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What one thing would you change about the Giants’ offseason?

SB Nation is asking us to answer that question, so let’s do it

NFL: Jacksonville Jaguars at Pittsburgh Steelers
Cam Robinson (right) has played well for Jacksonville this season.
Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

If you were New York Giants general manager — and we know many of you believe you can do a better job than Jerry Reese, the guy who sits in that chair — what single thing would you have done differently last offseason?

If you have been paying attention, you know that each week this season our friends at the mothership, SBNation.com, are tossing out questions centered around a common theme for each of the network’s football sites to answer. The question above is the focus of this week’s theme, and it hits close to home for the 1-5 Giants.

Here is the exact question:

Now that the season has begun to play out, what would your team do today if they could go back and change one move they made in the offseason? Would it instead be a move or addition they didn't make?

In my view, the single answer to that is, given a do-over and the chance to make the decision myself, I would have found some way to add one significant piece to the offensive line.

There were, the way I see it, two ways in which that could — and should — have been accomplished.

  1. Forget about signing wide receiver Brandon Marshall. Anyone who reads this site regularly should know that is a move I would not have made — and I said so before the Giants even made it. I did my best to give Marshall the benefit of the doubt, but no one should be surprised that didn’t work. The two years and $11 million the Giants gave Marshall would not have been enough to sign a big-name free agent offensive lineman. Perhaps, though, Marshall’s money and what the Giants spent in smaller signings on John Jerry and D.J. Fluker, would have been enough to get them in the ballpark for a top-tier player.
  2. Make a move for Cam Robinson. I have no problem with the drafting of tight end Evan Engram with the 23rd overall pick. His play thus far has absolutely justified the selection, and he could be a dominant weapon for years to come if he stays healthy. I am also aware that I usually favor trading down in the draft rather than trading up. In my view, though, the fact that Alabama offensive tackle Cam Robinson was sitting on the board when Round 2 began called for a Landon Collins-esque move up to get him. No offense to Dalvin Tomlinson, who is also a really good player, but defensive tackle is a much easier position to plug than offensive tackle. Robinson, who is playing well at left tackle for the Jacksonville Jaguars, was there for the taking had the Giants been aggressive. No matter which side he ended up playing, the Giants’ offensive line would have been better from Day 1 with him in the fold.

That is, in retrospect, what I would have done. And yes, hindsight is 20-20 so it’s easier to sit here and pick apart decisions than to actually have to make them. That, though, is what we were tasked with.

Your turn, Giants fans. What single move would you have changed this offseason?