Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley both expressed gratitude to outgoing general manager Dave Gettleman on Monday, noting how they were Gettleman’s first two first-round picks and thanking him for the opportunity.
Cornerback James Bradberry is in a unique situation with Gettleman, though: he was a second-round pick in Gettleman’s penultimate draft class in Carolina in 2016, and then signed with the Giants prior to last season to reunite with him.
And so, when he found out Gettleman was retiring Monday, he had double the love for the outgoing 70-year-old executive.
“It's kind of bittersweet. When I hear about retirement, I think of that person's legacy and also the hard work that they had to put into get to retirement. So, now he's going to be laying back, chilling probably on a beach somewhere and I congratulate him for that,” Bradberry smiled. “But at the same time, I think about, he gave me an opportunity to play for the Panthers.
Then, he gave me another opportunity to come here and play for the Giants, so I'm very appreciative of him and I thanked him for that out there after the speech, congratulated him as well.”
The Giants may also have some flux further down the chain of command, as there still seems to be some uncertainty around Joe Judge’s future as head coach, especially given the usual way things work in the NFL when a new GM joins as team.
Judge, Bradberry confirmed, conducted his final team meeting on Monday as “business as usual,” but the corner knows that anything can happen, and if it does, it’s just business.
“If it happens, I’d think it’s part of the business. It’s happened in the past, and when the time comes, if it happens, it happens. You just wait it out and see what happens,” Bradberry said.
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He may have to do that, too, about his own future, as he’s entering the final year of the three-year pact he signed with the Giants prior to 2020. He will make $13.5 million actual money this year with $2 million of that guaranteed if he’s still on the roster on March 16. He’ll also carry a cap hit of nearly $22 million if he remains, but just under $10 million in dead cap if he doesn’t, so there’s always a chance that he will be a casualty of a cap-strapped team if a new GM comes in and makes some changes.
Again, nothing personal, he knows, although he’d prefer to stay in New York with Judge and what he called a “tough, physical, disciplined” Giants team.
“I’m sure some veteran players who are really good probably don’t worry about it, because they think they’ll find a home if a business decision is made,” Bradberry said of cap casualties as a whole. “Me, personally, I’m not worried about it. I’ll just wait it out and see what happens. Right now I’m part of the team, and I look forward to being part of this team next year.”
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