Brian Daboll

Brian Daboll Considering Shift To Play-Calling Role

March 27th, 2024 at 12:55pm CST by Sam Robinson

Brian Daboll called plays for four seasons in Buffalo, reestablishing himself as a viable NFL OC after previous play-calling stints did not go especially well. After taking on a CEO-type role in his first two years as Giants HC, Daboll is considering another shift.

Going into a pivotal season, the third-year Giants leader said he is looking into a move to a play-calling role. That would strip OC Mike Kafka of a key responsibility. While the Giants gave Kafka a title bump after blocking him from a Seahawks OC interview, tacking on an assistant HC label to his role as Daboll’s top offensive lieutenant, a demotion appears in play ahead of his third season with the team.

“It’s something I’m looking into,” Daboll said of a play-calling role this week. “I think there’s 20 head coaches at this point in time that call plays in the league [either offensively or defensively]. … There might be a little bit more. I’ve been doing a bunch of research, but no decision has been made. I’m still going through that process, thinking about what we need to do.”

It had been expected Daboll would call plays with the Giants back in 2022, but just before that season, it was revealed Kafka — who had come over after years as the Chiefs’ quarterbacks coach — would be given the play sheet. This arrangement produced a surprise playoff berth in 2022, with Daniel Jones operating efficiently despite targeting a low-level group of pass catchers. Last season, the Giants regressed, showing little signs of their 2022 form even before Jones’ ACL tear. Daboll angrily took over play-calling duties at points, leading to questions about Kafka’s future with the team.

Unlike Don Martindale, who is at Michigan after his Daboll relationship combusted shortly after the season, Kafka managed to remain in place despite run-ins with the head coach last season. The Seahawks and Titans also interviewed him for their HC vacancies, which came a year after the young play-caller received multiple interview slips in 2023. With Daboll’s seat warming up, the Giants may be making a change. It should be considered likely Daboll calls plays in 2024, ESPN.com’s Jordan Raanan tweets.

With Jones’ injury as the key variable, the Giants dropped from 15th to 30th in scoring offense from 2022 to ’23. Daboll may still be calling plays for Jones in 2024, though the Giants have a major decision to make in the draft. The team has looked into trading up from No. 6 overall, but while quarterback is a major need, so is wide receiver. This draft’s QB crop would give the Giants a potential WR1 without needing to trade up.

Daboll’s Bills play-calling performance put him on the HC radar; that came after unremarkable stints as OC with the Browns, Dolphins and Chiefs. He also called plays for Alabama’s 2017 national championship-winning team. It would be somewhat odd if Daboll went through his Giants tenure without operating as their regular play-caller at any point. Many NFL HCs are also entrenched as play-callers; Daboll appears more likely than not to join those ranks in 2024.

Giants Owner John Mara OKs First-Round QB

March 25th, 2024 at 10:00pm CST by Ely Allen

The Giants’ quarterback situation in 2024 is, as usual, an interesting one. For the sixth year in a row, it seems like New York will enter the season with a plan to start Daniel Jones at quarterback while also hedging their bets a bit. To wit, team owner John Mara reportedly gave his coaching staff and personnel department the green light to draft a quarterback with their No. 6 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, per Jordan Raanan of ESPN.

With a top-ten selection in a strong quarterback class, the opportunity is certainly there to add one of the draft’s top quarterbacks. Unfortunately, a strong quarterback class doesn’t mean a deep one. Due to NIL opportunities convincing mid- to late-round passers to stay in school, this year’s quarterbacks crop is a bit top-heavy, so if you need to add a young arm to the roster, you may be forced to do so early.

It appears that seems to be the plan in New York. The team has hosted Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy and North Carolina’s Drake Maye, both favorites at one point to go No. 2 overall behind USC quarterback Caleb Williams. Although it would likely take a massive trade to acquire him, the Giants have done their homework on Williams, as well, sending general manager Joe Schoen to his pro day in Los Angeles.

Regardless of the work being put in by the team’s personnel group, the plan is for Jones to be under center in Week 1 of the 2024 season. Mara has been adamant recently in his belief in Jones, citing the quarterback’s 2022 season as an indicator of what the 26-year-old is capable of doing in an interview with Mike Garafolo of NFL Network. This won’t stop the team from adding to the room this offseason as Jones works his way back from a torn ACL.

