In the midst of another losing campaign in New York, Giants owner John Mara gave a vote of confidence to both head coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen on Wednesday night.
He declined to give the same guarantee to quarterback Daniel Jones.
Mara spoke to Daboll and Schoen during a screening of a film honoring his late father and former Giants owner Wellington Mara. He said at the event that not only does he not plan to lay off this season. He expects both of their jobs to be safe even in the offseason.
“Obviously, we’re all very disappointed with where we are right now,” Mara told the New York Daily News. “But I’m going to say one thing: We’re not making any changes this season. And I don’t expect any changes to happen this offseason either.”
According to NFL.com’s Judy Battista, Mara declined to discuss Jones or give a similar show of confidence to his quarterback.
Will Daboll and Schoen actually survive another losing season?
The Giants are off to a 2-5 start and offer little hope for improvement. They boast a 28th-ranked ranking in the league and are fresh off a 28-3 loss at home to the division rival Philadelphia Eagles.
Barring an unexpected infusion of talent into the offense – particularly at quarterback – there is little reason to believe changes at the head coach and general manager would do anything to change the trajectory of this season.
That’s not to say the Giants wouldn’t be better off in the long run with an overhaul. Daboll and Schoen are each in their third season at the helm since Schoen hired Daboll in one of his first acts as general manager in 2022. There’s not an insignificant track record here.
But the Giants have been in constant turmoil since Tom Coughlin retired after the 2015 season. Since then, they have hired and fired head coaches Ben McAdoo, Pat Shurmur and Joe Judge. In the front office, they fired general manager Jerry Reese and saw Dave Gettlemen retire rather than be formally fired.
In that eight-year span, the Giant has produced six losing seasons. They seem destined for a seventh place in 2024. Mara has overseen everything. And he is certainly tired of the instability, which would undermine the votes of confidence he gave on Wednesday evening.
But he is certainly also more tired of losing. And he provided a similar show of confidence for McAdoo in 2017, three weeks before sacking him with four games remaining. So take Wednesday’s comments with a grain of salt.
What about Daniel Jones?
Six seasons into his career, there is no reason to believe Jones will develop into an effective NFL quarterback. The Giants made the mistake of extending his contract in 2023, and everyone is now dealing with the consequences.
Daboll benched Jones at the end of Sunday’s loss to the Eagles. He said after the game that he simply wanted to “create a spark” and that the benching was not permanent. But the writing on the wall is impossible to ignore.
Barring a stunning turnaround, it’s hard to imagine Mara bringing back Daboll, Schoen and Jones next season. And he has made his thoughts clear about Daboll and Schoen.
