Giants News, 7/18: Dave Gettleman, Kirk Cousins Reactions, More

The New York Giants made absolutely zero news on Monday. Still, it turned out to be an incredibly interesting day for Giants fans. The Carolina Panthers firing GM Dave Gettleman, a long-time Giants personnel executive, and the vitriolic reactionthat followed. The Kirk Cousins soap opera with the Washington Redskins. More NFC East boasting, this time from the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Let’s get started.

Dave Gettleman Reaction

Ex-Panthers stars revel in Dave Gettleman's dismissal - NFL.com

With Gettleman out as GM, bitter former Panther players wasted no time taking shots at him.

Panthers legend sums up one big issue that plagued Dave Gettleman's Carolina tenure - CBSSports.com

Jon Beason, traded from the Panthers to the Giants, didn’t like the way Gettleman handled the deal and said there was “a lot of disconnect.”

"The way that the trade went down between the Giants and the Panthers when I moved on from the Carolina Panthers, it was done in a way that wasn't classy. I didn't want to be the disgruntled player who's saying this, saying that because he was traded. But at the end of the day, you're a first-round pick, you played extremely well for an organization, you're one of the key guys on the team, a new GM comes in and doesn't even give you a handshake on your way out the door." ...

"On all accounts, from what I've been told, there's been a lot of disconnect. One, with the draft. There's the disconnect with the way he treats the players. There's disconnect between ownership. Knowing Big Cat, Jerry Richardson, the owner of the Panthers, he's a guy who will not be dictated to at all. He's very fair. I know that when it comes to being general manger, he wants those guys to just go do their thing. But when he has to step in, at some point, there has to be a level of respect there on both parties. And it can't be, "Hey listen, I'm the GM. I'm running it this way. If you don't like it, let me go.'"

He continued later: "There's guys that are on that team, in that locker room, that basically felt like this is who Gettleman was and he was almost on this ego trip."

Why it's OK to fire an NFL general manager in July - NFL Nation- ESPN

ESPN’s Kevin Seifert says the firings of Gettleman in Carolina and John Dorsey by the Kansas City Chiefs are “sensible decisions when considering teams' long-term plans.”

Geoff Schwartz reacts via Periscope

Former Giant and Panther Geoff Schwartz used Periscope to offer his reaction.

Kirk Cousins Fallout

Lots of reaction following Redskins President Bruce Allen going public Monday with the Washington Redskins’ contract offer to quarterback Kirk Cousins.

For Redskins, Kirk Cousins remains a franchise quarterback at arm’s length - The Washington Post

Cousins exists on a perennial year-to-year contract. He displays as much unprompted affection to Washington as does Arya to House Frey. He spends four months playing football, and eight months turning Washington sports-radio into “Accounting Talk.” His front office respects him so much that it immediately revealed the details of its best offer Monday afternoon — and then dinged the quarterback for not counter-offering. Cousins is the quarterback Washington has sought for a generation, yet we spend every summer wondering whether it will be his last with the Redskins. His nickname might as well be Tag. It’s better than Hashtag, but not by much.

Washington Redskins now auditioning for Kirk Cousins? - NFL.com

Is Cousins putting pressure on himself by playing on yet another one-year deal? Of course. There were plenty of people during Cousins' rocky two-week start to last season who thought the pressure was counterproductive. He needed to breathe. But Cousins rebounded in fine fashion, leading a Redskins offense that rolled up over 400 yards a game and had a thin margin for error because of an undermanned defense on the way to an 8-7-1 finish.

A rising salary cap and competition on the open market could well push Cousins past Carr's record $25.05 million average next year. And Cousins would have some leverage -- if he decides he's not happy with what he sees around him -- to refuse to negotiate on a long-term deal and push for the Redskins to trade him while they still can maximize the return.

That's still seven or eight months away, but the short list of suitors seems obvious. There's Cousins' old OC and Mike Shanahan's son, Kyle, who's entering his first year as the San Francisco 49ers' head coach with journeyman Brian Hoyer as a placeholder. The Cleveland Browns have a battle royal ahead in training camp and have indicated an interest in Cousins in the past. The Rams bear watching, too, given that last year's No. 1 pick, Jared Goff, remains unproven and there's an obvious Cousins tie with McVay. Said an executive for a different team who ranked Cousins in the 8-10 range among starters: "There are about 15 teams that would love to have him."

Cousins has shown what he can do. Every QB has holes, and he has to keep proving himself every year. But the Redskins may well have more to prove to Cousins going forward.

49ers Brian Hoyer responds to chatter of Kirk Cousins taking his job in 2018 | Niners Wire

“Look, this is 2017. Kirk is going to be Washington, I’m going to be in San Francisco. That’s all you can worry about,” Hoyer said. “You control what you can control and go out there and do the best you can. I think that’s the one thing of this tumultuous career that I’ve had – had some highs and some lows, just don’t worry about things you can’t control because it really doesn’t do you any good.”

Doug Pederson: Eagles More Talented Than Super Bowl-Winning Packers

Second-year Philadelphia Eagles coach Doug Pederson thinks his team has more talent than the Green Bay Packers team Brett Favre led to a Super Bowl. Pederson was a backup QB on that squad.

"You're capable. ... I look back at my time in Green Bay as a player when we were making those playoff runs and those Super Bowl runs there, and do we have as much talent on this team than we did then? We probably have more talent, right?" Pederson said.

"But we also had a lot of talent in [2011] here and where did that get us? So there's got to be a combination of blending all this talent with the coaching staff, with my ideas and philosophy, to bring that all together, put the egos aside, put pride aside, and just go focus on winning this game that we have in front of us. I'm a big believer [that] if you do that, then you look back at the end of the season and you're probably going to be where you want to be, and that's playing in the postseason."

Pederson didn’t guarantee the playoffs or anything like that, but that’s a pretty bold statement after going 7-9 last season.