Following a season marred by a disappointing 4-13 record, the New York Giants have reportedly informed general manager Joe Schoen that he will return for the 2026 season, per Ryan Dunleavy of The New York Post.
Despite the mid-season firing of head coach Brian Daboll, team president and co-owner John Mara is opting for continuity over a total housecleaning, betting on Schoen’s ability to pair his newly found franchise quarterback with the right head coach to lead this team out of the NFC East cellar.
Giants Retaining Joe Schoen Despite Dismal Record
Continuity is often the hallmark of successful franchises, but for the New York Giants, it’s beginning to look more like a stubborn refusal to admit defeat.
Despite a staggering 6–27 record over the last two seasons and the mid-season dismissal of Daboll, Schoen’s job is safe for 2026. It is a vote of confidence for a front office that has overseen a historic regression ever since their magical run in 2022.
While Schoen and ownership may point to a “young nucleus of talent,” the reality is that the architect of this current mess is being given the keys to the next rebuild—a move that risks tethering yet another head coach to a general manager whose seat is already red hot.
The Giants’ Record Under Joe Schoen
- Total Record (2022–2025): 21–45–1 (.313 win percentage).
- Post-2022 Collapse: Since the 2022 playoff win in Minnesota, Schoen’s Giants have gone 12–38.
- Division Futility: An abysmal 3–16–1 record against the NFC East.
- First in Failure: The Giants are the first team in the NFL to be mathematically eliminated from playoff contention in two consecutive seasons (2024 and 2025).
Roster Construction Missteps
The most damning indictment of the Schoen era isn’t just the losses; it’s the erosion of the roster’s identity. Schoen oversaw the unceremonious departures of Saquon Barkley and Xavier McKinney—both of whom went on to earn All-Pro honors elsewhere while the Giants bottomed out.
The Giants have failed to build a reliable run defense under Schoen. The unit ranked 31st against the run this past season.
Schoen’s draft classes have also varied in quality. While the 2025 class headlined by Jaxson Dart and Abdul Carter provides a flicker of hope, it doesn’t erase a draft history littered with busts.
The selection of Evan Neal at No. 7 overall in 2022 remains a massive whiff, and the 2023 class has offered little return on investment, with Deonte Banks and Jalin Hyatt both spending time as healthy scratches this season.
Because Schoen has missed so frequently in the draft, he’s been forced into spending in free agency on players like Jevon Holland and Paulson Adebo—talented pieces, certainly, but expensive Band-Aids for wounds Schoen himself inflicted through poor talent evaluation in April.
While the 2027 cap looks clean, Schoen’s 2026 books are still hampered by the lingering effects of the Daniel Jones contract—a deal Schoen negotiated and ultimately had to pay to move on from. The Giants only have a projected $11M in 2026 cap space (Over The Cap).
A Lame-Duck Reality
By retaining Schoen while searching for a new head coach, the Giants are repeating the exact organizational sins that have plagued them for a decade. There is a risk that a top-tier coaching candidate will be wary of hitching their career to a GM with a .312 winning percentage over his last 34 games.
If the Giants stumble out of the gate in 2026, Schoen will almost certainly be fired, leaving a first-year head coach stranded with a front office that didn’t hire him.
Has He Cleaned Up the Foundation?
Internally, the Giants view the roster as having a good nucleus of talent, headlined by Malik Nabers, Brian Burns (25 sacks over two seasons), Abdul Carter, Jaxson Dart, Cam Skattebo, and Dexter Lawrence. The Giants believe the foundation is far more structurally sound than the 12-38 record over the last three years implies.
A Pivotal Offseason Ahead
The pressure has never been higher. With Daboll out of the picture, Schoen is now tasked with the most important decision of his career: hiring a second head coach.
Schoen has been given the runway to finish what he started, but with the 2026 schedule featuring a grueling slate against the NFC West and AFC South, the results must translate to the win column immediately, or this vote of confidence will be the last one he receives.
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