Obviously, the results since haven’t been good. But GMs shouldn’t be on the same win-now plan as the coaches they hire. They’re in charge of a bigger picture, with one eye always on a better future. And while the results might not make it obvious, there certainly are signs that the Giants’ future is bright.
“It takes time to build a program,” a former NFL general manager told me. “Nobody wants to hear that anymore, but it’s still true. We used to say it takes at least five years to really see what a GM can do, to really have his program in place. And sometimes it takes at least one coaching change, too. If you’re starting over every three or four years, you end up absolutely nowhere.”