Still, this past season is also an example of what we’ve seen with Jones in his career. Including the 2022 season, in which he sat out Week 18 before the playoffs, Jones has yet to play in every game of an NFL season. Ignoring the technicality of the 2022 absence, Jones has still missed 23 of a possible 83 regular season games through the first five years of his career. This season also saw the troubling return of Jones’ struggles with turnovers, though the team points to his injuries this season as the cause for that. You can have all the confidence in the world in Jones, but it’s still smart to consider investing in a young arm in case Jones continues to miss games or in case the Jones from 2022 never shows up again.

In addition to voicing his support for Jones, Mara also backed head coach Brian Daboll after a turbulent 2023 season. According to Connor Hughes of SNY, while he sometimes wishes Daboll would “tone it down,” Mara doesn’t believe that the coach acts irrationally and hasn’t asked him to change.

Latest On Giants’ QB Situation

March 23rd, 2024 at 9:57am CST by Ben Levine

After the Giants poked around at the likes of Russell Wilson and landed on Drew Lock, there was some speculation that the organization could be looking to manufacture a QB competition. Seahawks GM John Schneider only fueled that fire earlier this week, telling Seattle Sports 710AM that the Giants lured Lock away from Seattle by selling the QB on the “opportunity to compete to be the starter.”

Lock was quick to dismiss that notion. After inking his one-year deal with the Giants yesterday, the QB told reporters that it’s clearly been conveyed to him that Daniel Jones is the starter.

“Now, I need to come in and push Daniel to be the best that he can be,’’ Lock said (via Paul Schwartz of the New York Post). “I’ve had both sides of this. I’ve been the guy to push a starter, I’ve been the starter that’s being pushed by the backups. It’s about making that room the best it can be. If we can do that, the sky’s the limit for this team.’’

As Jeff Howe of The Athletic writes, it was likely Jones’ career-long injury issues and Brian Daboll‘s quarterback-friendly system that helped lure Lock to New York. Both Tyrod Taylor and Mitch Trubisky parlayed stints as Daboll’s QB2 into larger pay days, and Lock is surely hoping for the same outcome.

Lock could have an opportunity to start in 2024 as Jones continues to rehab a torn ACL that ended his 2023 season, but the new addition will simply be keeping the seat warm. That’s a big reason why the Giants didn’t end up adding Wilson to the mix; as Lowe reports, the Giants didn’t make the veteran QB “any promises about playing time.” The Giants also tried to retain Taylor, as Tony Pauline of Sportskeeda.com writes. Ultimately, Taylor was able to garner a higher offer from the Jets than what Lock settled for with the Giants.

While the Giants continue to give Jones a vote of confidence, that doesn’t mean the team is entirely comfortable with his future outlook. As Ralph Vacchiano of FOX Sports writes, Jones’ injury history has “shaken” the Giants’ faith in the franchise QB. The former first-round pick has only made it through one season unscathed, and that’s led the team to consider taking a quarterback in next month’s draft. Even after handing Jones a four-year, $160MM extension last offseason, the Giants have scouted many of the draft’s top quarterback prospects. If the organization does pull the trigger on a rookie signal-caller, that will only further cloud the team’s QB picture moving forward.

Giants Coaching Notes: RBs Coach, ST Coordinator, Daboll, Kafka

January 16th, 2024 at 6:35pm CST by Ben Levine

The Giants have added two coaches to their staff. The team announced that they’ve hired Joel Thomas as their new running backs coach and Aaron Wellman as their executive director of player performance.

Following a long stint in college coaching, Thomas was named the Saints running backs coach in 2015. Since then, the Saints are tied for second in the NFL with 161 rushing touchdowns, with Alvin Kamara earning five Pro Bowl selections over that span. Per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Saints didn’t block the interview despite the lateral move, with the organization “not wanting to hold a coach back.”

Thomas is set to replace Jeff Nixon, who left his role with the Giants after one season to become Syracuse’s offensive coordinator.

Wellman was previously the Giants’ strength and conditioning coach on both Ben McAdoo and Pat Shurmur’s staffs. He’s spent the past four years as Indiana University’s senior assistant athletic director for football performance.

