Some very bad football has been played by the Giants for so long now that there is almost no one in the locker room who has ever experienced winning with this franchise. The pictures on the walls and trophies in the case at the team facility might as well be from the dark ages. Almost all those who get paid by the Mara and Tisch ownership group are familiar with losing and nothing else in a Giants uniform.

There is — for now, but not much longer. The only Giants left from their Super Bowl glory days are Eli Manning, the benched quarterback, and Zak DeOssie, the struggling long snapper who is expected to land on injured reserve with knee and wrist issues. Sterling Shepard and Janoris Jenkins were on the 2016 Giants team that won 11 games before making a quick playoff exit. That is it. The rest are part of a terrible stretch of New York Giants football history and this is all they know.

“Obviously, it hasn’t turned around in two years like we would’ve liked it,’’ said second-year running back Saquon Barkley. “Unfortunately, I wish I was here when we were competing for a Super Bowl. I wish we were playoff contenders this year, and it’s not. It’s just the case that it’s not.’’

No, it’s not. These are the bad old days, come to life, again.

The worst four-year stretch in franchise history started in 1973, when the Giants went 2-11-1, signaling the end of Alex Webster’s five-season stay as head coach. They went 2-12 in 1974 for Bill Arnsparger, 5-9 in 1975 and 3-11 in 1976, with Arnsparger fired during the season and replaced by John McVay. That four-year record was an unsightly 12-43-1 and came during the tail end of the enduringly bad stretch of 17 consecutive seasons failing to make the playoffs.

The pitiful product put on the field this season means the Giants will miss out on the playoffs seven of the past eight years. The 3-13 record in 2017 cost Ben McAdoo his head-coaching job merely 29 games into his tenure. Pat Shurmur went 5-11 in his debut season with the Giants and he is 2-9 heading into Sunday’s game against the Packers. The three-year record of 10-33 is the worst in franchise history after hitting the pits from 1973-76.

Shurmur and general manager Dave Gettleman cannot be held accountable for the football sins that came before them. That duo is 7-20 and riding a seven-game losing streak. Shurmur recently pointed to “improvement behind the scenes’’ as evidence of growth in his team.

The youth movement cycle the Giants say they are in is not an entirely accurate depiction of the roster makeup. Three of the four starting defensive backs are veterans. The defensive line is sprinkled with experience and, with the addition of Leonard Williams, even more so. Linebacker Alec Ogletree is in his seventh year and Lorenzo Carter is in his second. The offensive line is filled with four players closer to 30 than 20. Tight end Evan Engram is in his prime, as is Shepard, although Shepard missed six games in the concussion protocol. Golden Tate is in his 10th season. Saquon Barkley is only 22 but was the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2018.

Plus, breaking in Daniel Jones, a rookie quarterback, does not come without growing pains.

The best moves made by Gettleman are the signing of Markus Golden (team-high 7.5 sacks) and the trade for right guard Kevin Zeitler, the most consistent offensive lineman on the team. Jones looks like a solid pick, but it is far too early in his career to predict if he will be a good player or a special one. It is far too soon to make a pronouncement on the other two first-round picks, other than to say defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence shows promise — although he has not shown much as a pass rusher — and cornerback DeAndre Baker was not ready for the full load he was given right away.

The most pleasant surprise in the 2019 draft is receiver Darius Slayton, who looks like a keeper, and might have been linebacker Ryan Connelly until he tore up his knee back in Week 4. As for the controversial trade of Odell Beckham Jr., the Browns have not exactly lit anything up with the gifted receiver, and the return for the Giants (Lawrence, safety Jabrill Peppers and rookie linebacker Oshane Ximines) provide youth and potential for the future but not much in the way of difference-making in 2019.

There is reason for optimism only if someone wants to see it that way.

“I still think we believe we are building on something,’’ Barkley said. “We know that you are what your record says you are, as the great Bill Parcells would say, he’s exactly right. We understand that we have been in a lot of tough, close games this year. We have been inconsistent all around, in all phases of the game. We are not as far as everyone thinks, that’s the belief we have in this locker room. I think that’s where it needs to start, you have to believe in it first.’’