New York Giants

Last Friday, Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart introduced President Donald Trump at a rally in New York. This Friday, Dart met with reporters.

Following a Saturday dustup on social media sparked by linebacker Abdul Carter and a Wednesday team meeting, Dart made an opening statement that lasted more than four minutes. Here’s the full content of his statement, as posted by Jordan Raanan of ESPN:

“This was a unique opportunity. You know, being asked and given the opportunity to introduce the President of the United States, you know, my thinking was pretty simple. And the fact of, you know, I’ve always loved this country.

“I have extended family members who have fought in wars. I have two uncles who have retired from the Air Force Academy, and served themselves. And I have a great grandfather who served as Secretary of Treasury at some point. So the president position has always been a position that I have always respected, regardless of political affiliation, regardless of political party, and my intentions were just that.

“I also understand in this world, politics can be a sensitive matter, a sensitive topic. I also understand that I am the quarterback of the New York Giants, and that involves a lot of responsibility. It’s under a limelight, under a microscope, and there’s a lot that comes with that, and it’s been something that I’ve embraced.

“I’ve loved being here. I love the city of New York. I love the city [sic] of New Jersey, the people that I’ve met here. It’s just been a really amazing experience, and there’s not another place that I’d rather be.

“Most importantly, people in this organization, my teammates, the staff, coaches, everybody that has a hand . . . you name it. You know, I’ve loved making relationships with them and growing connections. And that’s kind of a person that I am. I’m a connector. I love making relationships with people. I love hearing everybody’s stories. And being somebody who, you know, people can rely on to be there for them.

“Most importantly, I can honestly say that I love every single one of my brothers, my teammates on this team regardless of politics, regardless of religious beliefs, regardless of anything that may be different between us. Like, I love them and they know exactly what kind of person that I am, who comes into the facility every day. . . . I lay my body on the line for my guys each and every week. And it’s from the connections that we build, the love that we have for each other. I’ve been somebody who’s always respected the different perspectives that people may have, the backgrounds they come from — I understand that, you know, we have such a cool opportunity as people, to be in the locker room where it’s a melting pot of people from everywhere and you get to be together.

“I think that the connections that we build are special, because, you know, we’re able to have vulnerable conversations, we’re able to learn from each other, to support each other irrespective of the color of our skin. And, you know, we have a real brotherhood.

“We’ve had a lot of honest conversations with each other as a team, and I’d like to keep those things private between me and my teammates and just everything that’s been said. But, you know, I love these guys and going forward, I can’t wait for what more we have to grow, you know, the culture of this team, our brotherhood, and obviously we understand the biggest goal is to be the best team that we can be, to put ourselves in the best position to succeed, to chase a championship, to be the best players for Coach Harbs and all the coaches here. And, you know, that’s our focus going forward each and every day. And can’t wait to continue to do that.”

Whether that ends it remains to be seen. Others will surely be asked about the situation, including Carter.

There is an update on Giants receiver/returner Gunner Olszewski, who was carted off the field during Friday’s OTA practice.

New York fears Olszewski suffered a torn Achilles, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Olszewski will undergo more tests to confirm the diagnosis. But often when a player suffers a torn Achilles, the initial fear is confirmed.

Olszewski, 29, joined the Giants midway through the 2023 season before missing all of 2024 due to injury.

He returned to play 16 games for New York last year, catching 10 passes for 145 yards while also averaging 9.0 yards on 24 punt returns and 26.2 yards on 26 kick returns.

In his 81 career games with five starts, Olszewski has recorded 25 receptions for 325 yards with two TDs.

The Giants lost defensive tackle Roy Robertson-Harris to an Achilles tear this month and they had another member of the team go down with an apparent injury at Friday’s OTA practice.

According to multiple reporters in attendance at the practice, wide receiver Gunner Olszewski went down with a non-contact injury during a drill. The workout took a pause while Olszewski was attended to on the field and he was carted off for further evaluation. There’s been no word from the team about his condition.

Olszewski has spent the last three seasons with the Giants and he re-signed with the team this offseason. He had 10 catches for 145 yards and a touchdown last season and he’s been the team’s lead punt returner when healthy.

