New York Giants general manager Dave Gettleman avoided joining Pat Shurmur on the chopping block this week but knows he needs to adapt to keep his job beyond 2020.
In a sometimes-contentious back-and-forth with the New York media Tuesday, Gettleman pointed to young foundational players like Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley in explaining why he deserved to continue to be the Big Blue builder.
"It all depends upon how quickly the puppies come along. We got a lot of young kids. We led the league in snaps by rookies. A big part of it is how quickly they come", he said of the hopes the Giants can turn it around after totaling nine wins in two seasons.
Set to hire his second coach to work with those pups, Gettleman noted the pressure is on in New York.
"Oh, absolutely. We're all on notice. We truly are. I feel that pressure every day whether I'm in my first or 15th year," he said. "It's getting better. This is frustrating for all of us. I'm not happy about this. Ownership is not happy about this. We're all frustrated. But unfortunately it takes time."
Time is something Gettleman is running out of heading into his third year at the helm.
The GM appeared to hit on a franchise quarterback with Daniel Jones looking like the future during his rookie campaign.
"When I came here I had two major goals," he said. "One was to find the quarterback and I believe we've done that. The second was to set the team up for sustained success."
In order to set the Giants up for sustained success, however, Gettleman admitted he needs to re-evaluate how he operates.
After scoffing at the analytics community following the selection of Barkley with the No. 2 overall pick in 2018, the GM is attempting to shake the notion that he's anti-analytics.
Gettleman said Tuesday the team hired "four computer folks" and redid the backend of the scouting department.
"I met recently with a big analytics guy. I'm going to learn from my mistakes," he said.
Gettleman, however, railed against the notion that trading third- and fifth-round picks for Leonard Williams, whose contract is expiring, was one of those mistakes. Gettleman insisted that getting a look at the defensive lineman in their system down the stretch -- one that is likely to change -- was worth the price.
"The juice was worth the squeeze," he said.
He also said if they can't re-sign Williams, they'd get a third-round compensation pick back -- which would only be true if they don't spend a lot of money in free agency.
Gettleman's first task will be finding the right coach to lead Big Blue and groom the young players.
After back-to-back atrocious seasons under his guidance, the GM was honest about his assessment of the organization heading into 2020.
"Not good enough," he said. "Not good enough. It'll get better."
It better get better in a hurry, or he'll be the next man looking for a new job.
