The bread is toasted and the fans are hungry: it’s Cutlet Season in New York.
As if the kitchen wasn’t hot enough, Tommy DeVito’s agent, Sean Stellato, joined the “Dan Le Batard Show” Tuesday to fan the flames of hype.
“Tommy is ready,” Stellato said. “He put a big premium on the offseason and continuing to develop.
“He’s prepared his whole life for this moment. He prepared last year … went out there and got the opportunities, we feel [he] made the most [out of them] … he’s a different animal than he was 12 months ago.”
The show hosts couldn’t hide their intrigue — their questions overlapping one another.
“What kind of animal was he?” John “Stugotz” Weiner asked.
“What kind of animal is he now?” Le Batard queried.
For all his enthusiasm and confidence, Stellato did not appear to have fully thought through the implications of his animal analogy.
As to what DeVito was, the agent responded, “Last year, he was kind of… I would say… he was a unique animal in terms of a couple of things…”
Such “things” are not expounded on. And why should they be?
Stellato, who knows there’s no such time as the present, continued unabashed: “Now, I think he’s a better version of the Cutlet.”
“He’s a stallion now,” corrected The Athletic’s Dianna Russini.
And he can’t come fast enough. The Giants are reeling.
At 2-8, sitting fourth in the NFC East, and with Daniel Jones as good as gone, DeVito was tapped over presumed second-string starter Drew Lock to bring some much needed magic back to MetLife.
He did exactly that last year. Well, not exactly that. But Giants games were worth watching again, at least for a while.
The 2023 stint, though, was just the trial run to the trial run. And cutlets are so last year.
Now is DeVito’s chance to prove to New York’s brass that he deserves this moment — 2024 is the year of the stallion.
If the 26-year-old can lead the G-Men to a few wins down the stretch, a case could be made for extending his contract, which is set to expire at the end of the season.
After all, the starting job under center in 2025 and beyond is well up for grabs.
With seven games remaining on the season, the ball is in the Stallion’s hooves.
