New York Giants
The Hall of Fame voting for 2025 will be completed before Super Bowl week. Giants quarterback Eli Manning is on the ballot for the first time. And there’s a decent chance that Eli will be waiting at least another year to get there.
On Sunday, Paul Schwartz of the New York Post predicted “some fireworks” among the 49 voters regarding whether Eli will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. (Charean Williams of PFT is one of the 49 voters.)
On one hand, Eli won a pair of Super Bowl MVP awards, taking down the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII and XLVI. On the other hand, he was a Pro Bowler only four times, and he was never a first- or second-team All Pro. Still, he’s 11th in career passing yards (57,023), 11th in career touchdown passes (366). But he also has a career passer rating that, by today’s standards, is pedestrian at 84.1. (in the 2024 regular season, 23 qualifying starters had higher passer ratings.)
Complicating Eli’s case are recent changes to the voting. After the class of 15 modern-day finalists is whittled to 10 and then 7, there’s no longer an up-or-down vote on each one, with an 80-percent “yes” vote needed. Instead, the voters pick five of the seven, and only those that get at least 80 percent of the vote are enshrined. That means 40 of the 49 had to include Eli on their list of five candidates from the seven finalists.
During the final ManningCast of the 2024 season, former Patriots coach Bill Belichick expressed optimism that Eli will make it.
“You’re going to look great in a gold jacket,” Belichick said, via Dan Benton of USA Today. “I’m sure that’s going to happen and you deserve it so much.”
Belichick presumably has influence over some on the committee. That said, his strong support of former Chargers and Patriots safety Rodney Harrison has not sufficiently moved the needle.
In time, the needle will move for Eli Manning, who also benefits from the fact that his name is “Eli Manning” and not, say, Joey Joe-Joe Junior Shabadoo. Eli’s post-football media presence will help his cause, too.
It still might not be enough to make it on the first ballot. And, frankly, that honor should be reserved to the players and coaches for whom there will be no debate.
As Deion Sanders might say, that should be the standard for admission on the first try, or any try.
Ultimately, that’s the difference between Peyton and Eli. Peyton was a no-brainer, first-ballot Hall of Famer. If enough voters think Eli isn’t, that might keep him from getting in until 2026, at the earliest.
The Raiders have requested permission to interview Giants assistant General Manager Brandon Brown for their vacant G.M. job, Jonathan Jones of CBS reports.
This is the first request for Brown this hiring cycle, but he received multiple requests a year ago.
Brown just completed his third season with the Giants.
He spent five seasons with the Eagles, who promoted him to director of player personnel in 2021. In that role, Brown oversaw the Eagles’ pro scouting department and did crossover work on the college scouting side.
Brown joined the Eagles as assistant director of pro scouting, a job he held for two seasons, before becoming director of pro scouting for two seasons.
He also has worked for the Colts as an advance scout (2016) and scouting assistant (2015).
Brown joined the Colts after spending two years at Boston College, first as a recruiting specialist (2013) and then as the assistant director of player personnel (2014).
In 2012, Brown was a pro personnel intern in the Jets’ training camp.
The Raiders also have requested to interview Buccaneers assistant G.M. John Spytek, Packers vice president of player personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan and Steelers director of pro scouting Sheldon White.
The Giants held onto head coach Brian Daboll after their 3-14 season, but a couple of his assistants are getting shown the door.
Mike Garafolo of NFL Media reports that the Giants have fired defensive pass game coordinator/defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson and safeties coach Michael Treier.
Henderson was hired as a member of Joe Judge’s staff in 2020 and remained on board through the change to Daboll ahead of the 2022 season. He’s also coached for the Falcons, Cowboys, Browns, and Jets since finishing his days as an NFL defensive back.
Treier also joined the Giants in 2020 and has been the safeties coach for the last two seasons.
The Giants are allowing executive advisor to the G.M. Ryan Cowden out of his contract so he can join the Patriots’ front office, NFL Media reports.
It will reunite Cowden with Mike Vrabel.
Cowden’s title will be along the lines of vice president of player personnel, according to Albert Breer of TheMMQB, with Cowden serving as the “de facto No. 2 to Eliot Wolf.”
Cowden was Vrabel’s vice president of player personnel in Tennessee from 2018-22 before joining Joe Schoen and the Giants.
Cowden previously interviewed for General Manager jobs with the Chiefs, Panthers, Commanders and Steelers as well as the Giants in 2022 and the Titans in 2023.
After the Giants cut starting quarterback Daniel Jones, he joined Minnesota’s practice squad. It was a wise move, aimed at getting him on a team while maintaining the flexibility to sign with another team’s active roster, should the opportunity arise.
Now that the regular season has ended, Jones has gone all in with the Vikings by joining the active roster. He’ll be with the Vikings and only the Vikings for the postseason, however long it lasts.
The fact that the move happened only days after starter Sam Darnold found a moment that seemed a bit too big for his stunningly strong season has raised questions about whether Jones might be in line to play, if Darnold struggles in the postseason.
“It’s such a fluid thing here the rest of the way,” coach Kevin O’Connell said Thursday. “We’re gonna do whatever we think gives us the best chance to win.”
The current expectation is that Jones, despite joining the active roster, will be the emergency quarterback against the Rams on Monday night. He’ll play only if Darnold and primary backup Nick Mullens are injured.
