The New York Giants had a rough season in 2013 on the offensive side of the ball and that was one reason why the team was happy to move on from the retired Kevin Gilbride to a younger offensive coordinator in Ben McAdoo and now the shakeup has continued with Mike Pope being let go and with the prospect of Hakeem Nicks jumping ship to a team like the Oakland Raiders or the Carolina Panthers, things could look very different in 2014.
According to ESPN.com, Pope is not being retained into next season and it is another surprise move from the New York Giants, as the tight ends coach has been with the team for two decades and has been with the franchise for all four of its Super Bowls. While the team did shake things up by bringing in McAdoo, it's still considered by many who follow the team a surprise that Pope is not being retained, as he was kept on after Tom Coughlin took over and he also worked under Bill Parcells.
The move is another change to an offense that had a rough year in 2013, as Eli Manning had 27 interceptions and the offensive line was a mess, while the running attack was mostly missing and inconsistent. McAdoo takes over after working under Mike McCarthy for nine years and he will call plays for the first time in his career and he got high marks from Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers organization.
The Giants have a number of questions on both sides of the ball heading into the offseason and one of the biggest is wide receiver Hakeem Nicks, who is set to be a free agent. Nicks was a key player in the Super Bowl championship two years ago, but he had zero touchdowns this season and has been dealing with injuries as well and now the question is whether the team will sign him or not. Nicks will get attention in the free agent market and some have suggested that the team use the franchise tag on him to see how next season goes before signing him to a long term deal.
