New York Giants

New York Giants look to alter losing ways with new GM, coach

Updated Jan. 13, 2022 9:57 a.m. ET

The New York Giants are one of the proudest franchises in NFL history, as evidenced by their four Super Bowl championships.

But after missing the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season, the team is now left to do some soul-searching and once again to find a new head coach.

In two seasons coaching the Giants, Joe Judge amassed a 10-23 record, ending the 2021 season on a six-game losing streak to finish last in the NFC East.

In fact, in the six seasons since Tom Coughlin was fired in 2015, losing has become the norm for the Giants. They have a 33-64 (.340) record over that span; only the Jacksonville Jaguars (28-69, .289) and New York Jets (27-70, .278) have been worse.

Judge succeeded Ben McAdoo and Pat Shurmur, all of whom failed to guide the Giants back to prominence, though McAdoo did get New York to the playoffs in 2016.

That was the Giants' most recent winning season.

The team's lack of success over the past five years is why Colin Cowherd believes it is time for the franchise to stop living in the past and go all-in on the future with quarterback Daniel Jones, which he explained on "The Herd."

"Giants, do not worry about previous coaches and previous success," Cowherd said. "Move forward. Go get an offensive coach. It's the only way that you can save Daniel Jones. Why? Because offensive coaches have closer relationships with quarterbacks. They understand the value of the offensive line."

A message for the New York Giants

Colin Cowherd explains why it's time for the Giants to let go of the past and start looking toward the future.

Jones is coming off of his third year as the starting quarterback for the Giants and hasn't won more than five games as a starter in any season. He has thrown 29 interceptions and fumbled 36 times during that three-year span.

On Wednesday's "First Things First," Nick Wright said that the Giants' coaching job is no longer a desirable one — and it's not just because of the roster. For Wright, it has more to do with the team's financial situation, for which he blames retiring Giants general manager Dave Gettleman.

"It's the worst job available," Wright said of the New York coaching gig. "Joe Judge got all the headlines, but Dave Gettleman is the person most responsible for the position the Giants are in. This will shock people, but going into next season, the Giants are already over the cap. They've paid their quarterback nothing. Saquon [Barkley] is still on his rookie deal. The Giants have the fifth-least cap space going into next season."

Even if Jones turned into the franchise QB the Giants hope he can be, and Barkley is able to play and produce over the course of an entire season — he's played seven of a possible 32 games the past two seasons — New York is strapped for cash, meaning the new GM and new coach will be asked to do wonders on the sideline and in the executive offices.

In other words, all signs point toward Big Blue continuing to come up small.