The New York Giants are giving fans unprecedented behind-the-scenes access into their offseason process this summer with the release of HBO’s Hard Knocks. The latest episode revealed the Giants’ pre-draft plans and process, exhibiting how the front office weighed its options ahead of the 2024 NFL Draft.
All offseason long, there was chatter about the Giants’ quarterback position. Daniel Jones tore his ACL in Week 9 of last season and Big Blue reportedly spent much of the offseason looking for his replacement. In this latest episode of Hard Knocks, general manager Joe Schoen spent plenty of time interviewing top quarterback prospects and attempting to pull off a trade up the draft order with the New England Patriots to take a quarterback with the No. 3 overall pick.
Such a risky and bold decision would of course need ownership’s approval. And Hard Knocks confirmed that Schoen did receive approval from New York Giants co-owner and team president John Mara to make a trade if he and his front-office staff had a “conviction” on one of the top quarterbacks.
Hard Knocks reveals that John Mara would not stand in the way of a draft-day QB trade
During the episode of Hard Knocks, Schoen was shown having an important conversation with Mara about the team’s plans to attempt a trade-up for a top quarterback prospect. Mara was nervous about the idea of making a potential trade, but ultimately told his general manager that he would stand by him and his decision:
“Believe me, if we are about to pull this deal off, I am gonna have palpations,” Mara told Schoen. “But I’m going to stand by my conviction.”
Mara likened the Giants’ situation to that of “20 years ago,” when the team made a trade in the first round of the 2004 NFL Draft to land Eli Manning:
“If you guys have a conviction on a quarterback, that’s what we do,” Mara told Schoen in the GM’s office just hours before the NFL Draft began. “Very similar situation.”
Schoen told his boss that he felt like the team was in “striking distance,” so they should take a chance, considering the hit rate for quarterbacks taken top-three is much higher than those taken outside of the first few picks. Ultimately, however, the Giants’ general manager refused to make a “blockbuster trade, Ricky Williams style,” as he had a walk-away price.
Ultimately, the Giants were unable to get a deal done within their price range and pivoted to Plan B: draft a top offensive weapon to pair with Daniel Jones. The Giants wound up taking elite LSU wide receiver prospect Malik Nabers with the No. 6 overall pick. Jones will enter a make-or-break 2024 season coming off of a torn ACL with an exciting young skill position player to target in the passing game.
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Mara deserves the respect of Giants fans
Mara easily could have vetoed a potential trade and the fact that he didn’t should earn the respect of the fans. Last offseason, Mara allowed his general manager to make a risky, four-year, $160 million investment in Daniel Jones. Mara’s love for Jones is well-documented and many speculated that such an affliction might have been the reason the team chose to stick with the 2019 first-round pick this offseason.
However, Mara was willing to move on from Jones and find his successor this offseason if that’s what Schoen decided was best for the team, despite still owing the quarterback tens of millions on his contract. That takes guts.
Fans have often tried to criticize Mara for “getting in the way” of football decisions that Giants general managers have made. However, this reveal in Hard Knocks is yet another instance that proves Mara gives his GMs full autonomy in their position.
Mara surely deserves some criticism for the lackluster performance of the team over the last decade. However, he also deserves the respect of fans for being an owner who doesn’t meddle in football decisions. Sure, he gives his opinions and shares the wealth of information he has obtained by being around the game for the entirety of his life. But Mara lets the football guys make the football decisions — a rare and important trait of any good owner in the NFL.
