The Person Who Should Really Be Insulted by the Giants' Trade Offer for Drake Maye is Eliot Wolf
By now you've no doubt seen this Hard Knocks clip. Joe Schoen of the Giants making a nearly panicked phone call to the Patriots in desperate hope of making Drake Maye his quarterback of the future.
And it's perfectly reasonable to wonder how negatively scenes like this and the one from two weeks ago:
... would impact the Giants' quarterback of the recent past and unfortunate future. And that was pretty much the reaction of everyone, including Reags:
But in doing so, we're missing a larger point. And that is how disrespectful this call was to Eliot Wolf.
I mean, I get how he's running the Patriots for the first time. And how hoping to put one over on the new guy is a time honored tradition in just about every organization in the world. From hazing a fraternity pledge to a Drill Sergeant dressing down his new recruits. Who among us hasn't taken a job where on the first day they prank you by telling you to go get the "table stretcher" or the "electric fork" or whatever. It's almost a rite of passage for every noob in every occupation.
But holy cats, is this blatant disrespect. The Wolf might be new to the position, but he didn't just show up to One Patriots Place and fill out a job application. He's been around. He learned at the feet of his two football dads. Both Bill Belichick and his own, biological father:
That's a legacy few men can claim. And yet here he is on the land line, having his intelligence insulted by the Giants.
The 6th, a 1st in 2025 and "then something more this year," for the solution to all your offensive problems for the next decade and a half? I thought there were laws against telemarketing scams. And yet Wolf is being treated like he's a widow and Schoen is calling to say she's won a prize and she can claim it once he has her bank account and routing numbers. If this was only on audio and you didn't see who was on the line, you'd assume the call was coming from some dingy call center in Eastern Europe.
When that clip was posted two weeks ago, I thought I'd be saying this for the last time. But this ought to do it:
I guess it's worth going over one last time, for the Giants and Vikings in the back of the room. 2021. Miami has the third pick. San Francisco has the 12th. To make it worth the Dolphins' while to drop back, they give them that 1st and their 1st the next two years in a row. Everyone gets what they want. The Niners get the guy they mistook for their next franchise QB. The Dolphins build a contender. Thus, the market is set. The price of poker is firmly established. It's a perfect comp for all future trades up to 3.
But from the sound of it, the Giants and Vikings violated rules of haggling, established way back in Biblical times:
And to that, Wolf deserves our gratitude.
He does indeed. Although even that gratitude is diminished somewhat by the fact the Giants never bothered to make an offer that was even remotely tempting. When you try to rob someone that blatantly, you ought to be wearing a stocking over your face. But I suspect going forward with Daniel Jones, it'll be more of a paper bag over the head of a few hundred people in the stands at MetLife.
Still, good for Wolf for having the courage of his convictions. As well as his confidence in Drake Maye as the man for his organization.