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John Mara Expresses Optimism About Daniel Jones, Giants Offense

The Giants set out to add playmakers to the offense to help Daniel Jones. And after doing so in free agency, team president John Mara feels pretty good about the offense's direction.

New York Giants team president John Mara has a full enough plate as it stands.

But Mara, who has done his best to continue the family-like feel within the organization as first started by his grandfather and then his father and uncle, still thought it necessary to help recruit wide receiver Kenny Golladay.

“Actually, (head coach) Joe (Judge) had asked me at some point to make a call to Kenny in particular, which I was happy to do and would’ve done anyway probably, so I did feel some sense of urgency,” Mara revealed during a 20-minute video call with reporters Wednesday.

“We didn’t want to lose him. We thought he’d be a vital piece to what we want to accomplish going forward. To have a receiver with that skill set alongside the guys we already have we thought would be a huge piece for us.”

Mara's conversation with Golladay consisted of discussing the resources available to help him both on and off the field and outlining to the receiver how much of an asset he’d be to the organization.

Besides trying to jumpstart a stagnant offense that finished 31st overall and in scoring league-wide, Mara saw Golladay as well as receiver John Ross and tight end Kyle Rudolph as the missing ingredients to help third-year quarterback Daniel Jones take that next big step in his development.

Last year, Jones's receivers were ranked 25th league-wide by Pro Football Focus. That drove Jones’s passing efficiency ranking down to 28th in the league.

“Surrounding Daniel with more weapons was certainly a priority coming into this offseason, but that would be true no matter who the quarterback is,” Mara said.

“You always want to put as many weapons on the field as possible. It’s becoming more and more of a passing league, and we saw an opportunity to add some guys who have some unique talent and hopefully it’ll pay off for us.”

And for Jones, who after this season will be eligible to begin talks about a contract extension if he has the kind of year the Giants think he’s capable of having.

Mara didn’t have specific numbers in mind for what Jones needed to post for that to happen, but he did reiterate the organization’s fondness for the player.

“ Listen, we think the world of Daniel in this building,” Mara said. “I know our coaches feel very strongly about him. We want to see him take the next step. 

"I think he will have a better team around him this year than he’s had in previous years, so we certainly expect him to take the next step, but I’m not going to put any specific benchmarks on him right now. I just want to see him continue to improve because I do think he has what it takes to be a long-term winner in this league.”

Check out the video clip above in which John Mara reveals a major clue into the Giants thinking ahead of the draft.


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