Will Eagles’ Nick Sirianni make Giants’ Brian Daboll regret not patching things up with Wink Martindale?

Wink Martindale to the Eagles?

It took a couple weeks, but the inevitable has arrived: The Eagles are soon expected to interview Wink Martindale for their defensive coordinator job.

So now, will the Eagles’ Nick Sirianni make the Giants’ Brian Daboll regret not making things work with Martindale?

Sirianni and Daboll will both be on the hot seat in 2024. The Eagles started 10-1 in 2023 and then collapsed, with six losses in seven games. The 6-11 Giants were a mess throughout last season, as Daboll’s relationship with Martindale crumbled — and wound up ending in a negotiated divorce.

As part of that settlement, the Giants agreed to not limit Martindale’s job search this offseason. So he can take any defensive coordinator job he wants. (Not surprisingly, he has received zero known head coaching interest. At this point, he might not ever become a head coach.)

Sean Desai was a disaster in his one season as the Eagles’ defensive coordinator. Matt Patricia struggled after replacing Desai in December as defensive play caller. And now, both are gone, as Sirianni — who somehow survived — seeks a new defensive coordinator.

(Could Patricia land with the Giants as Martindale’s replacement? Well, even though he is old Patriots pals with Daboll, it would not be an inspiring hire at this point. And Patricia might prefer to join Bill Belichick in a more stable situation in 2024 anyway.)

Sirianni is an offensive-mined coach (like Daboll), so he needs a legit defensive coordinator. The Eagles were caught flatfooted by the post-2022 departure of Jonathan Gannon, who became the Cardinals’ head coach. They can’t afford another mistake like that.

So would Martindale be the right solution? Well, he would certainly arrive with plenty of fire, since he’d want to stick it to Daboll in their twice-yearly matchups. And remember, Daboll might be calling all of the Giants’ offensive plays in 2024 — which would make things even juicier.

From a results standpoint, Martindale didn’t exactly thrive with the Giants, though he definitely did some good things. The Giants’ 31 takeaways in 2023 tied with the Ravens for the NFL’s lead. But the Ravens (Martindale’s former team) were much more consistent. They finished third in Pro Football Focus’ defensive ratings, while the Giants finished 26th — after finishing 30th in 2022.

So in two seasons in East Rutherford, Martindale never really lived up to his big-name reputation. Yes, he blitzed a lot. Yes, he made it clear he thinks highly of himself as a defensive coordinator. But the results simply were not there on a consistent enough basis.

That’s not to say Daboll absolutely will find an upgrade from Martindale this offseason. He might not. So he might regret not patching up his relationship with Martindale.

Meanwhile, hiring Martindale — presuming he keeps his blitz-heavy approach — would mark a significant strategy change for the Eagles, who have not blitzed much recently.

The Giants the past two seasons ranked second and first in blitz percentage (45% in 2023, 40% in 2022), after ranking 18th in 2021 (25%). The Eagles were 24th this season and 18th last season — a 22% rate both years. In Sirianni’s first Eagles season, 2021, they were 31st in blitz rate — 17%.

The Eagles clearly have loads of defensive talent, which is how they were able to finish fifth, first, and eighth in PFF’s pass rush ratings from 2021-23, despite not blitzing a lot. Meanwhile, the Giants under Martindale finished 20th and 26th in those ratings, while blitzing a ton. It would be fascinating to see what Martindale could do with a more talented group of players.

Plus, how would Sirianni feel about working with Martindale on a personal level, considering how things ended with another offensive-minded head coach in East Rutherford? Well, Sirianni might not have much (or any) choice in the matter, if a defensive coordinator is essentially chosen for him. Sirianni, at this point, should just consider himself fortunate to still have a job.

Ultimately, if things don’t improve with the Eagles and Giants in 2024, this Martindale versus Daboll NFC East rivalry could be short-lived — since Sirianni and Daboll could both get fired next offseason.

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Darryl Slater may be reached at [email protected].

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