It didn’t take long for Dave Gettleman to make his presence felt. In his first full day as New York Giants general manager, Gettleman fired vice president of player evaluation Marc Ross, waived mercurial offensive lineman Bobby Hart, and benched the equally inconsistent Ereck Flowers.
Ross joined the Giants in May 2007 as the director of college scouting. He spent the past five seasons as vice president of player evaluation. Ross was one of former general manager Jerry Reese’s top lieutenants, overseeing the draft process. The Giants, for the most part, have sputtered in the draft in recent years despite occasionally striking gold with picks such as Odell Beckham Jr., Landon Collins, Justin Pugh, and Sterling Shepard.
Ross was one of four candidates to interview for the general manager position that was vacated when Reese was fired along with former head coach Ben McAdoo on Dec. 4.
“I worked with Marc when I was with the organization before,” Gettleman said in a statement released by the team. “I have great respect for him and high regard for his work. Clearly, we’re going in a different direction, but that doesn’t make these kinds of decisions any easier.”
Hart, a 2015 seventh-round pick out of Florida State, reportedly told the coaching staff he would not play in Sunday’s regular season finale against the Washington Redskins at MetLife Stadium because of an ankle injury. In three seasons with the Giants, Hart played in 33 games with 21 starts including seven this season.
Flowers, a 2015 first-round selection out of Miami (FL), has been dealing with a slight groin injury and reports have surfaced that he “checked out” during this week’s practices. He has started in all 44 of his career NFL games at the left tackle position.
According to SNY’s Ralph Vacchiano, the Giants’ final straw was when Hart and Flowers refused to practice on Friday.
Hart has one year remaining on his current deal and is due a base salary of $705,000 in 2018. His Giants tenure has marred by inconsistent play and his own ego. Hart declared himself “the best right tackle in the league” over the summer before ultimately being replaced in the starting lineup when Pugh was moved from left guard to right tackle.
Flowers has one year remaining on his rookie contract and is due a base salary of $2,397,522 next season. It seems very unlikely the Giants will pick up his fifth-year option and may look to release him in the days ahead.
Adam Bisnowaty, a 2017 undrafted free agent, was promoted from the practice squad and is expected to start in Hart’s place against Washington. Offensive lineman Nick Becton and tight end Ryan O’Malley were also elevated to the active roster.
– Curtis Rawls is a Managing Editor for Full Press Coverage and covers the NFL and the New York Giants. Please like and follow on Facebook and Twitter. Curtis can be followed on Twitter @CuRawls203.