More Giants coaching notes:

Thomas McGaughey was fired after six seasons as the Giants special teams coordinator, and the organization has started to look for his replacement. According to Rapoport, the Giants interviewed Matt Harper last weekend for the coordinator job. Harper has been with the 49ers organization since 2021, serving as the team’s assistant special teams coordinator.
Meanwhile, ESPN’s Jordan Raanan reports that Carlos Polk is also expected to be a candidate for the special teams job. The veteran coach spent the past two seasons as the Bears assistant special teams coach, and he previously held that same role with the Jaguars, Cowboys, Buccaneers, and Chargers.
There’s more fallout from the sudden Giants/Don Martindale divorce, with much of it focused on head coach Brian Daboll and his handling of the coaching staff. According to Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News, the coaching staff’s finger pointing got so bad that GM Joe Schoen ended up tuning in to the coach’s headsets during games. This decision may have stemmed from the opinion of some coaches that Daboll’s sideline behavior was “destructive,” with Leonard noting that the coach’s input “was never proactive, always reactionary.”
While the Daboll/Martindale argument grabbed headlines, Daboll also didn’t have the rosiest relationship with Mike Kafka. The offensive coordinator “received the brunt of Daboll’s fury” and was constantly second-guessed. This latter point was clear in Daboll’s handling of play-calling duties, as Kafka’s in-game responsibilities were constantly changing

Wink Martindale Addresses Future With Giants

December 17th, 2023 at 10:12am CST by Rory Parks

Earlier this month, Giants defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale addressed the November 26 report from Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer suggesting that there is palpable tension between Martindale and head coach Brian Daboll. The report, which surfaced just two weeks after Martindale and Daboll engaged in a heated exchange during New York’s Week 10 loss to the Cowboys, was supported by Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News and even indicated that Martindale could be fired before the end of the season.

When speaking about his relationship with Daboll, Martindale said, “[w]e’re fine. It’s the same thing as it was last year. It was just different because we were winning more games” (via Leonard).

Indeed, the 5-8 Giants, who surprisingly advanced to the divisional round of the playoffs during the first season of the Daboll-Martindale partnership, have just a 4% chance of qualifying for the postseason this year (and that is despite the club’s current three-game win streak). Martindale’s unit ranks in or just outside the bottom-10 in total defense, points allowed per game, and defensive DVOA, which is largely why he was reported to be on the hot seat even before the Glazer report (though those rankings are not appreciably worse than they were in 2022, and by measure of DVOA, the Giants’ defense is actually performing better this season).

Losing obviously creates tension, and if the relationship was not in a great place even during a winning season, it stands to reason that it would deteriorate during a disappointing campaign. For what it’s worth, Martindale — who says that Daboll was the one to bring the Glazer report to his attention — indicated that he would like to be back with the Giants in 2024, though his remarks were not especially emphatic.

“Yeah,” Martindale said when asked if he wants to remain with the team. “Yeah.”

However, the 60-year-old coach also acknowledged that he could not say what would happen at the end of the season.

“As far as where I’m gonna be at, no one knows that,” Martindale said. “I say we, [my wife Laura] and myself, worked long enough and hard enough in this league that you hope you have all kinds of choices. I might be grabbing my golf clubs and go to play golf in Florida. … So you just don’t know what’s gonna happen. I can’t predict the future.”

Martindale interviewed for the Colts’ head coaching job last year and also interviewed for the Giants’ HC post back in 2020, but it seems unlikely that he will be on the head coaching interview circuit in 2024. He is under contract with New York for one more season, and given how popular he is in the locker room — and given how it would look for Daboll if he were to have to replace all three of his top coordinators in one offseason, which is a distinct possibility — Dan Duggan of The Athletic believes ownership will intervene and try to keep the relationship between Daboll and his DC in a tolerable place (subscription required).

Duggan does go on to say that such an intervention may not happen if the Daboll-Martindale rift is, as Glazer suggested, unable to be mended. And Duggan, who acknowledges that Glazer “doesn’t miss,” has heard nothing that would contradict the Fox personality’s report.

Therefore, Daboll could indeed be looking to replace Martindale, special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey, and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka in short order. Like Martindale, Kafka’s job security was called into question in November, and Duggan suggests that Daboll could seek to more firmly take the reins of the offense as he enters his third season with the Giants, which would lead to a parting of the ways between Kafka and the team.

NFC East Rumors: Giants, Prescott, Lewis, Garcia

December 3rd, 2023 at 9:45pm CST by Ely Allen

The reported rift between Giants head coach Brian Daboll and defensive coordinator Wink Martindale has gotten weird. After recent reports of tension between the two coaches and rumors that both the team’s coordinators are in danger of losing their jobs, New York elected to deny, deny, deny. And then deflect, deflect, deflect.