Someone else will have to fill that role if Olszewski’s injury is a severe one, but any decisions on that front will wait for a full diagnosis.

On Wednesday, Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart addressed his teammates regarding his recent introduction of President Trump at a New York rally. One key teammate wasn’t there.

Via Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post, linebacker Abdul Carter was absent on Wednesday, due to family obligations related to a religious holiday.

Which raises a fair question. Why not do the meeting when Carter was present?

If one of the topics of the meeting included the importance of keeping issues in house, it would make sense to wait for the guy whose decision to air out dirty laundry turned into an unwanted imbroglio for the Giants. From Carter’s perspective, he’s surely wondering what was said and how players reacted to the comments.

Also, he surely would have had something to say to the room about why he did what he did.

And so, while some are characterizing the situation as resolved, how can it be truly resolved if one of the key players in the incident wasn’t there when the team hashed it out.

On Friday, Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart decided to engage in an inherently political act. On Wednesday, he engaged in an inherently janitorial act.

Via NFL Network, Dart addressed his teammates to discuss his introduction of President Donald Trump during a rally in New York.

Per the report (as described by Mike Garafolo of NFL Network), “Other team leaders spoke up as well, and Dart and the players worked through it. They are moving forward.” Ian Rapoport of NFL Network adds that Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux, and Jameis Winston spoke during the meeting.

According to Jordan Raanan of ESPN, one of the topics was the importance of keeping things “internal” and not airing frustrations publicly.

Unless the Giants have mastered the science of time travel, they have no choice but to “move forward.” The question is whether the situation has ended for now, or whether it’s truly over.

Despite the intense criticism that has been directed at linebacker Abdul Carter for his Saturday morning social-media reaction to the situation (and Carter should not have aired out internal laundry publicly), Dart created the issue by doing something he didn’t have to do.

There was a time when an opportunity to introduce the leader of the free world could be separated from the personal political views of the person making the introduction. Those days are over, especially in the current climate. (Also, Dart’s personal politics apparently align with the current occupant of the White House.)

The mere fact that Dart addressed the team, that other team leaders “spoke up,” and that they “worked through it” proves it was not the proverbial nothing burger. It was an unforced error for Dart, compounded by Carter’s public reaction.

Internally, the Giants did what they needed to do. There will inevitably be an external component, the next time Dart, Carter, and others are available to speak to reporters.

At that point, the questions and the answers will be potentially enlightening. If all relevant questions are asked.

The Giants are near the bottom of the NFL in available cap space, but they’ve given themselves some room by restructuring the contract of one of their most expensive players.

Giants left tackle Andrew Thomas restructured his contract Wednesday, creating $6.46 million in cap space for this season, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.

As players routinely do, Thomas had some of his base salary converted to bonus money that can be spread out over future years’ salary caps. Thomas is under contract through 2029 thanks to the five-year, $117.5 million extension he signed with the Giants in 2023.

The $6.46 million will still be accounted for on the Giants’ salary cap, just not this season. Next year the Giants are projected to be near the top of the NFL in available cap space, so it makes sense for the Giants to push some of that cap accounting forward and give themselves more room to operate this year.

As it turns out, there’s a limit to the power of FIFA.

Soccer’s international governing body has managed to dictate terms to those who will be hosting World Cup matches, compelling NFL stadiums to rip up artificial turf and install acceptable grass fields. FIFA may have met its match, however, with the attorneys general of New York and New Jersey.

Via Ben Horney of Front Office Sports, New York attorney general Letitia James and New Jersey attorney general Jennifer Davenport have subpoenaed FIFA amid an investigation regarding ticketing practices that have resulted in obscene prices for eight matches to be played at MetLife Stadium. The venue also will be hosting the final game.

“New Yorkers have been waiting years for the World Cup to come to their backyard, and they deserve a fair shot at affordable tickets,” James said in a statement. “No one should be manipulated into paying sky-high prices for seats, and fans should be able to trust that the tickets they purchase will be the ones they receive.”

“Being honest about ticket sales is not complicated,” Davenport said. “But FIFA has turned buying a ticket to the World Cup into a gauntlet of confusion, fake scarcity, and impossibly high prices — all at the expense of consumers and hardworking New Jerseyans.”

