Giants should soon find out what their 2025 reality will truly be theirs

Welcome to the multiverse. 

Out there amid the outside universe, the Giants are a bad team headed into another bad season, owning a bad roster, a lame-duck head coach and general manager, set for another three- or four-win season, another last-place finish and an autumn and winter of irrelevance. 

In a parallel universe, the Giants in their own dimension are an up-and coming team, possessing a group of youngsters brimming with talent, increased stability and potential at quarterback, and the makings of a downright potent defense. 

The quantum mechanics of all this do not exist at the subatomic level, but in the here and now, there are two opposite views of what the Giants are and what they are capable of becoming. Outside, the Giants are just another sorry outfit gearing up for training camp. Inside, the Giants will open camp with enough new faces to create heightened expectations. 

Clues as to which of these alternate universes is more grounded in reality start coming into clearer focus Wednesday, when the Giants hit the field for their first camp practice. 

“I think just people are just sick and tired of not being good,’’ right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor said. 

This disgust comes after only one season with the Giants for Eluemunor — one terrible season. The Giants in their 100th year of operation were historically inept, losing a franchise-record 10 consecutive games en route to a 3-14 finish. Yet there was no massive upheaval. 

GM Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll were retained, as was most of the starting offense and a good chunk of the first-team defense. Most notably, there was an overhaul of the quarterback position — with the signings of veterans Russell Wilson (the starter) and Jameis Winston (the backup), and a trade to get back into the first round of the draft to select Jaxson Dart (the future). 

This camp will be a continuation and intensification of the work initiated in the spring to acclimate these quarterbacks to Daboll’s offense. Wilson has already made a strong impression on his new teammates — his natural leadership traits are still there — and the Giants are optimistic he can be an upgrade over Daniel Jones. 

“I’ve always viewed it as you’re always trying to be the best version of you, and then you’re always giving back to everybody else,’’ Wilson said. “I think that it’s not just about one teammate, it’s about all the teammates. It’s about everybody in the building.’’ 

The building is inhabited by some new players who should reshape what the Giants are all about. Rookie edge rusher Abdul Carter, selected with the No. 3 pick, is expected to be a Day 1 force. Schoen also signed two starting defensive backs, cornerback Paulson Adebo and safety Jevon Holland. Get ready for early camp reports that the defense is ahead of the offense. 

The stakes are high this summer for Daboll. The Giants did not look ready to play in their 2024 opener, losing in desultory fashion to the Vikings, 28-6, at MetLife Stadium. A year earlier, the Giants also kicked off their season at home and were demolished, 40-0, by the Cowboys. Whatever Daboll did the past two training camps did not get his team out of the gate prepared to compete at a satisfactory level. 

Figure this time around, it will be more intense. 

“When training camp hits, I don’t have much tolerance for mistakes during training camp,’’ Daboll said. “The season is getting close, so we have to be prepared mentally, and we have to be prepared physically.’’ 

Wide receiver Darius Slayton, a product of the 2019 draft class, enters his seventh year in the NFL — he and nose tackle Dexter Lawrence are the longest-tenured Giants players. He admitted all the losing got to him, but he decided to accept a three-year offer to return. 

“Obviously, I came back, I was confident in the direction that we were going to go in,’’ Slayton said. “Once we make the acquisitions, obviously a lot of people mostly focus on the quarterback position. Once we acquire the guys we have now, that obviously just raised the confidence level of, alright, we have a chance to be a really, really good offense.’’ 

Is that true? This is an offense that has ranked at or near the bottom of the league for several seasons. Can Wilson, now on his fourth team in the past five years, make that much of a difference? This summer will give everyone a sneak preview. 

The entire product has to be better because it cannot get much worse, right? 

“I mean, going 3-14 is terrible,’’ Eluemunor said. 

Terrible is how the outside universe continues to view the Giants. Within their own realm of the multiverse, the Giants think otherwise.