This Giants-Wink Martindale Story is Getting Ridiculous [UPDATE]

There have been rumblings of a strained relationship between New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll and defensive coordinator Wink Martindale all season long. With an injury-plagued season mercifully over for Big Blue, things appear to have finally come to a head between the two. In an explosive and frankly ridiculous manner.

Everything started off a bit confusing and got weirder from there. When Daboll met with reporters on Monday after the Giants beat the Philadelphia Eagles to put a bow on their 6-11 season, he told them he did not expect to make any changes at the coordinator positions. Meaning that, despite reports of him clashing with Martindale, Daboll wasn't going to fire him. Which came as a bit of a surprise but given both men are the oldest of old-school football coaches it was believable. But a few hours later Ian Rapoport reported Martindale had resigned. A somewhat confusing change to have taken place in less than a day but we've seen crazier in the NFL so it didn't raise any attenas.

Then things got weird. Tuesday came around and reports started to surface that Martindale hadn't actually resigned. Or, at least, hadn't officially handed in his paperwork. The New York Post started poking around and published an in-depth story on Tuesday evening that paints a truly absurd picture. The short version is that Martindale got into a screaming match with Daboll after the latter fired several of Martindale's top assistants. Then the (former?) defensive coordinator simply... walked out of the building. He didn't give his paperwork to anybody or call the Maras to inform him of a decision to resign. He apparently told people "close" to him that he was going to resign, but instead of going through the process of doing so, he got on a plane to Florida.

That's right. Martindale just up and left. Per the Post:

If Wink Martindale has resigned his position as the Giants’ defensive coordinator, he is advised to notify the Giants of his decision.

As of Tuesday evening, the team had not heard anything from Martindale, who stormed out of the building on Monday, and Tuesday morning was on a flight headed to a home he has in Florida.

Martindale, wearing his trademark black joggers, black sleeveless vest and donning a Yankees cap, was spotted Tuesday morning at Newark Liberty International Airport boarding a flight to Sarasota.

Heading home is not the normal course of action for an NFL coach two days after the end of a season.

This is the time for staff meetings and final evaluations, responsibilities that Martindale no longer believes he is obligated to complete.

Extremely odd! Especially for a 60-year-old, grizzled veteran of a coach. They usually have more respect for the process than this. However, as the situation leaked into Wednesday, it appears a strategic move as much as it is an emotional one.

If Martindale resigned, he would not be owed the remainder of his contract, which most people probably figured out by this point. But the other factor here is that, if he were to resign, the Giants could block him from working for another team next season. A funky attribute of NFL coaching contracts but one that does, in fact, exist. If a coordinator leaves a team on relatively good terms then it isn't a problem. That... is not what happened with Martindale. At all.

Which means we've got ourselves a standoff. Martindale won't resign because he wants his money and the ability to work for whomever he wants next year. The Giants have no inclination to pave the way for him to get what he wants and know he will not return to work for Daboll under any circumstances. Thus, a stand-off. There isn't really an end in the near future, either. One look at Martindale and you can tell this is a stubborn, stubborn man. The Giants have long been a proud organization. Neither side is going to give now that it's a matter of pride.

Eventually, of course, we'll get to the point where it's detrimental for New York to continue playing this game. They'll want to find their new defensive coordinator and get them into the building as soon as possible. But that hiring cycle won't start for a while yet so the franchise is content to sit tight and dare Martindale to continue this dance, a potentially damaging decision for his next job opportunity.

It's all absurd. Fully grown men allowing this sort of drama to play out on a national stage is part of why people love sports, though. So in the interest of content, may we all hope this goes on as long as possible.

UPDATE: The stand-off has come to an end. Martindale agreed to let the Giants keep the money he was owed from the remainder of his contract, and the Giants will not block Martindale from working somewhere else next year. The art of the deal.