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The New York Giants have been urged to take a key decision away from under-fire general manager Joe Schoen.
New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen met with the media this week for his annual bye week press conference and answered questions from reporters for over twenty minutes.
He discussed the state of the team, the transition from Brian Daboll to Mike Kafka, the pieces in place, and why the Giants are still an attractive destination for head coaches. Most of all, he expressed confidence in New York’s direction despite the poor record and missteps.
Schoen Understands That Mistakes Were Made
Joe Schoen took responsibility for some of the poor decisions that were made these past few years, saying, “Nobody’s perfect, and the chance of me batting 1.000 are gone because I’ve made mistakes. Everybody’s going to make mistakes, and we’re going to get some things right.
Since making the playoffs in 2022, the Giants are 11-23 over the past three seasons, which included a 3-14 record in 2024 and a 2-11 record so far in 2025. Schoen admitted that the record is simply not good enough, with New York the first team to be eliminated from playoff contention for the second straight season.
“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.
Schoen continued, “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. Lesson learned.”
Giants Have Pieces In Place For Exciting Rebuild
When asked why Schoen gets to lead the search for the next head coach when his hand-picked coach, Brian Daboll, was fired, and his players have achieved such a poor record, Schoen deflected and expressed confidence that he and his staff will nail the next hire.
“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. But I’m very confident in my staff, myself, and our ability to get this franchise back where it needs to go.”
He also expressed confidence in the pieces in place to rebuild the team, starting with exciting rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart and addressing other key positions that are set for the Giants.
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.
The talent is certainly in place, with the Giants building around their next franchise quarterback in Dart, left tackle Andrew Thomas, wide receiever Malik Nabers, and a trio of pass rushers in Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux, and Abdul Carter, not to mention Dexter Lawrence inside.
But putting that talent together and winning football games has been an issue. The Giants may be talented, but they have not been able to execute anywhere near the level of expectations. Part of this was the coaching, with Daboll and defensive coordinator Shane Bowen fired.
Schoen added, “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.”
Schoen gave his nod of approval that the Giants will be able to fill the head coaching position, and that it is still a desirable job, especially when you factor in the city, the history, and the roster situation that Big Blue has.
“I do believe there is a good young core to build around here, and it will be an attractive job for many coaches,” Schoen concluded. “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.”
Arnav Sarkar Arnav Sarkar is a sportswriter and reporter covering the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles for Heavy Sports. A proud graduate of Rutgers University, he also currently writes for On The Banks, where he covers everything Scarlet Knights sports, with a main focus on football and basketball analysis. More about Arnav Sarkar
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