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Giants’ John Mara Had Dark Line About Franchise Never Tanking

Mara wants his team to compete until the end.

Kyle Koster

New York Giants owner John Mara looks on before the Giants play the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium.
New York Giants owner John Mara looks on before the Giants play the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium. / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
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The New York Giants concluded a 3-14 forgettable season on Sunday, losing to the Tanner McKee-led Philadelphia Eagles, 20-13. Two weeks ago the franchise, which needs to find a quarterback of the future, held the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL draft. As a result of Drew Lock balling out and a victory over the Indianapolis Colts last week, the organization will now select third overall. Co-owner John Mara answered questions from the media Monday morning, where he was asked about the end-of-season approach.

And Mara did not mince words when it comes to what his goals will be every gameday as long as he's alive and wields power.

"If I had thought that we were tanking either one of those games, I would've fired everybody," Mara said. "We are never going to do that in this organization as long as I'm standing on this side of the grass."

Mara was in a straightforward mood today as he was also quizzed on how long it might take for the Giants to improve.

"It better not take too long, because I've just about run out of patience," Mara quipped.

What the Giants will or won't do in the upcoming draft is a topic for the next few months. All things equal, it'd be nice if they were able to call the first name of the night but if losing on purpose isn't part of the plan then picking third will have to do.

The first rule of tanking is to not admit you're tanking, yet Mara seems pretty authentic here. Best-case scenario for him is never revisiting these questions because his team is too good to tank.

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Kyle Koster
KYLE KOSTER

Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.

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