At least Joe Schoen, general manager of a New York Giants team that has gone 5-25 since the beginning of the 2024 season, did not say on Tuesday that the team was “not far off” from being a good team.
That is what the GM said last year when he held his bye week press conference with the Giants sporting a 2-8 record and getting ready to part ways with then-quarterback Daniel Jones.
Asked how close the Giants, 2-11 for a second straight year, are to actually competing Schoen at least showed some semblance of recognizing reality.
“We’re [at] two wins,” Schoen said on Tuesday. “We’re not there. We’ve got to do better. That is what it is. We’re two wins.”
Here are more of the takeaways from Schoen on Tuesday during his annual bye week press conference.
Joe Schoen understands our questions
Schoen said “I understand the question” five times during a roughly 22-minute press conference. That is usually coach-speak or GM-speak for “I know what you want me to say, but I am not going to.” Each time, and several other times when he said he understood something or other, Schoen deflected to a non-answer kind of answer.
Just one word of advice for Schoen. If you think the New York media was out for blood, don’t read the comments section of the livestream from the Giants YouTube channel. Those folks were more aggressive than Patriots defenders trying to separate Gunner Olszewski’s head from his body on Monday night.
Why should Joe Schoen still have a job?
Head coach Brian Daboll, the coach Schoen picked in 2022, has been fired. The defensive coordinator Daboll picked after a falling out with Wink Martindale, Shane Bowen, has been fired.
Going back to 2023, the Giants are 11-36 (.234 winning percentage) since making the playoffs in 2022. Why does the GM who picked the players that “accomplished” that feat still be employed by the Giants, AND get to lead the search for another head coach?
This was, of course, one of the questions Schoen said he understood.
“My focus right now is on supporting [Mike] Kafka as we go forward, and we’ll evaluate all aspects of the football operation as we go forward,” Schoen said.
And has it been perfect? No.
“But I’m very confident in my staff, myself, and our ability to get this franchise back where it needs to go.”
Why does he have such confidence when the year over year results appear to be getting worse rather than better?
“It starts with me. I take responsibility for that,” Schoen said. “But we do have a good young quarterback that’s on a rookie contract for the next four years, and that’s when it gets fun. When you’re building around a young quarterback, you have a good nucleus, you have a good left tackle, you have a wide receiver that had a historic rookie season. You’ve got a good running back room, you’ve got pass rushers.
“There’s pieces in place. And I do have confidence in our ability and our process to find the next coach to lead the organization. And again, I truly believe in that process, and I know we’re going to get it right.”
Just for reference, this is what Schoen said last season about the Giants’ process:
“I believe in our process. I believe in the research that we do, the work we’re doing … I believe where we’re going. Again, building it, sometimes it hurts and it’s painful and it’s hard to go through it. But, we’re going in the right direction … a lot of confidence in my staff and our process and where we’re heading.”
Joe Schoen knows mistakes have been made
“It’s five wins the last two years. It’s not good enough,” Schoen said. “I’m not going to make excuses. It’s not good enough. I don’t want to go through individually different scenarios. There’s context to a lot of things, but it’s five wins. It’s not good enough, and we’ve got to get better.
“We’re going to look at the entire football operation, everything from free agency decisions, draft decisions, coaching, execution. What can we do better? Because there are pieces here. Why aren’t we maximizing what we have? That’s going to be our mission this offseason to figure that out.”
The GM did not want to go decision-by-decision, but acknowledged his culpability.
“Nobody’s perfect, and the chance of me batting 1.000 are gone because I’ve made mistakes,” Schoen said. “Everybody’s going to make mistakes, and we’re going to get some things right.
“As long as you’re learning from those mistakes and you reflect on the process in place and where you went wrong and you can continue to get better, that’s what’s most important. I’m better today than I was four years ago when I got this job, and a year from now, God willing, I’m standing here, I’m going to be better than I am today.
“And that’s all I can do. That’s all my staff can do. We continue to evaluate the process where there are some things we did where we missed in our process or we strayed from what we believe in.”
Schoen said “there’s a chance” the Giants strayed from what they believed in along the way, especially earlier in his tenure.
“Have I screwed up? Have I made mistakes? Absolutely. I’ve got to live with that. I’ve got to learn from it, educate my staff on what we can do better,“ Schoen said. “Lesson learned.”
“Flagship franchise. Great ownership. Young quarterback.”
Schoen is not worried about being able to find great candidates for head coach.
“I do believe there is a good young core to build around here, and it will be an attractive job for many coaches,” Schoen said. “We’re going to continue to focus on, our process, to get this organization back where it belongs. Again, it’s the gold standard. It’s still the New York Giants and the greatest city in the world.”
Schoen scoffed at the idea that top coaching candidates would not want the job if he were the GM.
“The calls we’ve gotten, I think we’re going to be able to fill the job.”
Schoen said that Kafka is getting “a real look” at earning the job.
“Ownership made a decision” on Brian Daboll
Schoen said that “ownership made a decision” to fire Daboll a few weeks ago, and admitted that “my hand’s in it just like Brian’s is.”
“I wish Dabs nothing but the best,” Schoen said. “And we’re going to do everything we can to get this franchise back to where it should be.
“Dabs and I have an extended history together, professionally and personally. Difficult decision, but one we decided to make. And he’s a great football coach, and he’s going to be successful in whatever he does after the New York Giants.”
Some TLC for Abdul Carter
Carter, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, has now been benched twice by Kafka in three weeks for rules violations. Schoen is not losing faith.
“Abdul’s a young man that’s 21 years old that’s smart and understands the magnitude of his actions and also understands what it means to be a pro,” Schoen said. “These kids are 21 years old, and they’re thrust into the spotlight in New York City. It’s not always going to be perfect. People make mistakes. Nobody’s perfect.
“And part of our job is to develop them as football players, but also as people. And we will continue to do that with everybody in this organization.”
Jaxson Dart and the “fine line” of protecting himself
Schoen said Dart, whom the Giants traded up to select in the first round of the draft, has “played really well for a rookie” and has “exceeded expectations.”
The GM said he has been involved in conversations with Dart to get him to understand when and when not to take risks with his body.
“Having just lived it in Buffalo [with Josh Allen] we’ve been through this before. What makes these players great is their toughness, their competitiveness, their desire to win,” Schoen said. You appreciate that about Jackson, but you also have to be available. Try not to take the unnecessary hits.
“I would say last night was probably unnecessary, probably could have gotten out of bounds. It’s third-and-1, and instead we get a penalty, and he takes a shot, and now it’s third-and-16.
“There’s a fine line, and what makes Jaxson great is his competitiveness, his desire to win, and that’s the way he’s wired. So you try to find a fine line between playing smart but also not taking away what makes him great.”
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