“ … it [keeping Schoen] would be the right move for a franchise that desperately needs stability. The Giants just need to pair Schoen with the right, experienced coach.

That may be where this is headed, too. Though the Giants owners haven’t specifically said Schoen will return in 2026, multiple team sources said that’s the internal expectation. And while the coaching search (which will be led by Schoen) is only in its infancy, another team source told me that previous head coaching experience “isn’t a necessity, but it’s a high priority for some.”

There’s going to be enormous pressure to win there — both on Joe, if they keep him, and on the owners,” an NFL executive who recently spoke to Giants officials told me. “The last thing they need is another coach learning on the job.”

They also don’t need to start over from scratch, again — something they’ve gotten all too familiar with in the decade since they shoved Tom Coughlin out the door. A franchise once lauded for its stability has cycled through four GMs and six head coaches in the past 10 seasons. That constant turmoil is a big reason why the Giants are 53-106-1 in that span.

Was Brian Daboll the biggest problem with the Giants? New York will find out if it elects to keep GM Joe Schoen. (Photo by Perry Knotts/Getty Images)

It’s also why they turned to Schoen, an outsider, when they hired him in 2022 to fix their floundering franchise. And he and his hand-picked head coach had immediate success with a 9-7-1 record and an unexpected run to the playoffs in their first season.

Obviously, the results since haven’t been good. But GMs shouldn’t be on the same win-now plan as the coaches they hire. They’re in charge of a bigger picture, with one eye always on a better future. And while the results might not make it obvious, there certainly are signs that the Giants’ future is bright.

“It takes time to build a program,” a former NFL general manager told me. “Nobody wants to hear that anymore, but it’s still true. We used to say it takes at least five years to really see what a GM can do, to really have his program in place. And sometimes it takes at least one coaching change, too.

“If you’re starting over every three or four years, you end up absolutely nowhere.”