The objective is to determine how FIFA developed its pricing model. It will be interesting to see whether FIFA fully cooperates, or whether it attempts to obstruct and/or delay the process.

It’s one thing for market dynamics to dictate price. It’s another thing for games to be played in order to gouge consumers and to freeze out those who can’t afford to pay the exorbitant prices.

The Giants have made another veteran addition to their defensive line.

They announced the signing of defensive tackle Josh Tupou on Wednesday. They waived offensive tackle Reid Holskey in a corresponding move.

Tupou played in six games for the Ravens over the last two seasons and he posted eight tackles and a sack for Baltimore. Tupou spent his first six seasons with the Bengals and had 86 tackles, two sacks, and a forced fumble in 65 appearances.

Defensive linemen D.J. Reader, Shelby Harris, Leki Fotu, Sam Roberts, and Zacch Pickens have also joined the Giants this offseason, but a need for more reinforcement arose when Roy Robertson-Harris tore his Achilles in a recent workout.

The Giants signed one of their two first-round picks on Wednesday.

The team announced that offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa has signed his four-year rookie deal. The Giants will hold a fifth-year option on that contract as well.

Mauigoa was the 10th overall pick in April. Fifth-overall pick Arvell Reese is now the only unsigned member of the draft class.

Mauigoa was a three-year starter at right tackle for Miami and was an All-American during his final season with the Hurricanes, but he will be switching positions to kick off his NFL career. Mauigoa is expected to start at right guard with veteran Jermaine Eluemunor at the tackle spot.

Tuesday’s decision by the Supreme Court to not accept the NFL’s petition for appeal in the Brian Flores case means that all of his claims will be decided in court, not in arbitration.

And Flores recently added some new factual allegations to the various legal theories raised in his four-year-old litigation against the league and various teams.

In the third amendment to his initial civil complaint, Flores has added specific allegations of retaliation against the NFL.

The 483-paragraph, 106-page document includes at paragraphs 298 through 312 allegations that the NFL has retaliated against Flores since the filing of his initial lawsuit.

“Despite it being widely understood by the public and sports media that Mr. Flores should be considered one of the elite Head Coach candidates, Mr. Flores has not been offered a Head Coach job since starting this lawsuit,” the new complaint alleges at paragraph 311.

From paragraph 312 of the new complaint: “The NFL teams’ failure to hire Mr. Flores is consistent with an NFL Head Coach hiring process that is [sic] has for decades treated Black candidates disparately to white candidates and led to significantly disparate impact. It is also consistent with a culture of retaliation in which NFL teams close ranks against those who raise complaints of discrimination.”

The new factual allegations did not result in an additional cause of action; the existing lawsuit already includes multiple specific claims for retaliation.

As to the concept of retaliation based on the failure of teams to hire Flores as its head coach, the current complaint lists only one team — the Texans. In 2022, Houston made Flores one of three finalists for the job (along with Josh McCown and Jonathan Gannon) before hiring Lovie Smith instead. Flores claims that the decision to not hire him was motivated by the filing of his lawsuit against the NFL and multiple teams.

Although no specific other teams have been accused of failing to hire Flores in retaliation for filing and pursuing his lawsuit, the discovery process could lead to evidence that would support a finding that Flores was not given proper consideration by one or more teams with vacancies during the 2023, 2024, 2025, and/or 2026 hiring cycles.

The contention that the NFL maintains a “culture of retaliation” shows that Flores suspects his failure to get more interviews and/or any offers resulted from retaliation. Time will tell whether other specific teams are added to the case as defendants.

Flores’s current claims target the Dolphins, Texans, Broncos, and Giants. (His co-plaintiffs, Steve Wilks and Ray Horton, have sued the Cardinals and Titans, respectively.)

Obviously, Flores won’t be able to force any team to hire him. His aggressive legal arguments won’t make that any easier. Throughout the litigation, however, he has chosen doing what he believes is right over what would be expedient for his career.

And so he’ll continue to serve as Minnesota’s defensive coordinator, while waiting for a head-coaching opportunity that may never materialize. In the end, the NFL and/or specific teams could be on the wrong end of a verdict that requires them to pay Flores as if he has been a head coach since 2022.

Even if Flores never becomes a head coach again.