Giants Country

Former New York Giants Defender Says This Line of Thinking Must Change

The Giants talk about culture in the locker room, but from the eyes of a former member of the team, there is no culture.

Patricia Traina

Former Giants linebacker Jonathan Casillas and defensive tackle Jay Alford came to help fire up students and staff during the NY Giants Playoff Pep Rally at the Bleshman School in Paramus, NJ on January 20, 2023.
Former Giants linebacker Jonathan Casillas and defensive tackle Jay Alford came to help fire up students and staff during the NY Giants Playoff Pep Rally at the Bleshman School in Paramus, NJ on January 20, 2023. / Chris Pedota, NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK
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Former New York Giants linebacker and defensive captain Jonathan Casillas, now a member of the team’s broadcast crew, doesn’t know what team ownership John Mara and Steve Tisch plan to do regarding general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll’s respective futures beyond this year.

But if both men are brought back for a fourth season—and it is believed that Schoen  is indeed safe—Casillas believes there is one mistake that the current regime has continued to commit, and which has strongly  contributed to the team’s decline since they took over.

“There was a locker room chemistry that existed with the New York Football Giants for the last few years,” Casillas said on the Locked On Giants podcast.

“I don't think they understand what that truly means. They got rid of all those guys that were the culture for the New York Giants in the locker room that have been here throughout several regimes—Saquon Barkley, Leonard Williams, Julian Love, Xavier McKinney, Kevin Zeitler, and Sterling Shepard. Those were the leaders.

“Those are the cultural factors that had this team confident throughout the years despite having different coaches, different regimes, different GMs. And I don't think they understood that to be honest.”

Casillas went on to say that while the Giants brass has added new pieces to the team’s foundation, by stripping away most of what was there in the past—good players at that—it’s wreaked havoc with the locker room chemistry and the winning culture the team is trying so hard to build.

“You got rid of the locker room culture. And you know, people are like, ‘Oh, they're going to draft their guys, they're going to bring their guys in. What foundation is here that you're adding to? Yeah, you got Dexter (Lawrence), you got Bobby (Okereke), you got Brian (Burns), you got (Darius) Slayton, you got Andrew Thomas, you got(Jermaine) Eluemunor.’  

“But half of those guys are new guys. It's a new culture and they hurt, and they've been losing, you know, so it's like I don't think they truly understood the locker room chemistry.”

Casillas has a theory on why that has been the case.

“I think (Schoen) was just thinking business wise and he wasn't thinking chemistry wise, he wasn't thinking locker room wise,” he said.

“Letting Saquon (Barkley) go to the Philadelphia Eagles for nothing is  one of the biggest mistakes that a GM, a team has ever made. And I don't really know how to say it any differently because (Schoen) totally underestimated his value.

“He didn't think he was going to get what he was worth, but he totally underestimated what he meant in the locker room. And the team is feeling not only his departure on the field, but also his presence in the locker room.”

Casillas believes the same could be said about Shepard.

“Sterling was a guy last year, you know, he's older. He was kind of beat up and it wasn't really like a viable top two receiver. But look at what he's doing for the Buccaneers.

“He's another locker room guy that got those guys fired up. … You need guys like that. That veteran leadership that I'm talking about, the Giants have to have because I don't know where the culture is.”

Casillas concluded that the Giants’ so-called “culture” is a big question mark. So then how do they fix the problem, other than to win games?

“If I had a team, if I had a team, it wouldn't be about the coaches and the scheme. It would be having the right group of men in the locker room with the right coach to lead those guys,” Casillas said.

“It's not all about business. It's not about saving money and doing the right thing for the roster. You only know that when you experience it. That's the only way to figure it out. Hopefully, Joe Schoen knows that now and he may go about it a little differently in the future.”

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Patricia Traina
PATRICIA TRAINA

Patricia Traina has covered the New York Giants for 30+ seasons, and her work has appeared in multiple media outlets, including The Athletic, Forbes, Bleacher Report, and the Sports Illustrated media group. As a credentialed New York Giants press corps member, Patricia has also covered five Super Bowls (three featuring the Giants), the annual NFL draft, and the NFL Scouting Combine. She is the author of The Big 50: The Men and Moments that Made the New York Giants. In addition to her work with New York Giants On SI, Patricia hosts the Locked On Giants podcast. Patricia is also a member of the Pro Football Writers of America and the Football Writers Association of America.

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