The window for Jones playing looks more like this, we believe: The Vikings win but Darnold plays poorly, and Jones could play in the divisional round.
Of course, the chances of the Vikings winning if Darnold plays poorly are slim. And it will be difficult if not impossible for Minnesota to advance without Darnold making a play at some point that would boost his status for a return to Detroit. (Or, possibly, a trip to Philly or Tampa or a visit from the Commanders.)
But Darnold could be on a short leash in the second round, if the Vikings get there. In a single-elimination setting, with the season riding on the outcome, a switch from a quarterback with (as of now) no playoff experience to a quarterback who two years ago won a playoff game in Minnesota might be needed.
And if that happens in Philadelphia, with Jones on one side and Saquon Barkley on the other, Giants co-owner John Mara’s head might literally explode.
The Saints have completed another interview in their head coaching search.
The team announced that they met with Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka on Thursday. The Saints interviewed Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver on Wednesday.
Per league rules for this stage of the process, both interviews were conducted remotely.
Kafka, who also had the assistant head coach title in 2024, has spent the last three years with the Giants. He called offensive plays in 2023, but head coach Brian Daboll reclaimed those responsibilities this season.
Prior to joining the Giants, Kafka spent four years as the Chiefs’ quarterbacks coach. He interviewed for head coaching jobs with a number of teams the last two years and is also set to interview with the Bears this cycle.
Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka is set for a pair of head-coaching interviews on Thursday.
Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports that Kafka is set to meet with the Bears and the Saints as part of their search processes. Both interviews will be held remotely as in-person interviews are not permitted until after the divisional round of the playoffs.
Kafka was blocked from interviewing for the Seahawks’ offensive coordinator job last year, but did not remain the offensive play-caller for the Giants in 2024. Given the way the Giants offense performed, that may not be a negative.
The Bears are interviewing Mike Vrabel on Wednesday and they are set to meet with Pete Carroll on Thursday. The Saints will interview Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver on Wednesday.
The Vikings signed quarterback Daniel Jones to the active roster from the practice squad, the team announced. They waived quarterback Brett Rypien in a corresponding move.
The Vikings also have Nick Mullens behind Sam Bradford on the 53-player roster.
Jones signed with the Vikings’ practice squad on Nov. 29 after the Giants granted his request for his release.
He was benched by the Giants after throwing for 2,070 yards, eight touchdowns and seven interceptions this season.
The Giants made him the sixth overall pick in 2019 and signed him to a four-year, $160 million deal in 2023. He started 69 regular-season games and threw for 14,582 yards, 70 touchdowns and 47 interceptions in his time in New York. The Giants were 24-44-1 in his starts.
When Simms and I were interviewing prospects at the Scouting Combine, we asked the defensive prospects to name the best player they faced in college. For the guys from the SEC, the unanimous answer came without hesitation.
LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels.
In his first season with the Commanders, everyone saw what those players from his conference experienced. Beyond his passing skills, he’s there — and then he’s gone.
And so, for the second straight year, the second overall pick in the draft is the PFT offensive rookie of the year.
Daniels is already a fringe top-10 quarterback in the entire league, and the arrow is going up. He finished 10th in passer rating, with a final number north of 100. He was 10th with 25 touchdown passes, against only nine interceptions. His completion percentage of 69.0 landed sixth among all quarterbacks.
He also led the Commanders to a playoff berth in a year that was supposed to be a rebuilding season, adding 891 rushing yards (a record for rookie quarterbacks) and six touchdowns.
As we close in on inaugurating a new president, Daniels already has been crowned the king of D.C. And there’s no reason to think he won’t keep getting better and better.
Finishing second was Raiders tight end Brock Bowers, who broke both the one-year-old rookie reception record with 112 — and the 63-year-old rookie tight end receiving yardage record with 1,194. And he did it with a revolving door of journeymen at quarterback.
Broncos quarterback Bo Nix shattered the franchise record for rookie quarterback wins, more than doubling John Elway’s and Drew Lock’s prior mark of four. And Nix led the Broncos to the playoffs for the first time since Peyton Manning capped his career with a walk-into-the-sunset victory in Super Bowl 50.
Others who merit mention include Jaguars receiver Brian Thomas, Jr. and Giants receiver Malik Nabers. Thomas had 1,282 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns on only 87 catches, and Nabers managed 109 catches and 1,204 receiving yards despite missing two games with a concussion. Neither were catching passes from top-five quarterbacks.
All four have very bright futures in the NFL. For two of them — Daniels and Nix — there are still chances to shine in the 2024 postseason.
Heading into Week 17, the Giants just needed to lose their final two games to clinch the first overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft. But the Giants upset the Colts in Week 17 and ended up with the third pick. Giants owner John Mara insists he was happy to get a win.
When asked why the Giants didn’t tank their final two games to get the top pick, Mara said he and his team will never do that.
“If I had thought that we were tanking in either one of those games, I would have fired everybody. We are never going to do that in this organization, as long as I’m standing on this side of the grass,” Mara said.
Mara seemed to take offense to the question, but as long as the NFL incentivizes teams to have bad records, questions about tanking will remain. A worse record can give teams a higher draft pick, a higher priority on the waiver wire, and an easier schedule. Unless the NFL changes those incentives, it will always be valid to question whether teams that are out of the playoff race are better off losing.