Going into his third season as general manager, Joe Schoen is looking to lead the New York Giants out of the constant cycle they've found themselves in over the last decade.
After making it to the playoffs and winning a wild-card game against the Minnesota Vikings, the Giants took a major step back in 2023, finishing the season with a 6-11 record.
As both Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll enter their third seasons leading the Giants together, the former was ranked near the bottom of his peers by Patrick Daugherty of Roto Wire at No. 23.
It’s usually a good thing to make the playoffs in your first season as general manager — unless it forces you to pay Daniel Jones. Joe Schoen took his Danny Dimes medicine and the results were predictably disastrous even before Jones’ 2023 season-ending torn ACL. That debacle has the G-Men in a 2024 holding pattern as they wait for Jones’ contract to come off the books in 2025, though Schoen has done a decent job building up the defense. Bobby Okereke was a strong 2023 free agent signing while Brian Burns was an elite spring 2024 acquisition.
Schoen also invested in the offensive line with affordable Jon Runyan and Jermaine Eluemunor deals, and he made the easy call to select Malik Nabers No. [6] overall in the draft. Schoen’s pins are being set up. It’s just going to take someone other than Jones to knock them down in 2025. Schoen will have to choose wisely on the free agent/draft/trade acquisition that will go on to define his tenure.
Only four other general managers were ranked below Schoen before the tier of newly-hired general managers.
Fixing the offensive line is still one of the major priorities for Schoen, and there are still major question marks with that unit. Also, the quarterback position is one that will need to be revisited after the 2024 season.
The Giants have gone through a cycle of general managers and head coaches over the last decade. Whether Schoen can be the one to end it for a while remains to be seen.
For more Giants coverage, check out Kevin Hickey's work on Sporting News.
