John Mara

NFL, NFLPA Investigating Giants’ Handling Of Jaxson Dart Concussion Protocol

The NFL is investigating “the application of concussion protocol” in regards to Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart during Thursday night’s game against the Eagles, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

The review will be conducted jointly with the NFLPA as required by the league’s collective bargaining agreement.

Giants head coach Brian Daboll was seen attempting to enter the blue medical tent and having an animated conversation with the team’s medical staff as they evaluated Dart. Both Daboll and the Giants could face discipline a result of the incident, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.

Daboll apologized for the incident after the game and said (via SNY) that he was not trying to rush or otherwise influence Dart’s concussion protocol. Instead, he claimed that he was trying to find out if Dart was “good or not” as he considered calling a timeout and attempting a fourth down conversion, a point he reiterated on Friday.

After news of the league’s investigation became public, the Giants released a statement from team president and co-owner John Mara released a statement that backed Daboll’s version of events while also noting that “the appearance of going to the tent is inappropriate.”

“We have protocols in place as a league to ensure player safety and we need to allow our medical staff to execute those protocols without interference,” the statement continued. “We understand the situation is under review by the NFL and the NFLPA, and obviously we will cooperate fully.”

Giants running back Cam Skattebo also went to the medical tent to check on Dart during the game. On Friday, he said (via SNY) that he was trying to “calm down” his teammate knowing that the rookie quarterback “wants to be back on the field.”

“We know we have to go through protocol…to make sure we can get back on the field,” Skattebo added.

Given the increasing national attention on the long-term impact of concussions on football players, the NFL cannot afford to take these incidents lightly. Any hint of a team not following concussion protocol could be a major issue for the league from both a liability and public relations standpoint. The Dolphins’ handling of Tua Tagovailoa‘s concussion in 2022 spurred a similar investigation that found that the protocol was followed but needed to be improved.

Giants Owner John Mara Declined Saquon Barkley’s Trade Request In 2023

This Thursday, the same day Eagles running back Saquon Barkley plays against his former Giants team in New York, a documentary titled Saquon will be released for streaming on Prime Video. Per Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post, the project divulges some new information, like how team owner John Mara declined Barkley’s request for a trade before he eventually hit free agency.

The documentary follows Barkley as he goes through the trials and tribulations of his contact negotiations with New York that never quite worked out into a new deal. Barkley reportedly shows the emotional side of the ordeal, during which he considered brash moves like publicly demanding a trade or causing other sorts of online drama before ultimately allowing his better judgement to keep him from acting on impulse.

Dunleavy details a part of the documentary that takes place “at the height of (Barkley’s) frustration,” on the final day in 2023 for franchise-tagged players to sign long-term extensions. On the day, Barkley reportedly asked Mara directly for permission to seek a trade.

“I’m not going to do that,” Mara said in response, per Dunleavy. “That makes no sense for us. To be honest with you, it’s not going to be in your long-term best interest to do that. There’s no way that I would allow that at this point. You are too valuable to this franchise.”

Barkley’s value to the franchise was apparently too great to consider trading, but seemingly not great enough to pay. In the project, Barkley laments how he would’ve settled for $10MM or $11MM per year, if New York had just operated with an air of mutual respect. Instead, as he tried to meet them in the middle, the Giants never seemed to budge an inch.

Barkley explained how he believed he was being “spitefully penalized for not accepting the Giants’ first contract offer,” one made during the team’s bye week in 2022. That deal would’ve given him only $18MM guaranteed over a three-year period when the franchise tag at that time guaranteed $10.1MM in just a single year alone.

While Mara was obviously looking out for the team’s best interest in not permitting Barkley to seek trade interest, a warning had come from general manager Joe Schoen months earlier telling the top brass not to grant the request to Barkley. Barkley had suggested the idea of having his agent quietly call around to gauge his market to aid him in his negotiations, but Schoen warned him off of it, “hinting that he would want a first- or second-round pick in return.”

As history recalls, no trades took place, even as the Giants crossed the 2023 trade deadline with a 2-6 record, and when final offers were exchanged between team and player, the two sides were less than $2MM apart in both total value and total guarantees. Barkley signed the three-year, $37.75MM deal in Philadelphia with $26MM guaranteed, and after a record-setting 2024 campaign that many assert would not have been possible in New York, the Eagles extended his contract another two years for $41.2MM.