The day of our initial report, a New York Post contribution by Mark Cannizzaro relayed multiple accounts from players and staff pushing back on the idea of a rift. Daboll himself expressed his “respect” for Martindale to the media last week telling them, “I’d say the biggest argument that Wink and I have had is who has the last piece of pizza.”

Daboll is known for running a bit of a closed-door operation intent on eliminating outside distractions, so taking his statements at face value is difficult to do. Especially when the following day, Pat Leonard of New York Daily News provided a description of a press conference in which general manager Joe Schoen and Daboll failed in their attempts to play it cool.

For the second straight day, Daboll made a joke about him and Martindale being avid eaters, saying, “I just met with Wink a little while ago. We had donuts.” This was followed by Schoen repeatedly deflecting questions about Martindale’s future with the team to Daboll, claiming that Daboll had already discussed these things with the media, which he hadn’t.

It seems like opinion for now, but those in the room seem to firmly believe in the supposed rift between Daboll and Martindale. The Giants’ attempts to get the media looking in the opposite direction don’t seem to be effective.

Here are a few other rumors from the NFC East:

Our own Adam La Rose recently provided a strong breakdown of the potential extension situation for Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott. In it, La Rose relayed the team’s plan to wait until the offseason to solidify a new deal for their two-time Pro Bowler. Well, today, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network provided a bit more detail on the situation, cluing us in to a potential deadline for an extended contract. Rapoport speculates that, since Prescott is due a $5MM roster bonus on the fifth day of the new league year, if an extension is going to happen, it’s going to be before then. The 2024 League Year is set to start on March 13, giving the team until March 17 to get a deal done.
A few weeks into the season last year, we saw Cowboys cornerback Jourdan Lewis undergo season-ending surgery for a Lisfranc injury. At the time, we questioned what the injury meant for Lewis’s future as he was set to enter a contract year and an injury plus the breakout of then fifth-round rookie DaRon Bland could threaten his job security. Apparently, we should have been worried about his future for a different reason as Michael Gehlken of The Dallas Morning News told us recently that Lewis’s injury had the potential to threaten his football career. The team’s director of rehabilitation, Britt Brown, told Gehlken that “a lot of guys…wouldn’t have come back from that.” Brown continued, “When that initially happened, his career was immediately in jeopardy.” Lewis, though, fought to return and has played in every game past Week 1 for the Cowboys this year, displaying impressive resiliency in the face of dour odds.
The Commanders had to turn to some new leaders on the defensive side of the ball this week after firing Jack Del Rio a little over a week ago. Cristian Garcia, who was recently tabbed as the team’s interim defensive backs coach, is reportedly whom head coach Ron Rivera will rely on, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The 29-year-old assistant coach was asked this week to “handle a larger role in game planning and on gameday.” While it’s surely an exciting challenge for Garcia, facing the Dolphins in his first week with increased responsibilities was certainly a daunting task.

Joe Schoen: Giants Owners “On Board” With Long-Term Rebuild

December 1st, 2023 at 10:52pm CST by Adam La Rose

The 2023 season has been a signficant step back for the Giants compared to their first year under general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll. It would come as a surprise if either were to be let go at the end of the year, however, a sentiment which was recently confirmed by the former’s public remarks.

Schoen’s press conference earlier this week stated owners John Mara and Steve Tisch were aware of the long-term requirements of a sustainable rebuild given the roster and cap situation he inherited from the Dave Gettleman era. As Schoen said in no uncertain terms, and as Ralph Vacchiano of Fox Sports reports, a change at neither the GM or HC spots is anticipated to take place.

“Yeah, absolutely. They’re on board with it,” Schoen said, via Vacchiano, of New York’s owners regarding a multi-year rebuild. “As much as it hurts to go through this, there are a lot of young players that are getting valuable experience. Another offseason, another draft, we will continue to build it… The fact that John Mara is here on a daily basis, we can explain the ‘why’ — why we’re doing things, how we’re going to do them. They’re in the loop and they’re on board.”

The Giants have been known to move on quickly from coaches, with Ben McAdoo, Pat Shurmur and Joe Judge each being let go late in their second seasons with the team. Daboll is now in that territory, and the 2022 Coach of the Year has been the subject of widespread criticism as the Giants have gone 4-8 this campaign. Struggles on offense both before and after quarterback Daniel Jones‘ ACL tear, as well as reported tension with defensive coordinator Don Martindale have led to questions about Daboll’s job security. He appears to be in the clear for now, however.

