If Wink Martindale has resigned his position as the Giants’ defensive coordinator, he is advised to notify the Giants of his decision.
As of Tuesday evening, the team had not heard anything from Martindale, who stormed out of the building on Monday, and Tuesday morning was on a flight headed to a home he has in Florida.
What is apparent is that Martindale and the Giants are done after two seasons, with clear and present signs that Martindale and head coach Brian Daboll endured through a deteriorating relationship that could no longer continue.
Martindale is under contract and owed $3 million for the 2024 season.
He forfeits that money if he indeed resigns his position.
Also, if he resigns, his contract simply does not go away.
A resignation would allow the Giants to prevent Martindale from accepting a job with another team, which is not a situation Martindale wants to get embroiled in.
Thus, his wildly emotional response to Daboll firing his most loyal confidant, outside linebackers coach Drew Wilkins, along with his younger brother Kevin, a defensive assistant, has ramifications that need to get cleaned up, contractually, before Martindale and the Giants part ways.
Martindale, wearing his trademark black joggers, black sleeveless vest and donning a Yankees cap, was spotted Tuesday morning at Newark Liberty International Airport boarding a flight to Sarasota.
Heading home is not the normal course of action for an NFL coach two days after the end of a season.
This is the time for staff meetings and final evaluations, responsibilities that Martindale no longer believes he is obligated to complete.
Daboll said during his early Monday morning meeting with the media a day after closing a 6-11 season with a 27-10 victory over the Eagles that his “expectation’’ was that Martindale and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka would return in 2024.
This was before Daboll met with Martindale, and so that “expectation’’ was sketchy, given that Daboll knew the news he was about to impart.
Here is what went down, according to people in the building who were aware of the situation:
Daboll met with Martindale on Monday and told him there were staff changes coming.
Daboll mentioned the dismissals of special teams coach Thomas McGaughey and offensive line coach Bobby Johnson.
There is no secret how close Daboll is with Johnson and this one was a tough one for Daboll, but he felt it was necessary for the betterment of the team moving forward.
Daboll told Martindale he wanted him to stay but that he was going to fire the Wilkins brothers.
Martindale brought the Wilkinses with him to the Giants from the Ravens.
On the sideline, it is Drew Wilkins helping Martindale with the personnel groupings and directing traffic for him.
Drew Wilkins helps Martindale devise the defensive schemes.
Martindale, angered by this news, cursed out Daboll, said his piece, got up, slammed the door and walked out of the building.
He notified those close to him he planned to resign.
More than 24 hours later, the Giants still had not heard anything from Martindale.
Why was Daboll adamant about getting rid of Drew Wilkins and, by association, Kevin Wilkins?
There was a feeling in the building that Martindale and Drew Wilkins were creating their own fiefdom within the coaching staff, at times bypassing Daboll and believing they had to answer only to each other and, ultimately, ownership.
Daboll is all about collaboration and this was not that.
Martindale, 60, was extremely popular with his players and his side of the ball, while hardly dominant, consistently performed better than the offense, which is Daboll’s bailiwick.
That caused friction, as well.
When safety Xavier McKinney complained about a lack of communication between players and the defensive staff, Martindale went out of his way to fuel the fire rather than douse it, which shows a difference in Martindale’s style and the way Daboll prefers to limit all distractions.
Martindale, highly engaging in his weekly press conferences, frequently praised his group, which raised some eyebrows after some less-than-robust outings.
He did not however, have any praise for his defense after a 49-17 loss in Dallas in Week 10, as the Giants were mauled, giving up a ghastly 640 yards, the second-most yards allowed in franchise history and the most amassed by the Cowboys in any game in their history.
In that game, Daboll encouraged Martindale to keep the blitzes coming and Martindale did so, but the results were abysmal.
A few weeks later, a Fox pregame report stated the Daboll-Martindale relationship was “in a bad place.’’
Daboll, publicly, dismissed that report and presented Martindale with the game ball after a 10-7 victory over the Patriots.
Daboll privately confronted Martindale, twice, about the report and no explanation was given.
Daboll walked into a meeting of the defensive staff and, referring to the report, announced if anyone had a problem with him he should speak up.
No one spoke up.
The Giants will be in the market for someone new to run their defense.
Martindale left Baltimore after disagreements with the head coach, John Harbaugh.
It has happened again with Daboll and the Giants.