Giants Owner John Mara Diagnosed With Cancer

John Mara announced on Monday that he has been diagnosed with cancer. The Giants’ co-owner made it clear he will remain involved with the team as he proceeds with treatment.

“I have recently been diagnosed with cancer and have been following the treatment plan recommended by an outstanding team of doctors,” a statement from Mara reads in part. “I’m feeling strong and optimistic, and I’m committed to seeing this through to a positive outcome. I plan to remain active with the team throughout my treatment, and I’m fortunate to be surrounded by incredible support – personally, professionally, and medically.”

Mara was present for yesterday’s game at MetLife Stadium. The 70-year-old will presumably continue to be a regular figure at the Giants’ headquarters as much as possible based on his statement. Mara’s time with the Giants dates back to 1991.

That span includes his tenure as the team’s general counsel which was followed by time spent as the Giants’ executive vice president and COO. When Mara’s father Wellington passed away in 2005, he took on his current role as president in addition to co-owner. Alongside chairman and EVP Steve Tisch, Mara has overseen the organization ever since.

It remains to be seen how much of an impact this news will have on the day-to-day operations of the franchise. For now, at least, Mara’s diagnosis has left him in position to continue working in his current capacity on a regular basis. Hopefully that will remain the case through the course of his treatment.

Giants Brass Did Not Oppose Jaxson Dart Promotion; Latest On HC Brian Daboll

A report earlier this week noted that Giants head coach Brian Daboll did not consult his coaching staff or team execs in making a seminal starting quarterback switch from Russell Wilson to first-round rookie Jaxson Dart. It would be easy to read that report and infer some sort of disconnect between Daboll and his fellow coaches and/or team brass, but apparently that is not the case.

As Paul Schwartz of the New York Post (subscription required) observes, depth chart configurations are always the HC’s responsibility, and in this instance, neither GM Joe Schoen nor co-owner John Mara offered any dissent to Daboll’s decision. Nor did they force the move, per Dianna Russini of The Athletic (subscription required). 

According to Russini, some objections to the change were raised, but she does not specify who made those objections. And now, she says, the entire organization is backing the head coach and his young signal-caller, though Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News, who believes Daboll has summoned Dart in an effort to save his own job, describes the locker room’s response as “tepid” (while acknowledging the players support Dart personally).

Russini says several players on both sides of the ball, including team captains, contacted Dart as soon as the decision was announced to let him know he has their support. Likewise, third-stringer Jameis Winston has spent hours with Dart and ran through game scripts with him after practice until the rookie mastered them. And although Wilson is reportedly now considered a trade candidate — which Dan Duggan of The Athletic is skeptical of, given Wilson’s 2025 performance and his limited market this offseason — Schwartz says the organization believes Dart will benefit from continuing to be around the 36-year-old passer, who handled his demotion with the type of maturity the team expected.

Interestingly, Russini says the Giants considered naming Dart the starter after their Week 1 loss to the Commanders, and Schwartz says Dart would have started from the jump if New York did not have a veteran option with Wilson’s pedigree on the roster. While Schoen had previously voiced his hope that Wilson would stay in the QB1 role for some time, that was because such a development would have meant Wilson was playing well enough to merit the job.

Of course, Wilson’s performance did not prevent Daboll, whose job security is tenuous at best, from inserting the player he pushed for in the draft into the starting lineup. Despite a gaudy stat line in a Week 2 loss to the Cowboys – which was aided in large part by Dallas’ porous secondary – Schwartz says Wilson’s inability to consistently find the endzone was one of the triggers for his benching, along with the team’s belief that he was too quick to scramble instead of going through his progressions when he felt pressure.

Schwartz adds that a fourth quarter sequence at the end of Big Blue’s Week 3 loss to the Chiefs may have been Wilson’s final straw. In a first-and-goal situation at Kansas City’s 4-yard line, Wilson was flagged for intentional grounding on first down, ran for four yards on second down, and made non-competitive throws on third and fourth down. 

Regardless of the impetus for the decision, Dart is now tasked with saving the Giants’ season and, perhaps, the New York futures of Daboll and Schoen. Even if he cannot do that — indeed, Leonard believes Daboll could be fired if his troops do not play well against the Chargers in Week 4 — he can still cement his status as the team’s long-term option at quarterback. 

Giants Still Trying To Trade Up To No. 1; Shedeur Sanders QB2 On Team’s Board?

