Andrew Thomas was speaking not long after the Giants were embarrassed — again — on the field, this time in men vs. boys fashion by the Cowboys, who pulled their starters in the fourth quarter, inflicting a 49-17 hurting on the Giants that could have been worse, if necessary.
Thomas had hobbled off the field when his left leg got rolled up in the first quarter, and was relieved that it did not turn out to be a serious injury. He was able to return to the carnage, taking his place at left tackle.
It was the most positive development to come out of an ultra-negative afternoon at work for the Giants.
The one-sided affair was the third consecutive loss for the Giants, coming after a ridiculous late-game collapse to the Jets and a lethargic outing in Las Vegas.
How much lower could the Giants go? This felt like some sort of breaking point, a non-competitive performance against an NFC East rival.
“I don’t think so,’’ Thomas said. “It’s frustrating when you have consecutive losses, but we have a tough-knit group of guys and we have to find a way to stick together because it’s easy to point fingers and fall apart. That’s not the way you build a winning culture.’’
Ah, yes, a winning culture. If the Giants cannot muster at least that, Thomas is in big trouble. He is the most secure player — maybe the most secure individual — employed by the team.
When the Giants gave Thomas a five-year extension worth $117.5 million prior to this season, the contract could be construed as nearly a lifetime (in terms of an NFL career) commitment to a 24-year-old offensive lineman. The extension was added on to the existing two years on his contract, meaning the Giants have a commitment of $136.7 million to a player who is under contract through the 2029 season.
Thomas, if he is still playing at a high level, could cash in again. He will barely be older than 30 when this mega-deal is finished.
It is vital for Thomas that the Giants shed these losing ways because he is in it for the long haul. The same goes for Dexter Lawrence, the most secure Giants player on the defensive side of the ball. Lawrence, who turned 26 this past Sunday, signed a four-year extension worth $90 million and is under contract through the 2027 season.
If the Giants, currently 2-8 and fading fast, do not figure things out, Lawrence will have to look back on last season’s winning record and one playoff victory as the highlight of his stay with the team that made the massive defensive lineman a first-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.
Lawrence’s future rests on the belief general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll have the answers and can fix all that went wrong after both enjoyed successful debut seasons with the Giants in 2022.
“I’m confident,’’ Lawrence said. “They’re just as competitive as we are and want to find a way to win just as badly as we do. I think when you’ve got a head coach, urgent like that, that leaks down to the players. We’ve just got to put this s–t together on Sundays. We have good weeks in practice, good meetings, good extra meetings, all that. We’ve just got to put it together on Sunday and everything to be where we want it to be.’’
Thomas and Lawrence are fixtures, cornerstone pieces on the offensive and defensive line, respectively, and they are invested in the program because they signed up for it.
There are others who are in it, as well, though not as deeply rooted into the franchise as Thomas and Lawrence.
On offense, Daniel Jones is signed for the next three years. Other notable players in that same commitment window include tight end Darren Waller, center John Michael Schmitz and wide receiver Jalin Hyatt. Right tackle Evan Neal, receiver Wan’Dale Robinson and tight end Daniel Bellinger are signed for the next two seasons.
Jones must be on the roster in 2024 because his dead cap hit of $69 million cannot be absorbed if he is elsewhere.
His status as the starting quarterback is in peril based on his health — he will soon undergo surgery to repair a torn ACL in his right knee — and the possible presence of a quarterback selected high in the 2024 NFL Draft.
That’s quite a steep comedown for Jones, who did enough last season to convince Schoen and Daboll that he should be re-signed (on a four-year deal worth $160 million) and that he should be viewed as the franchise quarterback, for at least the next few years. Things change fast.
Waller is on injured reserve due to a strained hamstring after missing nearly half the season for the Raiders last year with hamstring issues. He remains the Giants team leader in receptions (36) and receiving yards (384), but the passing game was so poor with Jones and backup Tyrod Taylor, and so close to dysfunctional with Tommy DeVito, that it is unfair to assess Waller amid this mess.
