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New York Giants news, 4/29: Ex-Giant player and coach Harland Svare dies

Let’s get to that and the rest of your Wednesday headlines

By Ed Valentine

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New York Giants v Cincinnati Bengals Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images

Good morning, New York Giants fans!

Ex-Giant Harland Svare passes at age 89

Harland Svare, a starting linebacker on the Giants’ 1956 NFL championship team and later the team’s defensive coach, died on April 4. Svare was 89.

Svare played in 89 regular-season games with 79 starts, including 70 games with 61 starts for the Giants.

Svare retired after the 1960 season and was the Giants’ defensive coach under Allie Sherman in 1961.

Svare returned to the Rams as their defensive line coach in 1962. Midway through the 1962 season, he was named the team’s head coach.

Svare’s teams went 14-31-3 before he was fired following the 1965 season. He returned to the Giants as their defensive coach in 1967 and 1968 before spending the 1969 season coaching under Vince Lombardi with the Washington Redskins.

In February 1971, Svare was hired as the San Diego Chargers’ general manager. He added the head coaching duties with four games remaining that year. The Chargers were 1-6-1 in 1973 when Svare resigned as coach with an overall record of 7-17-2. He was fired as general manager after the 1976 season.

More headlines

Joe Judge praises Markus Golden after Giants use free agent tender

“Obviously we think he’s a talented player,” Judge said Tuesday morning on WFAN. “He’s been a great locker room guy. I have a lot of respect for him from afar. I haven’t worked with him in person yet.”

“ ... we’re doing what we thought was best for the team in terms of using tags, things are allocated through the CBA and the way the league works,” Judge said. “At this point we’re exploring a lot of options for roster additions. It’s a fluid process throughout the year. We don’t stop after the draft, we don’t stop after free agency. It really goes through the off-season and continues into the season.

“At no point are we gonna say we’re established. We’d like to get to a point sooner than later we feel solid about players and positions were in but there’s external factors you can’t always control that create movement at positions.”

2020 NFL Draft: Best pick by all 32 teams, only three first-round picks make the list - CBSSports.com

This seems to be a majority opinion.

Round 2, No. 36 overall - Alabama safety Xavier McKinney

McKinney was my top safety so to land him in the second round is great value for New York. He is a smart, athletic player that wears many hats, similar to Minkah Fitzpatrick. His versatility will allow Joe Judge to show different looks pre-snap.

Where did your team fall on the filling needs / drafting value spectrum? | The SIS Blog

Sports Info Solutions puts the Giants in their “Got value but didn’t fill needs” category. I’m not sure I agree at all. The Giants did not fill every need. No one ever does. They did, however, upgrade the offensive line. They got a needed free safety many thought was the best player at his position in the draft class. They added seven defensive players to a unit that needs talent and depth. I’m not complaining about what they didn’t get.

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