The Titans are already believed to have rebuffed multiple Giants offers. A year after a failed Drake Maye trade pursuit — as the Patriots rejected Giants and Vikings proposals for No. 3 overall — New York appears shut out of the Cam Ward draft slot. Drew Lock‘s shootout win over the Colts in Week 17 set this chain of events in motion, bumping the Titans to No. 1 overall.

Although Tennessee has stood firm on No. 1, the New York Post’s Paul Schwartz notes the Giants are expected to make a final push for the pick. This would undoubtedly require a better offer. Thus far, all that has come out indicates a Giants third-round pick is part of the team’s trade package. Tennessee’s Ward interest would certainly require far more than that, and upping the price on a New York team carrying two hot-seated power brokers makes sense for a Titans team with leverage.

The Titans are not expected to go for any offer at this point, being sold on Ward as the player who can turn the team around. The Giants, then, are viewed as likely to have Abdul Carter ticketed for the Big Apple. The Browns (or another team) will have Travis Hunter to add. Positional needs would naturally make the Giants favor Hunter over Carter, but they are believed to view the Penn State linebacker-turned-EDGE as a prospect talented enough to table their QB need to later in the draft. On that note, the Giants have begun charting a potential path back into Round 1 for a passer, joining the Browns and Saints in this mix.

Brian Daboll-Jaxson Dart connections have emerged over the past several days, but Schwartz adds a notable update to the team’s QB hierarchy. Shedeur Sanders is the No. 2 QB on the team’s big board. While we are amid a leaguewide smokescreen avalanche, ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler writes that an outside chance exists the Giants take Sanders at No. 3 to check off a box that has defined the Daboll-Joe Schoen regime’s tenure. Though, that is not the expectation for tonight, as Sanders is in danger of falling out of the first round.

The Giants have plenty of familiarity with Sanders. They spoke with the Colorado prospect at the Combine, hosted him on a “30” visit, dined with him before Colorado’s pro day and worked him out in Boulder last weekDarius Slayton‘s sister, Maleika, also serves as Colorado’s director of on-campus recruiting. The team, however, is believed to be split on Sanders after this eventful evaluation.

It should be considered likely he and Dart are the Nos. 2 and 3 options on Big Blue’s board, as the Post’s Ryan Dunleavy views Jalen Milroe as being a lower-ranked player for the team. With multiple Daboll-Dart connections surfacing, the rumor of a Daboll-Schoen schism is again relevant. Schwartz indicates the two decision-makers are aligned. Giants fans had better hope this is the case, as this is a pivotal draft after the team’s Daniel Jones journey lasted six years without much payoff.

Jones came to New York a year after the team chose Saquon Barkley over the likes of Sam Darnold and Josh Allen. It was believed at the time the Giants did not have a consensus on a QB in 2018. Pat Shurmur was believed to be higher on Allen, while Darnold support existed as well. John Mara was also believed to be an Allen fan at the time, according to Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz. While revisionist-history alarm bells may be sounding here — as has been the case with other teams re: Patrick Mahomes‘ 2017 draft journey — Mara being high on the eventual Bills icon at the time and seeing his GM draft Barkley may prove relevant now that his franchise needs a quarterback again.

Mara did not fire his GM and HC, despite a 3-14 season, shouldering some of the blame for Jones’ continued employment. With Schoen and Daboll in-season firing candidates, Mara making an ownership call for a quarterback at No. 3 — or at any point during the early rounds — would be a seismic development, one that would point to little confidence remaining in his current power structure.

The Giants, however, view Carter as a player who would supplement Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux. Packages featuring the trio would be deployed, as Schwartz adds the Giants were intrigued by the ex-Nittany Lion off-ball linebacker’s versatility. Having seen another ex-Penn State pass rusher morph from ILB to dominant edge rusher (Micah Parsons) does not hurt. Barring something unexpected, another sequence in which the Giants strengthen a strength on the edge, reminding of the Mathias Kiwanuka and Jason Pierre-Paul picks, is on tap. What happens next will prove more interesting, as a glaring QB need would remain.

Aaron Rodgers’ Age, Durability Were Giants’ Biggest Concerns

The Giants seriously considered pursuing Aaron Rodgers, but concerns about his age and durability were too significant for team president John Mara to move forward with a potential signing, according to Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post.

General manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll preferred Rodgers to the other quarterbacks available in free agency, but Mara needed to be convinced. Rodgers has a reputation as an intense personality in the locker room with no shortage of off-field controversies

The Giants reached out to three members of the last Jets regime – head coach Robert Saleh, general manager Joe Douglas, and defensive backs coach Marquand Manuel – who said that Rodgers was “no problem in the locker room,” per Dunleavy. (Manuel was hired in January as the Giants’ new defensive pass game coordinator.) There was no way around the mercurial quarterback’s attention-grabbing words and antics, but the team was willing to overlook that, especially for how cheap Rodgers would be.

What the Giants could not get past, according to Dunleavy, was the potential for Rodgers to miss time this season due to injury. Mara has repeatedly expressed his lack of patience with the team’s lack of results in the last two years, and Rodgers showed signs of limited mobility in 2024 after tearing his Achilles a year prior. He’s also openly debated retirement in each of the last few offseason, including this one, making it clear that he’s not a long-term answer at quarterback.

Instead the Giants went with younger players in Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston on incentive-laden one-year deals to see if one can emerge as a plus starter in 2025. They’ve also done their homework on the current draft class and could add a new franchise quarterback next week.

Giants To Explore Selling Minority Ownership Stake

Since the NFL allowed private equity firms to purchase limited shares of franchises, a number of teams have reached agreements on that front. The Giants are interested in joining that list.

The team is looking to sell as much as a 10% stake, as first reported by Ben Fischer of the Sports Business Journal. The Giants are currently owned and operated by John Mara and Steve Tisch, who each own a 50% share as things stand. No changes to the ownership structure of the franchise would be made if a sale goes through, per the report.

“The Mara and Tisch families have retained Moelis & Company to explore the potential sale of a minority, non-controlling stake in the New York Giants,” a team statement reads in part. “There will be no further comment in regard to the process.”

The Eagles, Dolphins and Bills have all worked out agreements in recent months to divest to new owners. Buyers connected to private equity firms are allowed by rule to purchase shares, but they are not permitted to take on a controlling stake. Still, a deal involving the Giants would be notable given the franchise’s market value.

As Fischer notes, the sales related to the Eagles included valuations of the franchise at $8.1 billion and $8.3 billion when they were agreed to. An arrangement involving the Giants is expected to surpass those figures, meaning Mara and Tisch will be in line for a major cash infusion if a deal can be worked out. Provided that takes place, approval from at least 24 of the NFL’s 32 owners will be required for ratification.

Having just celebrated their 100th season, the Giants’ heritage and market size will help attract potential buyers. The team’s lack of success in recent years could serve as a deterrent in some instances, but it would come as little surprise if a sale were to be arranged in the near future.

Giants Notes: Daboll, Schoen, Tisch, Barkley, Banks, Eluemunor, Nunez-Roches

When the Giants decided to retain Brian Daboll after a 3-14 season, multiple players expressed surprise, ESPN.com’s Jordan Raanan notes. This was not the only instance of a team retaining a coach after a 3-14 campaign this offseason, as the Browns and Titans joined Big Blue here, but New York’s operation had trended downward from 2022 — even though that initial Daboll-Joe Schoen season came as a surprise.

Schoen’s decision to let Saquon Barkley walk turned out to backfire, and the NFL may have a difficult time presenting a viable HBO offseason project after how much the Giants’ offering made the Schoen regime look. While a disastrous 2024 did not cost Schoen his job, players viewed his decision not to submit Barkley an offer doubled as an underestimation of the running back’s value on the field and in the locker room, per Raanan.

[RELATED: Internal Push For Daboll To Cede Play-Calling Role Builds]

Barkley, who had said numerous times he wanted to finish his career a Giant, rampaged for the ninth 2,000-yard rushing season in NFL history and would likely have broken Eric Dickerson‘s single-season record had the Eagles allowed him to play in Week 18. Barkley already delivered a strong revenge performance earlier in the season, and he joined fellow Giants defector Xavier McKinney on the All-Pro first team.

John Mara did not ultimately hold Schoen prioritizing Daniel Jones over Barkley as a fireable offense, as the owner played a key role in that 2023 pecking order forming. Still, as a result of the 2024 offseason decisions and the terrible season that followed, Schoen and Daboll will be candidates for in-season firings if the 2025 slate does not start off better. Distrust emerged in Daboll’s program as well, multiple players told Raanan, though it does not sound as though the fourth-year HC lost the team. He will face a difficult task in completing a rebound, as the Giants do not have a starter-level quarterback rostered just yet.