“It takes time, takes a couple of offseasons, it takes a few drafts to build it the right way,” Schoen added. “Trust me, it hurts when you lose and you’re 4-8… But you don’t want to lose sight of the big picture and the proper way to build a roster.”

The Giants are currently slated to have the No. 6 pick in the 2024 draft, a selection which could allow them to add a Jones successor. Having just inked the 26-year-old to a $160MM extension last year, though, New York could elect to go in a number of different directions during the draft. Regardless of how the Giants proceed, the team’s top decision-makers will be operating with assurances about their job security for the time being.

Tension Mounting Between Giants HC Brian Daboll, DC Don Martindale?

November 26th, 2023 at 10:04pm CST by Adam La Rose

The 2023 season has proven to be a disaster for the Giants, with the team’s on-field performance falling well short of expectations in the wake of last year’s run to the divisional round of the playoffs. As a result, frustrations appear to growing in the coaching ranks.

Tension between head coach Brian Daboll and defensive coordinator Don ‘Wink’ Martindale is palpable, Jay Glazer of Fox Sports notes (video link). A disconnect between the two staffers was first mentioned by Dan Duggan of The Athletic earlier this month, noting a heated exchange which took place either side of halftime during the team’s blowout loss to the Cowboys in Week 10 (subscription required). While New York followed up that loss with an upset over the Commanders, things have not gone according to plan for the organization this year.

A sticking point in this situation seems to have been the public criticism levied at the coaching staff by safety Xavier McKinney earlier in the season. Martindale publicly responded to the comments, noting it was unprecedented to receive complaints related to communication with players in his lengthy coaching career. ESPN’s Jordan Raanan confirms the McKinney incident represents a potential flashpoint in the Daboll-Martindale relationship, which at this point in a trying season is “festering.”

The pair had no previous working relationship when they joined the Giants’ staff last year. Daboll came to New York with considerable acclaim from his time as the Bills’ offensive coordinator, while Martindale boasted a general track record of success during a four-year run coordinating the Ravens’ defense. Their first season together resulted in an unexpected postseason appearance and a road victory in the wild-card round, but the team has struggled across the board this year. The Giants rank no better than 27th in DVOA for offense, defense and special teams.

As a result, Martindale’s name (along with that of second-year offensive coordinator Mike Kafka) has come up with respect to coaches who could be fired in the offseason. Strife with Daboll could obviously affect the chances of that taking place, but a strong finish to the campaign would also bolster Martindale’s case for remaining in place for at least one more year. Duggan notes that “the writing is on the wall” for special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey, so at least some changes on the sidelines should be expected relatively soon.

As Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News adds, the Glazer report is only “scratching the surface” of the current state of affairs between Daboll and Martindale. A winning run to close out the campaign would no doubt smooth things over to a degree, but the Giants’ staffing plans will remain a key storyline to watch over the coming weeks and months.

Giants Not Ready To Give Up On QB Daniel Jones

November 15th, 2023 at 10:00pm CST by Ely Allen

The Giants 2023 NFL season has seemingly gone off the rails. After snapping their four-game losing streak from earlier in the year, New York has started a new losing streak, dropping their last three contests. Their 2-8 record currently qualifies them for the second-overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. With USC quarterback Caleb Williams and North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye likely to be locked in as the first two college passers taken in the draft, are the Giants going to pass up a top college arm in the top 2?

According to Ralph Vacchiano of FOX Sports, “it’s far from guaranteed that the Giants would actually” draft Williams or Maye to replace starting quarterback Daniel Jones. There are several factors that play into the team’s loyalty to the veteran passer, but essentially, they haven’t given up on hopes that he will be the long-term answer for New York at quarterback.

The first clear sign of this is the fact that, only four months ago, the Giants signed Jones to a four-year, $160MM contract extension. The team expressed their support for the 26-year-old at that point, and though things haven’t panned out thus far, they’re not ready to give up on him yet.

Jones earned that extension after showing tremendous improvement under the tutelage of new head coach Brian Daboll and new offensive coordinator Mike Kafka last year. The new coaching took some of Jones’ biggest weaknesses, namely turnovers, and turned them into a strength. After throwing 29 interceptions and fumbling the football 36 times in his first three seasons, Jones led the league in lowest percentage of pass attempts resulting in an interception after throwing just five picks and fumbled the ball a career-low six times in 2022. Beyond that, Jones teamed up with his backfield mate, running back Saquon Barkley, to lead the Giants to their first postseason berth since 2016.

