Before signing a whopping seven-year, $60MM+ deal with the Panthers, coach Matt Rhule asked if the Giants were willing to match the offer. The organization ultimately passed, and co-owner John Mara said the team wasn’t comfortable paying that kind of money for a first-time NFL coach.
“For a new head coach in the NFL, I just didn’t think that was a reasonable way to go,” Mara told SNY’s Ralph Vacchiano (Twitter link). The executive noted that the organization was also already excited about the prospect of hiring Joe Judge.
We heard yesterday that the Giants asked Rhule to meet with them in person, but Rhule pressed for a more definitive answer. When the Giants informed him that they would not match on the money or length of the deal, Rhule cancelled his Giants interview and accepted the Panthers offer, out of fear that owner David Tepper would pivot to Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.
Let’s check out some more notes out of the NFC East…
- Speaking of Judge, when Mara first met with the former Patriots ST coordinator, he wasn’t “really expecting all that much because I didn’t really know him” (via Vacchiano on Twitter). When asked if Judge was on Mara’s initial list of candidates, the executive gave a candid response: “If you asked me a week ago, 10 days ago, I would have said it probably would have been a long shot.”
- Texas associate head coach and run game coordinator Stan Drayton was scheduled to meet with the Cowboys today, as ESPN’s Todd Archer passes along. Drayton does have a connection to the offense, as he coached Ezekiel Elliott back at Ohio State. The 48-year-old also previously served as the Bears running back coach. Archer adds that running backs coach Gary Brown could still return to the organization.
- In case you missed it, former Redskins’ senior VP of player personnel Doug Williams will now serve as senior vice president of player development. The organization also parted ways with football operations vice president Eric Schaffer.
Spin spin spin. The Giants can spin it anyway they want but If Matt Ruhle has kept his interview with the Giants they would have been introducing him today.
That length of contract is ridiculous. The money doesn’t bother me so much because I ain’t the one paying it. There is not a chance that Rhule is coaching Carolina in 7 years. They are gonna eat a lot of that cash. Good move by my Giants!
No, they wouldn’t have. I agree with Mara. That is an absurd amount of money for a new coach, but the length is crazy even for a proven coach. Seven years doesn’t make any sense when most coaches don’t seem to last beyond 2-3 years anymore.
Plus the fact they are still paying Shurmur for next 3 years.
They also just paid out Ben McAdoo’s final year this year. Guess they enjoy paying two coaches at once.
Good thing it went down the way it did. I know it’s only an introductory press conference but joe judge killed it. And Matt Rhule was ridiculously over the top.
This isn’t spin. The Panthers are run by idiots. They made dude the 6th highest paid HC and he has won exactly nothing anywhere. Everyone in the top 10 but him has been to a super bowl.
Mara can flush 60 million down a toilet and be just fine.
Right, but when your average coach lasts 2-3 years, a seven year deal is crazy for an unproven coach.
Absolutely true….but remember….its HIS $60 Million so he can do or not do what ever he wants with it.
Agree he can flush 60 mil down toilet and feel fine but to refuse to pay market value for a coach in the billionaires owner club is the height of arrogance, regardless if he’s worth it or not
Market value? This guy got a way above market value contract. Thanks for proving the point.
I don’t understand what the Giants are doing. The owner said this Gm need to fit his batting average up and start nailing hires and trades and signings and to me he is all over there place. Hiring a ST coach as a HC, while it might work, is very very risky and then Kitchens as HC who couldn’t do anything with OBJ, Landry, Baker and Chubb on the offensive side of the ball, to me that is wild to even think he would consider him lol. I’m just in shock I guess. Maybe Judge works out but it just seems risky like I said. I’m not a Giants fan but I’m a huge fan of football and I think they should go hard after Garrett as OC it anything or they should’ve went after a better candidate for the HC position. Curious, what do you Giants fans think and how do you feel about the hiring and the rumor of Kitchens as OC?
Jason Garrett as the guy who ran the number one offense in the NFL last year sounds a lot more appealing as OC than Freddie “Hands Up In The Air in Surprise” Kitchens. KItchens never should have been a head coach and had a lucky year as OC when Mayfield came in. Mayfield made a power play in putting his yes man in the driver’s seat in Cleveland, managing to ruin his own season and costing John Dorsey his job.
Gary Brown needs to go. To much babying and trying to be best buds with all his backs. Zeke needs some tough love because his game has fallen off and he was a step or two slow all season long.
Giants are a joke. Window shop at Nordstrom’s and purchase at Goodwill. Just come out and say we are cheap , we have proven over and over we don’t know what we are doing , and we are here just to make money and appease the fans into thinking we are trying to win , but really we are about the $$$.
His contract is a joke. Go find me a coach who’s never won a title getting 7 years and 60 mill. I’ll wait for you to find one other than him.
so he took the job cuz of money n length. so it’s smart on his part cuz he’s not likely to get that again but it seems doubtful he will have initial success with that team . his next job he won’t get that much money with .
If Rhule got $60MM over 7 years can you imagine how much Jim Harbaugh will be seeking when he makes his return?
He can’t beat Ohio $tate, so when he’s fired next year and looks for a job, it’s hard to believe a bunch of teams will be tripping over themselves to hire him as HC.
If beating the Buckeyes was a prerequisite for entering the NFL coaching ranks then at least 75% of the current coaches would have to leave.
While I agree with you sort of I also know that JH is well known to wear out his welcome fairly quickly. He isn’t getting 7 years.