The team did attempt to fix a cornerback issue in 2023, drafting Deonte Banks in Round 1. That has not worked out just yet, with the Maryland product being benched for his effort level during a midseason game. Several players indicated Banks’ benching against the Steelers was “a long time coming,” which points to the former top pick being a lingering issue — at least leading up to that point. Pro Football Focus ranked Banks outside the top 100 among CB regulars this past season, and neither second-round center John Michael Schmitz nor third-rounder Jalin Hyatt has impressed from Schoen’s 2023 class.

Still, Schoen will hold the keys going into a 2025 draft that may well send a first-round quarterback to New York. When Schoen and Daboll met with ownership regarding their futures last month, The Athletic’s Dan Duggan notes the pair only met with Mara, who then spoke with co-owner Steve Tisch separately. Tisch is not in the team’s facility daily, with Duggan classifying the descriptor “silent partner” as applicable for the 20th-year owner, who has outside business interests. Tisch has not spoken in public about the Giants since 2020.

One of the lead drivers for this Giants season unraveling came when Andrew Thomas suffered his latest injury, a Lisfranc issue that required surgery. The Giants went through multiple plans to replace Thomas, ultimately moving right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor to the left side and bringing Evan Neal off the bench to reprise his RT role. Eluemunor, who had begun offseason work at guard before sliding to RT during training camp, was not a fan of the LT shift, per Duggan, as he has wanted to showcase himself as a reliable right tackle.

A three-year RT starter in Las Vegas, Eluemunor preferred a two-year deal — as opposed to a three-year pact — in an effort to cash in once again in free agency. The nomadic blocker not becoming a steady starter until 2021 did not produce even a midlevel free agency deal until the Giants offered a two-year, $14MM accord. Eluemunor appears to be aiming at another RT season making him a viable option on the 2026 market.

The Giants have several issues to address during this year’s free agency, and they will likely turn to some in-house players to create cap space. One appears to be Rakeem Nunez-Roches, whom Duggan labels a cap casualty candidate. Nunez-Roches operated as a spot starter in 2023, playing behind since-departed D-linemen Leonard Williams and A’Shawn Robinson. A 10-year veteran, Nunez-Roches started all 15 games he played in 2024. The Giants could save $3.6MM by moving on.

Brian Daboll May Step Out Of Play-Calling Role; John Mara Criticizes Giants’ Defense

After OC Mike Kafka primarily called Giants plays from 2022-23, Brian Daboll took the reins this past season. Despite being at the controls as Josh Allen morphed from raw talent into superstar with the Bills, Daboll could not do much with the 2024 Giants’ offense. As a result, he nearly lost his job.

John Mara, however, retained both Daboll and GM Joe Schoen but issued directives that an improvement must take place immediately. Daboll is now entertaining a step back into a CEO coaching role, though the fourth-year Giants HC did not confirm if the idea of another shift was his or Mara’s.

[RELATED: Mike Kafka Drawing HC Interest]

Mara said Monday he talked to Daboll about moving off play-calling, but Daboll subsequently insisted (via the New York Daily News’ Pat Leonard) he broached the subject. When pressed as to who initiated that conversation, Daboll admitted it was perhaps Mara who did. While this seems an important detail, Daboll will be coaching for his job early in the 2025 season — regardless of which party brought this up.

Daboll could not coax quality play from Daniel Jones, despite he and Kafka doing so in 2022. Jones struggled during an injury-plagued 2023 and did not bounce back this season, leading to an in-season cut and a move to the Vikings’ practice squad. The Giants then went around Drew Lock to give Tommy DeVito the first crack at replacing Jones. Lock then took the wheel to close the season, offering inconsistent play down the stretch. The Giants finished 31st in scoring, but in Daboll’s (slight) defense, they were 30th in 2023. This came after a Saquon Barkley-dependent offense placed 15th in 2022, leading to a divisional-round appearance.

Changes on offense may not be all that comes out of a disastrous 3-14 season. Mara criticized Shane Bowen‘s defense when assessing the season, potentially calling the former Titans DC’s job status into question. The Giants did climb from 26th to 21st in total defense, despite not having Dexter Lawrence for a third of the season and missing Kayvon Thibodeaux for a sizable chunk in the middle. New York’s secondary struggled, however.

