After firing Jerry Reese at the beginning of the month, the New York Giants decided former Carolina Panthers’ man Dave Gettleman as their new general manager. The hiring of Gettleman was confirmed by Giants’ president John Mara and chairman Steve Tisch, who issued a joint statement.
“Given where we are as a team, we thought it was important to bring in someone with experience as a General Manager and a proven track record.” – said the statement. “Dave’s experience is unparalleled. He did an outstanding job as general manager in Carolina, and he was vital to our success during his tenure here. Dave is going to bring his own approach to our organization in how we draft and acquire players through free agency.“
The 66-year-old Gettleman was considered a longtime favorite for the position, especially due to his ties with the organization, something that the Giants considered very important. He served as a scout in 1998, then as pro personnel director from 1999 to 2011, before assuming the role of senior pro personnel analyst in 2012. He was also the GM of the Panthers from 2013 to July 2017.
According to the sources close to the team, the Giants also interviewed assistant general manager Kevin Abrams, vice president of player evaluation Marc Ross and ESPN analyst Louis Riddick for the GM position, before settling on Gettleman.
New Giants GM already had his first news conference and said that he intends to keep both quarterback Eli Manning and wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. on the team. Besides making the decisions on the status of team’s two biggest stars, Gettleman will have to do much more if he intends to assert Giants as the winning side once more. Although his opinion will be valued when it comes to the man who will replace Ben McAdoo as the head coach, Mara earlier said that he and Tisch will have a final saying in the matter.
