Colin Cowherd Compares New York Giants to Blockbuster Video

The New York Giants are coming off a very bad 6-11 season that felt a lot worse than that and matters are not going to improve very much in 2024. They do have the sixth overall pick in the NFL Draft, which is absolutely high enough to grab a game-changer in some areas, but not quite high enough to get the sort of highly-coveted quarterback prospect that can transform an organization's fortunes overnight. Which means New York is stuck running it back with Daniel Jones next season, something that even they are apparently unhappy about.

It is simply the latest rough stretch in a decade full of them for one of the NFL's prouder organizations. And now they are set to lose Saquon Barkley in free agency after a clash over the franchise tag last offseason. That isn't the worst thing in the world from a positional value standpoint but everybody knows that Jones needs a very talented supporting cast around him to win games and finding someone of Barkley's caliber in the draft is not nearly as easy as everyone likes to pretend. It is not hard to find a good running back, but Barkley, when he's cooking, is a great running back. Replacing him will be difficult and almost certainly lead to worse play from Jones.

Colin Cowherd took aim at Big Blue on Thursday's episode of The Herd and compared the way they've handled the last 10 years to how Blockbuster handled their business when everything came crashing down around them. Which is to say, not very well at all.

For Cowherd to be doing this because the Giants are going to lose Barkley is a little over-the-top. Barkley is certainly very good but it feels quite unlikely New York would be any good next season with him. They'll be worse without him, to be sure, but it's not like this is the decision that sinks their 2024 season.

All the other decisions made leading up to this, though... Cowherd has a point with his analogy. The Giants were a prestige franchise not too long ago, a model of how an NFL organization should be run in pursuit of decades of competitive football. Instead they butchered the end of Eli Manning's career to an extent words cannot truly describe and then have fumbled the bag over and over again in the years since his retirement. It's remarkable, honestly, to reflect upon some of their missteps over the years.

Drafting Jones sixth overall and then extending him after the illusion that was the 2022 season is obviously the big one recently. But there was the handling of the Odell Beckham Jr. thing, which ended up net-neutral move but the process was tough to watch. Taking Barkley over Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson. Drafting Ereck Flowers at all. Their last truly impactful free agent signing was... Domonique Rodgers-Cromatie in 2014?

Every team has made mistakes since the last Giants Super Bowl in 2012. Every team has had misses in the draft that they want back. But New York has not offset many of their bad moves with good moves. And their complete lack of serious contention for the last 12 years is proof. The Giants are not going to go the way of Blockbuster but right now they're about as relevant to other NFL teams and that is a real shame.