Joe Schoen: Genius or Soon to Be Fired?
Photo Credit: USA TODAY
General Manager of the New York Giants, Joe Schoen, was talked about a lot over the course of the NFL offseason. With his decision making process during free agency being contrary to popular belief of other NFL GMs, many think that this will wind up being his last season as the GM of the Giants. So what did he do to make the majority of the NFL world think this way?
For starters, everyone got an inside look at what he was doing during free agency and the draft when the show “Hard Knocks: Offseason with the New York Giants” debuted on HBO this past July. The audience saw Schoen not offer contracts to Saquon Barkley and Xavier McKinney. This came off the heels of a season where Barkley had 1,242 total yards and 10 touchdowns in just 14 games, while McKinney totaled 116 tackles, and snagged three interceptions while playing safety for the team.
Normally, this would be a no-brainer for most GMs, as many would pay two of the most important players to their squad, but Schoen went in a different direction. He took the money that would’ve potentially gone to Barkley and McKinney, and invested it into three players. Brian Burns, star edge rusher from the Carolina Panthers, was brought in via two draft picks and was immediately given a five-year, $141 million contract by New York. Jermaine Eluemunor of the Las Vegas Raiders got a two-year, $14 million deal from Schoen, while another lineman, Jon Runyan of the Green Bay Packers, got a three-year, $30 million deal.
Those were much needed upgrades especially considering that the Giants offensive line gave up 85 sacks the season prior (the second most in NFL history). The team also wanted to improve their defensive line which already consisted of Dexter Lawrence and Kayvon Thibodeaux; two phenomenal players. Schoen was able to do this because he didn’t get pulled into the “trap” of paying “non -premium positions”, a title he used to describe the running backs and safeties.
During “Hard Knocks: Offseason with the New York Giants” the audience also saw a debacle with how the Giants were going to prepare for the draft. It seemed as though Schoen wanted to trade up for a top quarterback, but was unable to get any of the top three teams (Bears, Commanders, Patriots) to budge. Of course the Giants ended up going with wide receiver Malik Nabers, who is already an elite player for the Giants, but this is still worth mentioning; mostly because Schoen had just given his quarterback, Daniel Jones, an $82 million guaranteed contract the year before.
Photo Credit: USA TODAY
18 months later and the Jones contract looks like a mistake on Schoen’s part. Now with the NFL regular season being underway, it looks as though Schoen has made a lot of mistakes as of late; or maybe not.
For starters, Saquon Barkley is a star on the Philadelphia Eagles, which is to be expected considering how much they paid him. With over 500 total yards and five touchdowns in his first four games, Barkley looks like a prime candidate for the Offensive Player of the Year Award. The other guy that Schoen didn’t pay this offseason, Xavier McKinney, is having more or less the same season for the Green Bay Packers. In his first four games on his new team, he leads the league in interceptions with four. He is the first player to record an interception in each of his first four games with the team, in Packers franchise history. He is quietly the front runner to win the Defensive Player of the Year Award.
Photo Credit: Philadelphia Eagles
This goes even further than the two guys that Schoen didn’t pay this offseason, as Julian Love and Leonard Williams are having the best season of their careers while playing for the Seattle Seahawks. Love left in the previous offseason, while the Giants traded away Williams at the trade deadline after Week 8 of last season.
However, in all credit to Schoen, the Giants offensive line has taken leaps and bounds forward with their play. In fact, they are in the top half of the league in pass blocking success rate, which they were dead last in the season before. Burns is also making an impact on the defensive side of the ball for the Giants. While the stats suggest that he only has one sack through the first four games, his win rate at the line is opening up opportunities for both Dexter Lawrence and Kayvon Thibodeaux. Together, those three guys have been game wreckers.
So what is the correct way of looking at Schoen? Should his success as a GM be based on the production of players that he refused to pay, now on different teams? Or should it based on what he did to upgrade his team, with assets who are currently playing for the Giants?
It is still extremely early in the scope of the NFL regular season, so nobody knows for sure what will happen in the later portion of this year. Regardless, multiple NFL insiders and reporters already think they know the answer to how good of a job Schoen is doing as the Giants GM. Hearing the words of Ralph Vacchiano of Fox Sports, Giants fans should feel a sense of relief.
“Joe Schoen seems relatively safe from a firing and Mara (Owner of the New York Giants) likes his organizational structure.”
This quote alone is pretty telling when discussing if Schoen is a genius or a fool with how he approaches this job.