Dave Gettleman’s time with the New York Giants has been over for one offseason now. We knew it was bad, but a list of his 10 largest free agent signings shows just how bad he was. This doesn’t get into the horrendous coaching hires, the botched draft picks, and overall incompetency of his time. But it does show just how god awful he was when it came to free agency. Since Gettleman’s departure the Giants have gone on to hire Joe Schoen as GM who hired Brian Daboll as head coach. Both seem to be home run hires. It’s difficult to grade out Joe Schoen in the free agent market. The Giants have been in a difficult spot with the salary cap. Another sign that Dave Gettleman was terrible at his job.
One might look at Gettleman’s history as a GM and say “hey, that’s pretty good”. After all, he was the guy who assembled the 2015 Carolina panthers who got to the Super Bowl. Just one problem with that. Gettleman didn’t assemble that team. It was Marty Hurney who drafted Cam Newton and Luke Kuechly. Those guys were the heart and soul of that Carolina Panthers team. Much like Barry Switzer taking the team Jimmy Johnson assembled, and not messing it up too much. But let’s get back to Gettleman’s time with the Giants in New York. Here are the top most expensive free agent contracts Gettleman handed out. This list shows Dave Gettleman was terrible at free agency. Or at least he makes a compelling argument. Shout out to Warren Sharp @SharpFootball on twitter for putting this list together.
10. RB Jonathan Stewart (2-years/$6.8 million)
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Stewart only played in 3 games for the Giants in one season. He never saw the second year of the contract.
9. TE Kyle Rudolph (2-years/$12 million)
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Like Stewart, Rudolph didn’t see the second year of his contract. He did manage to play in 16 games for the G-Men, but only tallied 1 touchdown.
8. OT Patrick Ohmameh (3-years/$15 million)
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I can’t figure out why Ohmameh was signed by Gettleman. He seems like a journeyman. He was cut after the first year of his three year deal. There’s a theme here.
7. OLB Kareem Martin (3-years/$15 million)
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Martin got cut after the second of his three year deal. He didn’t start a single game in his second season with the Giants.
6. ILB Blake Martinez (3-years/$30.75 million)
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This one didn’t age well, but injury played a role. He tore his ACL three games into his second season. he was cut before the third year of the contract.
5. WR Golden Tate (4-year/$37.5 million)
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Another contract that aged poorly. Tate was okay in his first season. He only started 4 games in his second season adn was cut after that.
4. CB Adoree' Jackson (3-year/$39 million)
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At least Adoree is still on the roster. He has played in 25 of 36 games due to health reasons. But it looks like he’ll see the end of the contract.
3. CB James Bradberry (3-year/$43.5 million)
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Bradberry was actually a good signing. He played well in his 2 seasons with the Giants. Unfortunately the Giants couldn’t afford to keep him last offseason due to all the dead cap money.
LT Nate Soldier (4-year/$62 million)
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This was one of the worst contracts in NFL history. It wasn’t even the worst one Gettleman handed out.
1. WR Kenny Galladay (4-years/$72 million)
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This was just terrible. Galladay tallied 43 receptions on a team void of talent at the position. He won’t see the third year of his four year contract.
