The Giants' Ownership Problem Won't Solve Itself, and Waiting for the NFL Is a Fool's Errand

Let me be direct about what's happening with the New York Giants right now. Steve Tisch is still the co-owner and chairman of football operations for one of the most prestigious franchises in professional sports, and he has absolutely no business being in that position anymore. The NFL isn't going to do anything about it. The league sits back and watches incompetence play out like it's a subscription streaming service, and that means the only solution to this problem sits squarely in the hands of John Mara and the ownership structure of the organization itself.

This is what happens when you wait for institutional fixes to a personal problem. This is what happens when you expect a league office to do the hard work that only ownership can do. And this is exactly why the Giants continue to be a dysfunctional mess while the rest of the NFC East occasionally stumbles toward competence.

Let's talk about what Tisch has overseen since he took on his expanded role with the football operations side of the franchise. We're talking about one of the most chaotic, poorly constructed stretches of Giants football in a generation. Multiple failed coaching hires. Multiple failed quarterback decisions. A roster that looks like it was assembled by someone playing Madden on rookie difficulty. The Giants have been to the Super Bowl more recently than they've been to a conference championship game. Think about that for a second. That's not a byproduct of bad luck or unfortunate injuries. That's organizational dysfunction at the highest levels.

And before everyone starts pointing to Brian Daboll's first season or the current state of the team, remember that Tisch had his fingerprints all over the decision-making apparatus long before Daboll arrived. Tisch was there for the Joe Judge disaster. Tisch was there for the Pat Shurmur years. Tisch was there when the organization couldn't figure out what to do with the quarterback position for what feels like an eternity. This isn't about one bad hire or one bad season. This is about a pattern of decision-making that suggests someone is fundamentally unequipped for the role they're occupying.

The NFL's unwillingness to intervene is basically what we expect from the league office at this point. Roger Goodell runs an organization that mostly concerns itself with appearance management and creating storylines that serve the broader interests of the shield. Real accountability? Real oversight of franchises that are failing their fan bases and markets? That's not really on the NFL's agenda. The league will fine you for social media posts and push the narrative about protecting the integrity of the game while owners run their franchises into the ground like they're operating a mom and pop shop with no oversight whatsoever.

So when people wonder why the NFL hasn't done something about the Giants situation, the answer is simple: the NFL doesn't actually care. As long as the team isn't involved in criminal activity or creating major public relations disasters, the league considers it business as usual. The Giants can keep their season ticket waiting list and their place in primetime, so from a business standpoint, what's the problem? The problem is that they're wasting one of the most valuable media markets in professional sports, but that's not something Goodell's office is going to lose sleep over.

This puts the burden entirely on Mara and the ownership structure. And here's the thing that really gets me: Mara knows this. Mara isn't ignorant of the situation. Mara knows what has happened on the field. Mara knows how the franchise has performed. Mara knows what the fan base thinks. The question isn't whether Mara understands the problem. The question is whether Mara is willing to do the hard thing that needs to be done.

Moving Tisch aside isn't going to be comfortable. These are relationships that span decades. These are people who have worked together for a long time. These are co-owners who have shared both victory and defeat. But you know what matters more than comfort? Winning football games. You know what matters more than preserving relationships? Actually fielding a competitive team in the largest media market in the country. You know what matters more than keeping things pleasant and cordial? The integrity of the franchise itself.

The Giants have become a punchline. They're the team that makes bad decisions. They're the team that can't hold onto coaching talent when other franchises come calling. They're the team that throws massive amounts of money at problems without solving them. And a significant portion of that dysfunction traces back to decisions made at the ownership and football operations level.

Let's talk about what a real solution would look like. Mara needs to have a serious conversation with Tisch about stepping back from the football operations side of things. Not completely out of the organization, but out of the decision-making processes that directly impact coaching hires, personnel moves, and the overall strategic direction of the franchise. Tisch can remain involved as an owner. Tisch can attend meetings. Tisch can have input. But the actual authority to make these decisions needs to rest with people who have demonstrated the ability to build winning organizations.

This might require finding someone from outside the current organizational structure. This might require bringing in a general manager who actually knows what they're doing. This might require making some decisions that upset people who have been in power for a long time. But that's what real change looks like. That's what addressing the problem actually requires.

The alternative is waiting. The Giants can keep waiting for the NFL to do something. They can keep waiting for circumstances to change on their own. They can keep waiting for a magic moment where everything suddenly clicks into place and the organization stops making terrible decisions. And in the meantime, another season goes by. Another crop of talented players either underperforms or leaves in free agency. Another year of mediocrity or worse settles over the franchise like a blanket that nobody can throw off.

Here's my verdict on this entire situation. Steve Tisch should not be making personnel and coaching decisions for the New York Giants. The NFL isn't going to force that change because the NFL doesn't care enough to do it. So John Mara needs to do it himself. Mara needs to take control of this situation and make the hard decisions that actually solve the problem rather than kicking the can down the road for another year. The Giants have the resources, the market, and the historical pedigree to be better than this. But they won't get better until the people actually making the decisions are people who know how to build winning organizations. That's not happening right now, and waiting for outside intervention is a fool's game.