuse," said Gettleman. "I couldn't turn the offer down. If we franchise him, only once in franchise history has a franchise guy been signed. We signed him because he earned it, he deserved to be signed. We moved one player for three players. You're not going to know for a couple years how good the trade is. They called me. They knew it was going to take a boatload to get him."
Gettleman was also asked about his decision to keep Landon Collins instead of trading him before the trade deadline. They could have got a 4th round draft pick if they did decide to trade him last season.
"It was a touchy situation," Gettleman stated. "Every decision I do sends a message downstairs. I just felt that the message sent by trading Landon would be a bad message. I'm still glad we did what we did. What it was going to cost us to sign him...it was just looking at the big picture. Our best player was to let him go and see what the market would bring and the market went crazy. We're very mindful of it and we'll get a third-round comp. This year, we got two comp picks. Right now, we got 12 draft picks."
What changes still need to be made in the offseason?
"The offense can go out and compete right now. Defensively, with what we have been able to do so far, I feel good about it," Gettleman said. "If you do it right, you set yourself up so you can take the best available player in the draft. We have holes on the defense, I'm not going to deny that. It's a good defensive draft. We can get a lot of things going on."
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Did Gettleman promise Manning that he will play?
"I don't make any promises that I can't necessarily keep. Time will tell. I'd like to think I'll make the right decision."
Gettleman's message to the Giants fans?
"They have got to trust the process and trust what we're doing. We're going to fix it as quickly as we can so just trust it."
So once again, will the Giants pick a QB in the draft?
"If everything works out, probably."
You can listen to Francesa's entire conversation with the Giants GM in the audio player above.