The truth about Giants ownership bringing back GM Joe Schoen — and whether New York fans should expect real progress in 2026
Are the New York Giants making the right choice by bringing back Joe Schoen as their general manager?
The New York Giants’ 2025 season is now officially over. Now they look ahead to determining which moves are needed for leadership roles. Since firing head coach Brian Daboll, many fans have prayed that the franchise would also fire general manager Joe Schoen.
Today, per multiple Giants media members and an official team statement, Schoen will return and handle the search for their next head coach.
Has Joe Schoen earned the right to return?
Per SNY’s Connor Hughes, the Giants’ ownership believes that Schoen has built a young core that can lead to on-field success. It raises the question of whether this is a sound approach or a sunk-cost fallacy.
The most recent and relevant example of a GM completely turning around a team after a brutal start is Ryan Poles, the Chicago Bears’ general manager. Before hiring Ben Johnson, the Bears had an abysmal 15-36 record. This season, they won the NFC North and became one of the NFL’s best young teams.
While the Bears have served as a beacon of inspiration for the Giants, building around their promising young quarterback with the right head coach, that doesn’t mean it will work in New York. In Schoen’s four years, the Giants are 22-45-1. Most importantly, there’s been a regression since the team reached the playoffs in his first year with a roster that he did not build.
Additionally, if the intention was to let Schoen continue to build the team in his vision and that Daboll was the one holding him back, it calls into question last season’s offseason logic. Why would the team bring back Daboll for another year and delay this process? Having a coach heading into year two in 2026 is far more advantageous than being in year one.
Lastly, the young core of the franchise values isn’t as impactful as they’re making it out to be. Jaxson Dart, Abdul Carter, and Malik Nabers are an up-and-coming core with all three having the potential to be top 10 players at their respective positions. Additionally, Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux both proved to be high-impact starters.
However, Schoen’s poor drafting has depleted the roster at numerous positions. The Giants’ cornerback, linebacker, and wide receiver rooms are some of the worst in the NFL. Misses on guys like Deonte Banks and Evan Neal have set the team back. His track record as a roster builder is too volatile to let him see this through.
Ultimately, the unanswered question that comes from this is how long Schoen gets, depending on next year’s results. What constitutes a season worth giving him a shot to return? Is nearly missing the playoffs going to be the participation trophy, or will they hold him to high expectations? The ownership must answer that to keep the fan base from losing all faith heading into 2026.
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