The New York Giants (2-9) are hard to watch these days. From top to bottom, they seem like a rudderless franchise with no apparent direction.
Nobody is happy right now and almost every decision the team makes seems to backfire in an almost comical way.
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)
The Saquon Barkley situation is just one of the personnel decisions that continually concerns the team. After the Giants were crushed at home by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, Barkley delivered a record-breaking game on national television Sunday night, leading the Philadelphia Eagles to a convincing 37-20 road win over the Los Angeles Rams.
Barkley managed 302 yards of offense on Sunday, 57 yards more than the Giants' entire 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 find a way to keep Barkley on the roster.
Instead, the Giants let Barkley test the free agent waters. He signed with the Eagles on the first day of his free agency.
Since then, Barkley has played at an All-Pro level, leads the NFL in rushing and could be on his way to not only another 2,000-yard season, but possibly a Super Bowl appearance.
The reality is that Barkley isn't really missed by the Giants. They have proven they can pass the ball without him and have a wealth of young attacking talent in their squad. They just don't know how to use them.
Barkley was smartly signed by the Eagles as the final piece of the puzzle. With the Giants, Barkley would have been the first piece of the puzzle. Big difference. Schoen tries to build from the inside out, not the other way around.
Schoen was right to waive McKinney, who was signed by the Green Bay Packers to a four-year, $67 million contract. Many believed that was far too much for a player who almost blew up his career a few years ago with a stupid off-field injury.
The fact that McKinney leads the NFL in interceptions (7) while the Giants only have one as a team this season is irrelevant. The Giants replaced McKinney with Tyler Nubin in the second round of the draft this year.
As for Leonard Williams and Julian Love, I would say I was disappointed that they let Love go. 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 get him – and keep him. They had to terminate his contract.
So, in an effort to undo the damage done by his predecessor, Dave Gettleman, Schoen is criticized for doing what fans hoped he would.
Things just aren't working out for him at the moment, that's all. And the optics are pretty bad, especially if Barkley and McKinney end up winning the Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year awards.