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Only Watson can save Giants

Photo: Justin Rex/AP

It’s too late to have exiled Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson ready to be under center against the Washington Football Team on Thursday. He is far from ready to even play in Weeks 3, 4 and 5.

With all that said, the Giants should do whatever it takes to acquire him to save their season.

Yes, Watson faces 22 active civil lawsuits with allegations of sexual assault and inappropriate behavior. Yes, he is being investigated by the FBI, Houston Police Department and NFL.

No matter. The Giants have to get it done, even if the Houston Texans seek six players and NFL draft picks in return for him. With a talented quarterback like Watson available, the Giants have to do whatever it takes to get him. Opportunities don’t come often to get quarterbacks like this.

In the NFL, a team needs a game-changing quarterback to win playoff games and championships.

Sorry, but Daniel Jones isn’t it. He never will be. In 28 games, he offered zero tangible evidence that he can be. If anything, he is getting worse than getting better. He reminds me of another failed Giants quarterback in Dave Brown.

The Giants lost 27-13 to the Denver Broncos because Jones offered nothing under center. He never got Kenny Golladay and Kadarius Toney going. He played skittish by running for his life half the time. Under him, the Giants offense had seven points, 111 yards and 8 rushing yards in the first half. He lost a fumble when he should have slid, totaling his fumbles to 30. He never had the Giants going on long drives often in this contest. He threw more incompletes than completions.

It was a fitting end to what was a terrible day when Jones finished the game with a garbage-time touchdown as the clock hit 0:00 at the end of the game.

This is what Jones is. A quarterback that pads his stats in garbage time. In that regard, he is useless.

At some point, the Giants need to end this charade. It isn’t working. It’s never going to work. No one thought he would be great to begin with. Giants general manager Dave Gettleman and Giants owner John Mara drafted Jones to prove they know a thing or two about quarterbacks.

So yes, realistically, Jones and Gettleman won’t give up on their guy no matter how bad it looks. They are all in until the bottom falls out.

But the Giants shouldn’t wait this long. For a once-proud franchise that has not tasted a playoff win since they last won the Super Bowl and not experienced the playoffs nine of the last 10 seasons, they need to have a sense of urgency. If they want to show frustrated Giants fans they are serious about winning, they acquire Watson now and worry about his issues later.

There’s nothing endearing about this Giants team. They are boring to watch. They are hard to root for. They are irrelevant in the NFL world, and in the local sports scene, they are getting dangerously close to being irrelevant.

This is a team that is too nice. This is a team that accepts losing. This is a team that likes to get pushed around. This team has no identity.

Watson serves as a tonic for this dormant franchise. He gives the Giants a much-needed identity. He knows winning. He entertains like no one. He is what you call a difference-maker. The type of player the Giants haven’t had in a long time. He would get people to watch this team for good or bad. He would sell tickets quickly.

He changes everything for the Giants. He would be the best quarterback in the NFC East. He gives the Giants a better chance of winning the division. He would even make them a Super Bowl contender in a quarterback league. He certainly can improve the Giants’ home record, which they are 9-24 in the last 33 games.

The pros outweigh the cons when it comes to Watson. The Giants shouldn’t hesitate to get him. Desperate times call for desperate measures. This Giants team failed to make strides in recent years, so it’s time to do something. This means paying the price and get the Texans quarterback to save this troubled franchise.

If Mara is truly serious about winning, he tells Gettleman to get it done in getting Watson.

Otherwise, Mara’s talk about hating to lose is nothing more than pap.

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