Joe Schoen on the Hot Seat: Can the Giants GM Survive Another Losing Season?

Joe Schoen's Hot Seat: Time's Ticking in New York for the Giants GM

The Big Apple spotlight is no joke—just ask New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen, who's now entering year five of a job that started off as a full-blown rebuild and is quickly turning into a pressure cooker.

When Schoen took over the Giants' front office, the situation was, well... a dumpster fire. Thanks to the reckless mismanagement of previous GMs Dave Gettleman and Jerry Reese, Schoen inherited a broken roster and a salary cap disaster that looked like it would take several seasons just to untangle. It was a textbook nightmare scenario.

🎯 Fast-forward four seasons later, and yes, Schoen's managed to do what many thought was impossible: clean house, manage the cap, and pump some youth and energy into the team. But here's the kicker—the wins haven’t followed. Not yet.

CBS Sports analyst Cody Benjamin didn’t hold back in a recent breakdown. He named Joe Schoen one of the NFL's "most concerning general managers", writing that “Schoen has run a perpetual rebuild in New York.”

That line cuts deep, but unfortunately, it's not inaccurate. Even though Schoen's done plenty of reshuffling and smart cap management, results on the field just haven’t matched the effort behind the scenes. It’s like tuning up a classic car only to watch it stall on the freeway.

📉 Take a closer look at some of the draft decisions. In the 2022 NFL Draft, the Giants picked up edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux out of Oregon and offensive tackle Evan Neal from Alabama—both in the top seven. Thibodeaux showed promise, no doubt, but it wasn’t enough. Schoen felt the need to double down on pass rushers, bringing in stars like Brian Burns and exciting young linebacker Abdul Carter. The message was clear: Thibodeaux needs to fight for his snaps.

And Evan Neal? That one stings. Neal has struggled massively at tackle, particularly in pass protection. So much so that the Giants brought in veteran free agents to replace him, and eventually slid him inside to guard—a classic case of trying to salvage a high pick. You can’t blame them for trying, but you can definitely feel the panic in the decision.

Then there’s the 2023 first-rounder, cornerback Deonte Banks out of Maryland. His rookie season was solid, but year two was a nosedive. The drop in performance left the Giants without a true CB1, forcing the front office to dip back into the free-agent pool and pay up for Paulson Adebo this offseason just to stabilize the secondary.

📌 Let’s pause and reflect for a second. Here’s a guy who walked into a hopeless situation and made all the right moves structurally. He cleaned up a horrendous cap, added high-upside rookies, and tried to build through the draft. But when you’re constantly correcting your previous corrections, the progress starts to feel like a treadmill.

You can’t ignore one of the more intriguing shake-ups this offseason: the quarterback situation. After two years of playing roulette with injuries and inconsistent quarterback play, Schoen finally seems to be throwing darts—literally and figuratively—at fixing the QB conundrum.

🎯 He brought in veteran presence with Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston, both looking to rejuvenate their careers and maybe teach a thing or two along the way. But the real eye-opener was the draft-day move to pick up Jaxson Dart out of Ole Miss in the first round. That one got the fans buzzing.

Dart is athletic, has a big arm, and he’s got that swagger the Giants have sorely missed under center. If Schoen hit on Dart, it might just be the move that saves his job. Big if, though.

There’s no denying that the rebuilding phase had to happen. Schoen was basically handed a team held together with duct tape and hope. But the NFL is a results business, and moral victories don’t fill MetLife Stadium or get you extensions.

💥 It’s not like he hasn’t taken risks. Trading for Brian Burns was bold. Letting go of some of his earlier draft selections—or at least demoting them—shows a level of self-awareness most GMs lack. But that also highlights the frustrating cycle of not getting it right the first time.

And fans are getting antsy. Four seasons in, with no meaningful playoff success to show for it, Schoen is skating on thin ice. The patience that comes with a total rebuild has a shelf life, and the expiration date is coming up fast.

🔑 If we’re being honest, the biggest question is simple: Can Schoen finally flip this thing into a legitimate playoff-caliber roster? Because right now, it still looks like a team stuck in identity crisis mode. There’s promise, there’s potential—but there’s also chaos, inconsistency, and second-guessing.

The 2025 season will be telling. With the roster getting an overhaul yet again, expectations are through the roof. Fans are demanding wins, ownership is watching closely, and Schoen's seat? Oh, it’s definitely warm.

Here’s what needs to happen for him to stick around:

✅ Key Moves Schoen Must Nail:

• Jaxson Dart must show flashes of being the long-term QB solution—even if he’s not starting Week 1.

• Evan Neal needs to find a home at guard—or he might be out of New York.

• Deonte Banks must bounce back and prove he’s CB1 material again.

• Brian Burns and Abdul Carter have to deliver consistent QB pressure.

• And most importantly? The team has to win games.

No more moral victories. No more “we’re getting there” press conferences. Giants fans want a winning product now, not next year. And if Joe Schoen can’t give it to them in 2025, there’s a very real chance someone else will be tasked with finishing what he started.