Will Joe Schoen return as Giants GM next season? What we know

4 days ago 2

EAST RUTHERFORD - Joe Schoen was waiting to greet Jaxson Dart as the New York Giants rookie quarterback came through the entrance to their celebratory locker room in Las Vegas last Sunday.

The Giants had won for the first time in two months, snapping a 13-game road losing streak dating back to last season, and despite giving up control of the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft by prevailing over the Raiders, there was a feeling of relief, excitement and, yes, hope after a 34-10 victory.

"We gotta start doing this more," Dart said to Schoen as they embraced in a scene that played out this past week on the latest episode of "Hard Knocks: In Season with the NFC East."

Schoen's reply: "I know."

The expectation is that Schoen will remain as general manager for the Giants heading into a critical offseason, sources familiar with the situation told NorthJersey.com and The Record. He will run point on a coaching search as ownership seeks to find a successor to Brian Daboll, who was fired as head coach on Nov. 10, and Schoen has been doing the work to assemble a list for interviews of candidates that will begin this week.

The Giants have been operating with Schoen as GM and in relative public silence on the subject in the months since co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch announced Daboll's ouster via team statement. We should gain more clarity once the 2025 regular season is put to bed Sunday when the Giants (3-13) close yet another disappointing campaign against the Cowboys (7-8-1) at MetLife Stadium.

Schoen has one year remaining on the deal he signed in January 2022 when he joined the organization as GM, replacing Dave Gettleman, and there have been mixed results in his performance. Still, judging a front office executive solely by wins and losses in the standings is leaving out the impact he has on creating the infrastructure by which the personnel and scouting departments operate.

Mara announced in September that he is undergoing treatment for a cancer diagnosis, and he is expected to be involved in the coaching search alongside Schoen and other members of the front office and ownership throughout the process.

If the Giants want to lean on the old Bill Parcells adage of the record being what you are, using that to assess Schoen, then a decision to move on from the 46-year-old would not be considered outlandish.

Joe Schoen's record as NY Giants general manager

New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen talks to reporters during his bye week news conference.

The Giants are 21-41-1 in four years since Schoen and Daboll promised change, inheriting anything but a clean slate as the franchise's struggles both internally and on the field have continued through incompetence, the lack of talent and at times uncanny misfortune for more than a decade.

But there is belief that, in Schoen's capacity as GM, his value to the Giants goes beyond those numbers. The winning and losing on game day is certainly representative of the roster he has put together, but the coaching staff owns those decisions when the games are kicked off, and Daboll has already paid for those football sins with his job.

Had Giants ownership thought Schoen and Daboll were equally responsible for the losing, they could have promoted someone from the front office on an interim basis to replace Schoen just as they did when elevating Mike Kafka from assistant head coach/offensive coordinator to interim head coach upon Daboll's exit. There have been highly publicized missteps - the fallout from letting Saquon Barkley and Xavier McKinney walk in free agency, not necessarily the root of those decisions - and several high draft picks (Evan Neal and Tae Banks) have not worked out.

Schoen and his personnel staff have added young talent to the franchise, though, beginning with Dart and Abdul Carter along with a star wide receiver in Malik Nabers. He signed potential All-Pro left tackle Andrew Thomas and traded for defensive standout Brian Burns. The offensive line was far better and productive this season than at any time in the last decade, and Schoen gets credit for sticking with the same veteran-laden unit led by Thomas and free agent signee Jermaine Eluemunor at right tackle. Offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo and assistant James Ferentz have turned this unit into arguably the team's best.

The Giants have also completely revamped the scouting department, with Schoen providing leadership and direction that was sorely missing from the tail end of Jerry Reese's GM tenure prior to his 2017 firing and essentially the entirety of Gettleman's tenure, which ended with his retirement in 2022.

Current NFL GMs who overcame struggles early in their tenures include the Rams' Les Snead and the Buccaneers' Jason Licht, both of whom ultimately wound up building their teams into Super Bowl winners.

Schoen's ability to transform the Giants' personnel war room to the modern era - from name tiles of draft picks to state-of-the-art tech has become a punchline for his critics. But the rebuild on that front goes much deeper, relying on far more communication and unified strategy than the Giants have had in quite some time.

There are those in the building who believe that aspect of Schoen's performance as GM will produce better results as the Giants take a step forward in what looms as a critical coaching decision.

Unlike what transpired with former coach Joe Judge in the final two weeks of his tenure, when his post-game rant in Chicago and "victory formation" embarrassment the following game created a toxic scenario in their subsequent GM search, Schoen's presence is not believed to be as detrimental.

In fact, there are some in league circles who believe he remains a competent and well-respected executive whose willingness to adapt his talent evaluation to what his coaching staff wants and prefers is seen as a significant positive. This was Schoen's first GM job, so there was an anticipated learning curve.

Had the Giants entered a situation where a proven head coach wanted this job and the feeling from ownership was mutual, but that candidate expressed reservations about Schoen, that could alter whatever plans are in place currently.

It's not out of the realm of possibilities, although not expected to an issue as this coaching search moves into its official phase with interview requests anticipated beginning Monday and actual engagement set to commence Wednesday.

When Schoen was hired, the Giants were seeking an executive to work closely in all facets: analytics, personnel, football operations and communications. They believed in his ability to build relationships across departments, and Schoen led a complete makeover of the football side of their operation.

Another makeover on the coaching side is coming, and by having Schoen at the forefront of what that looks like for the Giants might just be statement enough about their confidence in him in this role not just today, but in the future.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NY Giants GM Joe Schoen’s future in question as season ends

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