dave gettleman giants
(Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

In his first pre-draft press conference as New York Giants general manager, Dave Gettleman said a mouthful, but at the same time, did not reveal what his plans are as it pertains to the No. 2 overall pick via the 2018 NFL Draft. 

There has been wide speculation on what the New York Giants are going to do with the second pick in the draft. Some feel the Giants will take their quarterback of the future. Others say they should take Saquon Barkley. Some believe they should trade down and acquire more picks.

At his press conference on Thursday, Gettleman answered questions about all of the possibilities without revealing his intentions.

The fact that nobody knows which direction Gettleman plans to take has him thrilled. In fact, Art Stapleton of the Bergen Record asked him this questions during his press conference.

Do you like the fact that there are so many opinions about what you’re going to do at No. 2?

Like it? I love it, Gettleman said. Are you kidding me? By the way, when you were on Sirius the other day, it was Saturday and I was in here holed up watching film. I was listening to you and it was hysterical what you were saying. I loved it. Yeah, I do.

Later in his press conference, he answered a question about possibly trading down.

You’ve got to stay with the value. You have to stay with the value because you guys have heard a million stories, I’ve heard a million and one and you’ve probably heard half a million where a guy says, ‘Don’t worry, he’ll be there in the next round.’ Then the next round comes around and he ain’t there. You have to stay with your board, you have to stay with value. You can’t get too cute. Guys have kind of laughed around the league when we’d be on the clock in Carolina and I’d have my pick in 28 seconds. If you know what you want, then go do it. Don’t be shy. If you get too cute, you’re going to lose. You’re going to come up on the wrong end and it’s about value. You can never have too many good players at one position.

Gettleman also gave high praise to Penn State running back Saquon Barkley who many feel is the most talented player in the draft.

I’m not going to lie. He’s a tremendous talent. You put the film on of a defensive guy and if they’re playing Penn State, then I’m watching Saquon. He’s one of those guys that my mother could have scouted. She could have figured that one out.

One of the reasons why there is so much intrigue about what the Giants will do in the draft is because their franchise quarterback Eli Manning is 37 and only has two years remaining on his contract.

How much the Giants feel Manning has left will play the most pivotal part in the direction they decide to go in the draft. Gettleman addressed this very topic on how much he feels Manning has left. 

Well, you know we’ve talked about it. There is no ability to predict that. Eli takes great care of his body, he’s very fit. We watched the film and he still has plenty of arm. Who knows? Did anybody know that, I’m drawing a blank on his name; he played quarterback at the age of 45. Who knows? I know the Oakland kicker Blanda played a game late, right Steve? You played a game late and there was another quarterback, he played for Atlanta. But anyhow, like I said, Eli takes great care of himself, he’s very fit and he still has plenty of arm.

A few moments later, he confirmed the reports that the Giants had released Brandon Marshall due to a failed physical.  Then the question was poised to him on if he had an interest in Dez Bryant who was cut by the Cowboys last week.

I have interest in everybody. We do our film work and you never know.

So as you can see, Mr. David Gettleman said plenty but revealed nothing. The consensus is if the Giants stay at number two, they will draft Saquon Barkley. Of course, we’ll have to wait until next Thursday to see if that comes to fruition.

Jason's first love was football while growing up in northern New Jersey. For the past three years, he has covered the New York Giants, as well as several boxing events along the East Coast.