The New York Giants announced their controversial decision on Monday to retain both general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll. Co-owner and team president John Mara is adamant that he wants to maintain continuity and give this regime time to pull themselves out of the mess they created. However, as more details come to light, the messier the situation looks for Schoen and his front office.
League source rips Giants GM Joe Schoen’s decision-making
ESPN’s Jordan Raanan published an article on Friday morning detailing the inner workings of the Giants’ organization, highlighting the awkward dysfunction inside the building that caused their 3-14 collapse in the 2024-25 season. Among the highlights of the article was a quote from an anonymous league source with knowledge of the Giants’ inner workings that criticized Schoen’s decision-making, indicating he lets the outside noise influence his decisions far too often:
“It’s like they make moves off Twitter,” Raanan reports the league source told ESPN.
This quote was dropped into the article immediately after Raanan highlighted New York’s failed development process with young offensive lineman Joshua Ezeudu. The UNC product was drafted to play guard in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft. However, the Giants have struggled to find a home for Ezeudu, moving him out to play tackle — a position he had little experience with and seemed far too uncomfortable playing — where he has crashed and burned. As Raanan highlighted, this transformation was a failure, and Ezeudu was finally back at guard in Week 18 against the Eagles.
The Giants’ locker room seemingly doesn’t trust Schoen and Daboll
Schoen’s questionable decision-making and the coaching staff’s lacking communication created a sense of distrust within the Giants’ locker room, Raanan reports:
“It speaks to a bigger problem that was conveyed to ESPN by the players and coaches interviewed,” Raanan wrote. “There was a lack of trust between the team and players — one defensive player went so far as to describe it as ‘distrust.’ It’s an issue Schoen and Daboll will have to mend as they move forward.
“The catalyst was a gap in communication. More than a handful of players spoke of being misled and left to dangle in the wind on issues, including their roles changing or snaps dwindling, without sufficient explanation.”
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Fans knew the Giants’ organization was a dysfunctional one. But perhaps that dysfunction has been underestimated. The latest reports paint an ugly picture of the organization, highlighting failures at every level.
Despite a franchise-record 10-game losing streak and an embarrassing 3-14 record, Schoen and Daboll have been granted at least one more year to lead this team.
The pair will enter the 2025 offseason in do-or-die mode, with their backs against the wall, and in desperate need of some big wins to save their jobs moving forward. That sounds like a recipe for disaster. However, sometimes, pressure makes diamonds. Will Schoen and Daboll make the most of this mess? Or will they crumble under the weight of these lofty expectations?
