New York Giants: Is Pat Shurmur safe through 2020?

NFL situations often change in the blink of an eye, but the New York Giants sure seemed committed to head coach Pat Shurmur through 2020.

Hue Jackson must’ve had a behind-the-scenes agreement with Cleveland Browns ownership following the 2017 regular season.

It’s the best explanation possible for why a head coach who started his first campaign 0-14 before finishing that year with a 1-15 mark and who then followed that up by making history as only the second coach in history to post a winless 0-16 record was allowed to keep his job through the subsequent October until the Browns pulled the plug on the experiment when he fell to 3-36-1 overall.

Don’t look now, New York Giants fans, but a similar situation may be playing out with your beloved club. The Giants finished the 2018 season, New York’s first with Shurmur in charge, with a 5-11 record. And the organization made Shurmur’s job more difficult by trading superstar wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. to the Cleveland Browns for roughly 50 cents on the dollar.

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The Giants roster is worse, as of March 23, than it was before the Beckham trade. Anybody suggesting otherwise either has an agenda, doesn’t appreciate talent or doesn’t understand the sport.

Shurmur already has one failed stint as a man in charge, ironically with the Browns, on his resume, so one would probably assume he’d be less than thrilled knowing the guy who is, at worst, the second-best player in his offense behind running back Saquon Barkley had been unceremoniously shipped to his former employer.

Perhaps that’s why his comments on if he and the team’s front office were on the same page regarding the trade from earlier this week stood out. Per Paul Schwartz of the New York Post:

"“Absolutely,’’ Pat Shurmur told The Post on Wednesday in his first public comments about the mega-deal. “Everything we do behind the scenes, coaching and roster building, is collaborative.’’"

Continued:

"“My reaction is always the case with trades, it’s good for both parties,’’ Shurmur said. “We feel good about what we got. We got a starting safety, we got a first-round pick and we got our third-round pick. We felt it was good for us and, because we were able to come to an agreement, Cleveland thought it was good for them.’’"

Obviously, nobody should be surprised Shurmur didn’t flirt with hinting he isn’t fully on board with the actions of general manager Dave Gettleman and co-owner John Mara, his bosses. Shurmur also didn’t throw Beckham under the figurative bus in any way, saying he “enjoyed coaching” the wideout, and that such transactions are “just the business of sport right now.”

Gettleman’s offseason decisions, most notably trading Beckham while bringing quarterback Eli Manning back for one more campaign when logic suggested the call should’ve been to keep or jettison both, does lead outsiders to believe the front office general does, for whatever it’s worth, believe the Giants can rebuild and compete at the same time. There’s some merit behind such thinking, but only to a point.

Yes, the Browns nearly made the playoffs last December, but the team did so with rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield under center. It’s also hardly a hot take to say the Browns would’ve been trounced by either the likes of the New England Patriots or Kansas City Chiefs in the playoffs. The Philadelphia Eagles were coming off a Super Bowl hangover. In short, every postseason roster was far ahead of where the Giants sit ahead of the 2019 NFL Draft.

Realistically, what’s the absolute best one can wish for the 2019 Giants? Maybe a 9-7 or 10-6 run that includes a single playoff victory? That’s why Manning still holds the starting gig until his contract expires after he turns 39 years old?

Shurmur would deserve Coach of the Year honors if he dragged this squad to meaningful holiday-season football. Instead, this team is probably headed toward yet another losing campaign that will drag Manning’s reputation and legacy deeper into the mud.

Fans would’ve understood a full rebuild involving the departures of both Beckham and Manning. They aren’t buying what the club is selling, and that probably won’t change in September even if the club drafts a rookie to sit behind the two-time Super Bowl MVP. Shurmur is in a lousy position that will become only a deeper hole with every loss the Giants suffer later this year.

A team supposedly attempting to both rebuild and also compete while trying to not embarrass itself on a weekly basis is, by definition, lacking the talent needed to win much of merit. There’s plenty to dislike about Shurmur’s first season in charge of the Giants, but any such miscues don’t erase that he’s not been placed in a situation where he can immediately accomplish two vital objectives: Guide Big Blue back to the postseason and also groom Manning’s successor.

Knowing all of that, how fair would it be to Shurmur to put him on any hot seat before the fall of 2020?