Still, Waller’s first season with the Giants will go down as a disappointment. Will the Giants cut bait? If they do, it will cost $7.8 million in dead cap money, which is not ideal, but doable.
Neal’s future is complicated. He is out, again, with another sprained ankle, and his play when he’s been healthy has not been close to the level commensurate with his status as the No. 7 overall pick in the 2022 draft. Is a move inside to guard in his immediate future?
On defense, inside linebacker Bobby Okereke was signed in free agency to a four-year deal, and he should be paired with Lawrence as a player to build around.
Rookie cornerback Deonte Banks has three years remaining on his contract, and there is always the fifth-year option for the Giants to use, if necessary. Only 10 games into his NFL career, Banks has shown he has the kind of potential with which the Giants should move forward.
Outside linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux, with two years left on his deal (plus the fifth-year option), has a team-high 8.5 sacks and is probably one more good year away from getting a contract extension.
Winning teams tend to try to keep their cores intact. The Giants, though, are not a winning team and there will be significant roster upheaval after this season closes down.
Still, the franchise has a group worth building around even if it is not as big or as enticing as they need it to be.
Trading spaces
Before the Giants traded defensive lineman Leonard Williams to the Seahawks, they gave Williams the opportunity to consider the move to Seattle and offered him the power to veto the deal if he truly did not want to leave.
That would have cost the Giants the 2024 second-round pick they acquired (along with a 2025 fifth-round pick), but the decision was made that Williams, a respected veteran, deserved to be part of the process.
That move resonated inside the Giants locker room.
In Arizona, the way the Cardinals handled the trade of Josh Dobbs to the Vikings resonated in their locker room, too, in a very different way.
Dobbs last week said he was not told the truth by Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon. Dobbs said he met with his head coach on Monday of Week 9 and was informed rookie Clayton Tune would start the next game, against the Browns, to allow the coaching staff to evaluate Tune before Kyler Murray returned from a torn ACL.
“He looked at me in the face and he said, ‘You’re not being traded, you’re not being released, you’re gonna be here in Arizona,’” Dobbs said on the “Torchbearers’’ Vikings fan podcast.
The next day, Dobbs learned he was getting traded to the Vikings. Dobbs has thrived with his new team. His experience, though, is sure to be considered when players think about signing with the Cardinals down the road.
Asked and answered
Here are two questions that have come up recently that we will attempt to answer as accurately as possible:
Are any of the young players actually improving?
Let’s take a look at the 2023 draft class. The results were positive early in the season, but not as impressive lately. Banks has shown impressive stamina and an ability to move on after bad plays at cornerback, but looks as if he might be hitting the rookie wall. Schmitz shook off some rust after missing two games due to an injured shoulder and is looking solid at center. Hyatt remains a one-trick pony, a threat on deep routes and not much else as he develops his game and the Giants’ passing attack stumbles along.
There is not much else.
Running back Eric Gray never sees snaps on offense any more, and he lost the punt return job before landing on injured reserve. Cornerback Tre Hawkins won a starting role out of training camp, but he did not hold onto it. He is part of the defensive rotation only when someone is injured. Defensive lineman Jordon Riley and safety Gervarrius Owens regularly are healthy scratches on game days.
Perhaps the biggest success this season is Micah McFadden, who was taken in the 2022 draft and is forging a place for himself as a legit starting inside linebacker.
Were the sideline altercations during the loss to the Cowboys a sign the team is coming apart?
The team is not coming apart. The team is playing lousy football. There’s a difference.
Sterling Shepard was actually being a good teammate, trying to calm down Darius Slayton after Slayton’s emotions overheated and he confronted wide receivers coach Mike Groh. This is to be expected when losing is rampant and, in this case, when one part of the operation — the passing game — is so inept that those involved cannot hold back their frustration.
Sure, Saquon Barkley engaged in an animated discussion with Daboll after a failed fourth-down try. That is because Barkley cares. He probably thought the play-call on 4th-and-3 — a run into the middle of the Dallas defense — was not the best choice. That is fine. It is when players shrug off letdowns and simply take a seat on the bench that is cause for alarm.