Quite frankly, I didn’t think our defense played very well this year at all,” Mara said, via the New York Post’s Ryan Dunleavy. “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.

Despite Hard Knocks‘ offseason effort showing Bowen being given a key voice in defensive personnel, Dunleavy reminds he was not the Giants’ first choice for the job. Bobby Babich and Dennard Wilson were the team’s initial preferences, Dunleavy adds.

The Bills promoted Babich — a former Daboll Buffalo coworker — to DC, while Wilson instead took the Titans’ DC gig. The Giants were one of three other teams to request a DC meeting with Babich, while Wilson — a former Eagles DBs coach — was one of three Ravens assistants to become a DC elsewhere in 2024. He met about the Giants’ job in mid-January; Big Blue did not hire Bowen until Feb. 5.

Monitoring Bowen’s status will be important for Giants fans over the next few days, as it would be difficult to expect the team to carry on as is after a 3-14 season. Nevertheless, Daboll will soon be the team’s longest-tenured HC since Tom Coughlin.

Giants’ GM Joe Schoen, HC Brian Daboll Not A “Package Deal”; Team Inclined To Retain Both?

JANUARY 5, 2025: In keeping with the reports that Schoen and Daboll are not a “package deal,” FOX Sports’ Jordan Schultz says that the Giants have put out exploratory feelers to see what options might be available to them if they keep one but fire the other. However, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk hears that both men will be retained, and sources that Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports has spoken to also believe that Schoen will keep his job. Those sources likewise feel it is more likely than not that Daboll is back in 2025, though that is less of a sure thing.

Both Florio and Jones note that Mara is unconvinced he could do better than Daboll if he were to go in a different direction. According to Ralph Vacchiano of FOX Sports, some believe that Mara will feel compelled to fire someone in light of how the 2024 season has gone, and Daboll would be the one to get the axe in that scenario (though Vacchiano also thinks Daboll will ultimately stay).

In any event, Mara and co-owner Steve Tisch will speak with Schoen and Daboll before making a decision, and the club may not make the final call on Black Monday. It could take another day or two before the GM and HC know their fates.

DECEMBER 29, 2024: Late last month, a report on the respective futures of Giants general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll indicated that both men were likely to retain their jobs for the 2025 season. However, our Sam Robinson noted at the time that owner John Mara’s history with such matters would suggest Schoen is safer than Daboll, and multiple outlets have confirmed that the GM and HC are not a “package deal.”

In other words, although Schoen and Daboll were both hired in January 2022 following their successful tenures with the Bills, Mara will evaluate them separately at the end of the season and is open to retaining one and firing the other, as Dianna Russini of The Athletic reports (subscription required). Per Russini, there are increased rumblings around the league that Daboll could receive his walking papers, while Schoen continues to believe his job is secure (just as he has throughout the year).

A source close to Mara did indicate that the owner – who said in October that he planned to give Schoen and Daboll another opportunity in 2025 – intends to stay true to his word. However, the fact that the Giants have not won a game since October 6 could obviously change things, and Russini says Mara will sit down with his top power brokers at season’s end, at which point he will presumably make his final decision.

Interestingly, Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of NFL.com use the same terminology as Russini, noting that Schoen and Daboll are not a package deal and could be facing different fates in several weeks’ time. Like Russini, the NFL.com duo hears that Mara does not want to make a change, and that he believes his 2022 hirees remain highly capable.

While any GM or HC change qualifies as a watershed event in a club’s timeline, the Giants could soon be facing an especially critical moment. As a result of New York’s current 10-game losing streak, it is poised to secure the No. 1 overall selection of the 2025 draft and, by extension, a franchise signal-caller. Mara will have to determine, among other things, whether Schoen is the right person to make the pick and whether Daboll is the right person to develop whichever player is selected. Given how the last two campaigns have unfolded, those will not be easy questions to answer.

Should the Giants lose to the Colts today, they will have gone an entire season without a home victory for the first time since 1974 (h/t Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News). They are also on pace for their worst overall record since 1966, when they finished 1-12-1 (h/t Rapoport and Pelissero).

In a recent poll, the majority of PFR readership expected Mara to ultimately part ways with both Schoen and Daboll, while roughly 22% of voters expected both men to be retained. About 17% predicted Mara will keep Schoen and can Daboll, and a scenario wherein Schoen is fired but Daboll retained was viewed as the least likely.