A general view of a New York Giants helmet. Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
The New York Giants are entering their 100th season as a franchise and it very well might be the most important season for their future.
Eight world championships, including four Super Bowl titles, are just distant memories and history to fans desperate for a return to consistency and a winning record.
New York has not conquered its division since 2011, the longest drought by any team in the conference, and with only one winning record and one playoff win since 2016, this year will be crucial to the rebuild.
2023 first round selection Malik Nabers demonstrated during his second preseason appearance on Aug. 17 that he could be the long-term fix at wide receiver New York has been looking for since the days of Victor Cruz and Odell Beckham Jr.
But Giants fans can't even be that excited over his impressive receiving skills because the 2022 version of quarterback Daniel Jones (3,913 total yards, 22 total TDs and five INTs) is nowhere to be found.
Jones has yet to demonstrate a return to form since recovering from a torn ACL last season, providing a less than inspiring performance in the same preseason game.
Another sub-.500 season in 2024 could lead to another high draft pick and New York would have an opportunity to move on from the failed Jones experiment.
That's the good news.
On the other side of that coin, New York will have wasted the talents of its pending free agents — particularly on the defense.
Linebackers Azeez Ojulari and Isaiah Simmons, plus defensive backs Nick McCloud and Jason Pinnock would be the likeliest trade candidates for the Giants to get some return on investment in a failed season.
However, a perpetual cycle of drafting high and trading away valuable, expiring assets does not create an environment for progress.
In fact, it just continues to mortgage a team's future on prospects that could help rather than capitalizing on the ones that can help now.
Head coach Brian Daboll may or may not be on the hot seat this season, but he's in the toughest predicament to produce either a season that is good enough to prove Jones is the future or one that's salvageable enough to move on from him and still have a competitive team to hand off to the next guy.
It's certainly not an easy task but that's what's ahead for the Giants in 2024.
