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The New York Giants hit new lows this season, losing a franchise-worst 10 consecutive games on their way to a 3-14 record. Worse yet, an ill-timed victory versus the Indianapolis Colts in Week 17 knocked the team out of the No. 1 position in the NFL Draft. The present is rough and the future is murky, but ownership is not ready to clean house.
Giants co-owner and president John Mara formally announced his intention to keep head coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen for the 2025-26 NFL season. He understands the strong emotions the decision is evoking and is offering an explanation.
“John Mara knows it’s not the ‘most popular’ decision, but it’s the ‘right’ one,” Giants.com’s Dan Salomone posted. “He pointed to Brian Daboll being the Coach of the Year two seasons ago and the ‘outstanding’ draft class and free agents that Joe Schoen and his staff brought in this year. But the results ‘are not even close’ to where they want.”
Fans will dissect every word that comes out of Mara’s mouth. They are probably not keen on hearing adjectives like “outstanding” following a catastrophic campaign. Yes, there are bright spots amid the sea of darkness, with a stout pass-rushing attack and history-making rookie wide receiver giving cause for some future optimism, but there are issues galore. It is admittedly risky to trust the current regime to fix them after back-to-back losing seasons.
That does not mean Daboll and Schoen are incapable of sparking a turnaround. They injected enthusiasm and achieved successful results in their first year with the team, advancing to the divisional round of the playoffs in 2022-23. There are well-documented dangers to retaining a HC/GM tandem for a new quarterback, though. Since the Giants are expected to select a signal-caller in April’s draft, it could have been more prudent to start with a clean slate.
The decision to bring back Daboll and Schoen under this specific set of circumstances makes it difficult to determine Mara’s standards for next season. Logic indicates that both men have one last chance to thrive in New York, but is a playoff berth a realistic goal under a rookie quarterback? CJ Stroud, Jayden Daniels and Bo Nix are exceptions to the rule. There is no guarantee that the G-Men can once again experience a swift revival.
Fans do not want to lose any more time. They implore the returning Brian Daboll and Joe Schoen to make sound decisions and roster moves that can finally equate with consistent competence. Everyone saw Schoen let Saquon Barkley and Xavier McKinney walk in free agency during “Hard Knocks: Offseason.” They also watched as Daboll expressed more frustration on the sidelines.
Only winning can alleviate the concern that accompanies such revelations. Mara claims to understand the persisting anguish that plagues the franchise and its fan base. And he also believes the current shot-callers...
