For all intents and purposes, Ereck Flowers and the Giants unofficially parted ways two weeks into this season, when he was benched, yanked from his starting right tackle job. All that remained for Flowers was to practice with the team and stand on the sideline on game days, unless an injury to one of the two offensive tackles meant his services were needed.
Now, even that modest role is being taken away from Flowers. The Giants will release him on Tuesday, unless they can find a team to trade for him, The Post confirmed. ESPN was first to report the impending move with Flowers.
The new regime of GM Dave Gettleman and coaach Pat Shurmur tried to make it work with Flowers, the 2015 first round draft pick who was a constant and nagging disappointment in his three-plus years with the team. Gettleman and Shurmur arrived and talked of giving players a “clean slate’’ and wanted that to include Flowers, the starting left tackle since his rookie season. Nate Solder was signed in free agency and a move was made to put Flowers on the right side, where many NFL scouts believed he belonged as soon as he entered the league.
The clean slate lasted all of two games before Shurmur learned what Tom Coughlin and Ben McAdoo already knew: Flowers on your offensive line is a detriment. Shurmur put second-year Chad Wheeler in at right tackle and stuck Flowers on the bench. After games, as soon as the locker room opened up, Flowers was usually the first player to exit.
Why now? It is more than obvious Flowers has no future with the organization and the relationship was wilting badly. It became apparent to Gettleman and Shurmur there was no need to prolong the inevitable. He was not valued on the field and his attitude in the locker room was suspect. A lose-lose situation, in other words.
It is doubtful the Giants can coerce anyone to take a stab at Flowers. He is on the final year of a contract that guarantees him $2.39 million this season. Any team trading for him would have to inherit that salary. If he is released, a team can sign him to a lesser deal.
Flowers, 26, is big and strong and looks like a prototype NFL tackle. He is not, mainly because of severe deficiencies in his technique. His hand placement is poor, and one NFL coach who worked with him told The Post the biggest problem with Flowers is he simply cannot bend his body the way an offensive tackle needs to bend in order to combat pass rushers. The only attribute that makes Flowers attractive is he is durable. He started 48 games in his career and at times played through ankle issues.
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