On Monday morning, New York Giants President John Mara released a statement stating that Team President/GM, Joe Schoen, and head coach, Brian Daboll, will return in 2025.
The Giants, who lost to the Eagles in their season-finale on Sunday, finished the 2024 season a disappointing 3-14. After making the playoffs in 2022 and winning a playoff game, the Giants have struggled since. New York has a combined record of 9-25 in the last two seasons.
After the statement was released, Mara met with the media and explained why he decided to bring Schoen and Daboll.
“I met with (Senior Vice President and General Manager) Joe Schoen and (Head Coach) Brian Daboll Friday afternoon for several hours,” he said. “After which, I had a conversation with (Chairman and Executive Vice President) Steve Tisch, and we spoke some more over the weekend. We came to the decision that staying with both of them is the best course of action for us right now. I think in Brian’s (Daboll) case, he was the Coach of the Year two years ago. That didn’t disappear all of a sudden. I still believe he can do that again. And in Joe’s (Schoen) case, I thought we had an outstanding draft class this year. I thought we had a really good free agency period. I really like the staff that he’s put together and built. I think that they’re the right two guys to lead us going forward. I understand, believe me, that that’s not going to be the most popular decision in Giant Land. But we believe it’s the right decision for us going forward.”
During Daboll and Schoen’s tenure with the Giants, Daniel Jones was their quarterback. After leading New York to the playoffs in 2022, Jones signed a four-year, $160 million deal. In 2023, Jones played in only six games after tearing his ACL. In 2024, Jones struggled and was benched after ten games, and ultimately, he was released.
Mara knows the Giants, who have the third pick in 2025 draft, will need to upgrade the quarterback position.
“That’s obviously the number one issue for us going into this offseason, is to find our quarterback of the future,” he said. “Whether that be via the draft or acquiring a veteran, it’s going to be up to them to decide, ultimately.
Schoen agrees with Mara. The Giants have to find a quarterback.
“It’s the most important position in football,” Schoen said. “You look at the roster right now, (quarterback) Tommy (DeVito) is the only quarterback on the roster. So, that’s definitely important to any team in the NFL’s success. So, that’s something we’ll definitely be looking at.”
New York was near the bottom of the league in many defensive categories. The defense was led by defensive coordinator Shane Bowen, who replaced Wink Martindale this season. Mara believes the Giants need to improve defensively.
“Quite frankly, I didn’t think our defense played very well this year at all,” Mara explained. “I know that when you have an offense that performs like that, you’re putting more pressure on your defense. But we need to make improvements there. I’m tired of watching teams go up and down the field on us. So, I think that has to be addressed. I think we need some more depth in the offensive line.”
We could talk about letting Saquon Barkley go, but honestly, Barkley wouldn’t make the Giants a playoff team in 2024. New York was just not talented enough to be successful this season.
Schoen and Daboll have two years left on their contracts, so they have two years to get this right. It starts with a quarterback, and if they can get their quarterback, Schoen and Daboll can survive. If not, this duo won’t last another year.
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