This year, the results have been drastically different, but realistically, the coaches and front office aren’t viewing the numbers in a vacuum. Sure, the team has the league’s second-worst record and only won one game in which Jones started, and yes, Jones’ touchdown-interception ratio of 2-6 and four fumbles in six games seems to show a regression of his strongest traits from last year, but these statistics aren’t solely the result of Jones’ play. First, of his six starts, three of them were without Barkley by his side and four of them were without starting left tackle Andrew Thomas protecting him. Second, a porous offensive line has led to the veteran passer taking a battering.

“It’s almost an unfair evaluation,” an NFC scout told Vacchiano. “He was getting battered. He had no time to run an offense before the rush was in his face. He didn’t look good, I’m not excusing him, but he didn’t have much of a chance. And I think (the Giants) know that.”

The disastrous offensive line resulted in Jones taking a beating. Whether related to the constant pressure or not, Jones ended up suffering a neck injury that would hold him out for three games. His short-lived return to play ended with him tearing his ACL, taking him out for the remainder of the season. Injuries, both to himself and to his teammates, paired with poor offensive play around him led to a decline in Jones’ performance this year. The Giants understand that and will likely continue giving him a chance to show he’s a franchise quarterback.

That decision also proves to be a bit self-serving for Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen. Despite the duo leading the team to the playoffs in their first year at the helm, Vacchiano states that in today’s cutthroat NFL, a serious step backward might not be something to two staffers could afford. Making the move to draft and rely on a rookie quarterback very often can result in a step backward, and after the disappointment of this season, another year of regression has the potential to spell doom for Daboll and Schoen. That being said, Jordan Schultz of Bleacher Report made it clear that, “barring something drastic,” both will return with Jones in 2024.

Still, the two aren’t ruling anything out. While proclaiming their faith in Jones, the Giants are still actively doing their homework on Williams and Maye. Schoen has reportedly already seen both college passers in person, and the personnel department will likely continue keeping a close eye on the two. Especially with the current unknown of Jones’ recovery time, quarterback may become a big offseason need for New York if Jones isn’t expected back in time for camp.

It’s an ugly situation and a difficult decision for the Giants to make. And, as of now, it’s not one they’ve decided on yet. They have reason and need to rely on Jones going forward, but it may become necessary at some point to bolster the position, just in case. They’re not ready to give up on Jones yet, but they need to be prepared to face that possibility should it arise.

Giants Unlikely To Make HC, GM Changes; Joe Schoen Scouting Top QB Prospects

November 13th, 2023 at 10:30pm CST by Adam La Rose

Week 10 added to the list of lopsided defeats the Giants have suffered in 2023, and the team’s prospects for the rest of the campaign appear bleak. As attention increasingly turns to April’s draft, questions have been raised about the job security of head coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen.

Both members of the team’s second-year regime are “widely considered to be safe” by those both inside and outside the organization, CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones reports. Unexpected success last season – which culminated in a run to the divisional round of the playoffs – came with the understanding that a multi-year effort to clean up the team’s cap situation would be required, but the commitment made to quarterback Daniel Jones in the offseason has not gone according to plan.

Jones is out for the year with an ACL tear, though his 2023 performances when healthy fell well short of expectations as part of a highly underwhelming Giants offense. Attached to four-year, $160MM deal, the former top-10 pick is on the books at a rate of $36MM in guaranteed salary in 2024. In spite of that, a report from last week indicated the Giants were willing to add an eventual Jones successor during the upcoming draft if they found themselves in position to land one of the highly-touted passers in this year’s class.

Schoen is known to be among several NFL executives who watched the recent USC-Washington game in person, a showcase of Caleb Williams and Michael Penix. He has been on the QB circuit to see other prospects as well, however; NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport notes that Schoen has regularly watched games featuring high-end signal-callers during the fall when doing so lines up with the Giants’ travel schedule. New York – a team down to undrafted rookie Tommy DeVito at quarterback with Tyrod Taylor currently on IR – could very well end up with an intriguing decision to make come the spring with respect to a potential Jones replacement.

The Giants are currently slated to pick second overall, a slot which would likely line them up to draft UNC’s Drake Maye. Doing so would create the need to move on from Jones after the 2024 season, however, and in the process admit a mistake in making a lucrative investment in the latter. Plenty remains to be determined with respect to where the Giants wind up selecting in April, but it appears Daboll and Schoen will be allowed to make such a call when the time comes.

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