Report: Relationship between Dave Gettleman, Joe Judge 'started to deteriorate last season'

Just about everything that could've gone wrong for the 2021 New York Giants went wrong coming off a promising 6-10 2020 season under then-first-year head coach Joe Judge. Quarterback Daniel Jones was lost for the campaign due to a neck injury he suffered on the final Sunday of November, and the Giants fell to 4-13 before co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch allowed much-maligned general manager Dave Gettleman to officially retire on Monday and then fired Judge on Tuesday. 

Outsiders, including many fans, assumed Gettleman and Judge were, at the very least, mostly in agreement regarding meaningful decisions throughout their time together. It appears, however, that may not be accurate. 

"Of the many miscalculations Mara has made in recent years, his belief that Gettleman and Judge were on the same page after the team’s 5-3 finish to last season was one of his worst," The Athletic's Dan Duggan wrote for a piece published Wednesday. "If Mara had the necessary tough conversations, he would have learned that the relationship started to deteriorate last season and had only gotten worse, according to a source." 

While responding to a reader comment, Duggan added that Gettleman and Judge "did not get along and weren’t on the same page with a lot of roster decisions" 

Without knowing specifics, one can't offer any strong reaction to this update. Mara has insisted New York's to-be-named general manager "will lead the effort to hire a new head coach," and the hope among Giants fans is that this upcoming partnership will, at worst, produce better than 10 total wins across the next two seasons.