Name the starting safeties on the Giants’ five Super Bowl teams.

Go ahead. I’ll wait.

Struggling getting even halfway there? Let me help.

Super Bowl XXI: Kenny Hill and Herb Welch

Super Bowl XXV: Greg Jackson and Myron Guyton

Super Bowl: XXXV: Sam Garnes and Shaun Williams

Super Bowl XLII: James Butler and Gibril Wilson

Super Bowl XLVI: Kenny Phillips and Antrel Rolle

Maybe that is all the information Giants general manager — and franchise historian — Dave Gettleman needed when deciding Tuesday not to franchise tag strong safety Landon Landon Collins, letting a 25-year-old three-time Pro Bowler walk out the door from a defense void of playmakers.

Gettleman messed up by not trading Collins for a draft pick in October — when the Giants’ record was 1-7 — only to lose him with no return a few month later.

But his thinking as the franchise tag deadline approached included some of -- and maybe all -- of these points:

Let’s explore that last line of thinking against the Super Bowl backdrop.

While those previously mentioned safeties are not steeped in Giants lore, Lawrence Taylor, Michael Strahan, Osi Umenyiora and Justin Tuck see their names hanging in the Giants Ring of Honor at MetLife Stadium.

So does Chris Snee, who played with an overachieving offensive line revered in Giants history. The names David Diehl and Shaun O’Hara still roll off the tongue, and it’s hard to forget their predecessors like Jumbo Elliott, Billy Ard and Bart Oates.

It could be that simple for Gettleman: Build it with “hog mollies.”

He’s been saying since his first day on the job. Are we not listening?

Take the salary cap space Collins would have swallowed up and spend it on pass rushers and pass protectors. Build the Giants in the image of the Giants, including with a relatively unknown pair of safeties (except maybe Rolle).

It’s not foolproof, even though Gettleman rose through the ranks as a pro personnel evaluator. He held the job with the Giants from 1999-2012.

The Giants will be investing in unknowns through free agency and the NFL Draft and run the risk of another devastating mistake like Patrick Omameh (Gettleman’s busted free-agent signing) or Ereck Flowers (former general manager Jerry Reese’s busted first-round draft pick).

Collins was a known commodity. He was well liked by teammates in the locker room, a fan favorite, a defensive captain and the rare player in today’s age who openly spoke about a dream of spending his whole career with the same organization.

“I love the Giants,” Collins said in October. “They love me.”

Hearing Collins speak felt like he was giving away negotiation leverage by wearing his heart on his sleeve. Turns out the Giants didn’t even want to negotiate.

If Gettleman builds a Super Bowl winner by signing a big-money right tackle like Daryl Williams and a big-money pass-rusher like Za’Darius Smith and supplementing the line of scrimmage with mid-round draft picks, he will be right.

If he chooses the wrong pieces and opposing quarterbacks have more time to throw than the Giants’ Eli Manning, some unknown safety (the next Curtis Riley, even) chasing a ball-carrier into the end zone will be one of the lasting images of Gettleman’s tenure.

Ryan Dunleavy may be reached at rdunleavy@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rydunleavy. Find our Giants coverage on Facebook.