When driving from New York City to the New York Giants‘ headquarters at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey, you’ll be greeted by swampland before reaching your destination.

It is an apropos metaphor for Giant fans. They are from America’s greatest and wealthiest city, while their NFL team languishes across the Hudson River in the high weeds.

It was always this way, ever since the Giants moved to The Meadowlands in the mid-1970s. The only difference now is that this organization, which has risen several times from the depths of obscurity to great heights, is mired in a hopeless cycle of ineptitude with no sign that it will rise again.

This past Monday night, the Giants lost their franchise record 13th consecutive road game and for the 25th time in their last 30 games. Yet, here we were on Tuesday, being treated to a “state of the team” address by the architect of this latest disaster, fourth-year general manager Joe Schoen.

Schoen stood before the media gaggle and took his lumps with little rebuttal or recourse. He knows he’s on very thin ice, so he simply absorbed the beating, took responsibility, and left.

The Giants are no better today than the day Schoen took over the club in January 2022. They are 20-43-1 under Schoen. He has been given another reprieve by ownership and has been put in charge of finding the team’s next head coach.

Many Giants fans and pundits are puzzled over this decision. When Schoen was hired, we were assured that he would have a high level of autonomy. Apparently, that is not the case as Schoen did not fire head coach Brian Daboll last month. Co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch did.

So, why keep Schoen around and give him the crucial responsibility of hiring the next head coach if he’s not the one really in charge here? Perhaps, he’s on his way out, too?

From Ian O’Connor of The Athletic:

On Nov. 10, when Giants owners John Mara and Steve Tisch fired head coach Brian Daboll, they kept the GM who had hired him. Schoen had the same 20-40-1 record as Daboll but did not meet the same fate. Three more losses later, that decision looks very much like a mistake.

Schoen has become a toxic figure among a fan base that Mara cares dearly about. He’s not at Nico Harrison levels, but close enough. And speaking of the fired Dallas Mavericks GM, the Giants could have done what the Mavericks did and named co-interim GMs to maintain a semblance of front-office stability throughout the season. They could’ve appointed assistant GM Brandon Brown and longtime Giants executive Kevin Abrams or just made Brown the front office’s Kafka. That would’ve lowered the paying customers’ temperature while also taking a quick look at a fresh face in the big chair.

It’s too late for that now. Schoen will survive a bye week that, according to a Giants Nation Show poll, nearly 93 percent of 17,370 voting fans hoped would be a bye-bye week, and then he’s expected to face a final judgment at season’s end.

Schoen would not commit to whether or not he’ll be here to oversee things in 2026. All he knows is that he’s leading the effort to find a new head coach.

“Ownership will evaluate the entire football operation at the end of the season as they should, as they should, and then we’ll go from there,” he said.

Schoen believes that he is the right man to take the team forward despite the pathetic results of the past three seasons.

“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,” he said.

O’Connor makes the salient point that the Giants need to hire a candidate with head coaching experience and a history of success. Think Mike Tomlin, Mike McCarthy, Jon Gruden, etc.

“There’s no margin for error in this search,” writes O’Connor. “Schoen’s presence is an unnecessary complication, and one a prominent and experienced head coach with options might not want to deal with. The GM has lost 28 of his last 34 games, and he’s supposed to fill out Mike Tomlin’s roster?”

Good question. We’ll find out the answer very soon.