Reactions To The Giants Hiring Dave Gettleman

The Giants were able to move quickly in their search for a new general manager when they officially hired former Panthers general manager Dave Gettleman on Thursday afternoon. The move was met with positive feedback across the football world, with many of local and national pundits crediting New York for making the hire before the New Year so they can hit the ground running with their head coaching search following the end of the regular season.

Here are some specific takes on the team’s decision to hire Gettleman:

• Ian Rapoport of NFL.com posted a video on Twitter after the news broke mentioning how the hiring of a guy like Gettleman as “rare” at this point in the NFL calender. Rapoport noted that teams don’t normally have the chance to hire accomplished executives before the regular season ends. But it’s actually happened twice this season with the hirings of Gettleman and new Browns general manager John Dorsey. Rapoport also pointed out that the move was a signal that the franchise wouldn’t drastically change the way they conduct business. New York just simply wanted a new voice leading the football operations. Gettleman is familiar with the organization having worked for the team from 1998-2012 before accepting his former position in Carolina.
• James Kratch of NJ Advance Media attempted to point out some differences between Gettleman and former general manager Jerry Reese. Kratch points out Gettleman’s philosophy to build from the lines out, while Reese put more of emphasis on acquiring quality skill players. Kratch also touches on how Gettleman comes from a more pro personnel background rather than Reese’s history as a scout for the NFL draft. The two also have differences in dealing with players and the media with Gettleman forming better relationships with people covering the team, while Reese showed more of a track record for getting along with the roster, including star players. Finally, Kratch mentions that Gettleman has shown much more of a tendency to wheel and deal on draft night, while Reese was more or less set on taking players at the team’s original draft pick.
• On a different note, while he wasn’t killing the decision by any means, Paul Schwartz of the New York Post focused on how the Giants made the hire everyone was expecting to make. Schwartz notes that the Giants haven’t made an executive hire of anyone from outside the organization in the last 40 years. The team didn’t break this mold even after one of the worst years in franchise history. Gettleman has a long history with the Giants, which made him a clear front runner for the position. Overall, Schwartz expresses that Gettleman is accomplished and deserving, but doesn’t bring a sense of outside the box thinking to the organization.
• Ralph Vacchiano of SNY concludes that Gettleman was the right hire because of his “eye for talent and knowledge of building a winning team”. Vacchiano expresses that while the search was primarily an in-house affair with ESPN analyst Louis Reddick representing the only candidate from outside the Giants organizational tree. Though that doesn’t mean that the front office will simply get a Reese 2.0 football operations department with Gettleman at the helm. He’ll likely make enough changes to ease the concerns of Giants fans, while maintaining much needed stability as well. The beat reporter likes his tendency to get good players in the trenches too. In the end, the writer believes that ownership didn’t need to take any unnecessary risks, and that Gettleman gives the front office exactly what it needs moving forward.