Giants’ GM Dave Gettleman already showing he will do the job his way

Dave Gettleman said during his introductory press conference that his plan was to “come in here every day and kick ass.” Well, he began his tenure by kicking two of them out of the organization on Saturday, sending VP of Player Evaluation Marc ross and right tackle Bobby Hart to the unemployment line.

Ross was former GM Jerry Reese’s right-hand man for 11 years. No matter how he explained the mistakes made during the past few years, or tried to differentiate himself from Reese he always figured to pay a price for the team’s personnel failures.

Hart was a seventh-round pick with an inflated sense of how good he was, and a poor attitude. In the preseason he said he felt like the best right tackle in football. In 10 games and seven starts, he was awful. Ultimately, his apparent lack of desire to play in the season finale and being a bad influence on Ereck Flowers lead to his release.

Those were the easy moves for Gettleman.

They were also the first indication that the new boss is definitely not the same as the old boss. If you were, or still are, worried that the fact that Gettleman comes from the Giants’ family tree meant you were going to get the status quo, Saturday’s moves are the first indication that won’t be the case.

One of the truly interesting aspects of what is about to happen at 1925 Giants Drive in the coming months is the friendship between Gettleman and Reese, who worked together for many years in the Giants offices.

“Jerry is a very classy guy and he’s a dear friend and I hated what happened. He sent me a text yesterday that was just really special,” Gettleman said on Friday. “But, we’re different people. Maybe you couldn’t get much more different [laughs]. So, listen, we taught each other. We worked together for a long time, we learned from each other, I learned from him just as much as he learned from me. I enjoyed working under him as my boss, my GM.”

Now, Gettleman’s job is to basically tear apart the mess Reese left behind and construct a functional football team.

That will start with the offensive line Reese has been unable (unwilling?) to fix.

“We’ve got to fix the o-line, let’s be honest. Let’s not kid each other,” Gettleman said Friday. “I told you at the top, big men allow you to compete and that’s what we’ve got to fix.”

It won’t end there. There is a coach to hire, and an entire coaching staff to re-construct. There are major free agent decisions (Justin Pugh, Weston Richburg) looming. There is an Eli Apple decision to make. There are high-priced veterans who did not live up to their contracts in 2017. There are holes at virtually every level of the roster.

“I believe in communication. I believe in collaboration. I believe in brutal honesty. ... it’s my responsibility to protect this franchise. That’s my job. There’s a variety of ways that I have to protect it. I learned that in Carolina. It’s my job. I have no issue doing it. I’ll make the tough decisions and I’ll stand by them and we’ll see what happens.”

Gettleman will reportedly run the 2018 NFL Draft process himself.

Here is some history on his draft wheeling and dealing.

Every move Gettleman makes won’t be the right one. He wasn’t perfect in Carolina. The Panthers, though, won far more than they lost. And still are.

What we know, and have already seen glimpses of, is that Gettleman will do the job his way.