The New York Giants entered 2019 looking to populate their roster with team-first players, which meant the departure of wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., safety Landon Collins, linebacker Olivier Vernon and others.
Along with cornerback Eli Apple, defensive tackle Damon Harrison and defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, the Giants had previously been a team who rarely had solid attendance during the voluntary portion of the offseason. It was something that stuck in the craw of general manager Dave Gettleman and head coach Pat Shurmur.
Even now, Beckham is separated from the Cleveland Browns and working out on his own, Harrison is in an essential holdout and Collins had previously threatened to holdout if the Giants tagged him.
But the Giants didn’t have to deal with those problems this year. Instead, save for a few excused absences here and there, they had nearly perfect attendance at their offseason program, which is now in its final days.
“I do think it means something when the players get something out of being here. . . We’ve got a lot of new and a lot of young on our team, so the more time they can spend together, the better,” Shurmur told reporters on Tuesday. “It shows they care.”
It’s exactly what the Giants wanted to and needed to see this offseason — commitment, self-sacrifice and hard work. And they got all of it in spades.
What will it mean for the team come the regular season? That remains to be seen, but you can bet it yields better results than the alternative, which has accounted for just eight wins over the past two seasons.
