In the midst of another losing season in New York, Giants owner John Mara gave a vote of confidence in both head coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen on Wednesday night.
He refused to offer the same guarantee to quarterback Daniel Jones.
Mara addressed Daboll and Schoen in a screening of a film in honor of his late father and former Giants owner, Wellington Mara. He said at the event that he has no intention of laying off either man during the season and also hopes both jobs are secure during the offseason.
“Obviously we’re all very disappointed with where we are right now,” Mara said. according to the New York Daily News. “But I will say one thing: We are not making any changes this season. And I don’t anticipate making any changes in the offseason either.”
By Judy Battista of NFL.comMara he refused to talk about Jones or provide a similar vote of confidence for his quarterback.
Will Daboll and Schoen survive another losing season?
The Giants are off to a 2-5 start and offer little hope of improving. They have the 28th-ranked offense in the league and just lost 28-3 at home to the division rival Philadelphia Eagles.
Barring an unexpected infusion of talent on offense, especially at the quarterback position, there is little reason to believe changes at the head coach and general manager would do anything to alter the trajectory of this season.
That’s not to say the Giants wouldn’t be better off in the long run with a re-sign. Daboll and Schoen are each in their third seasons at the helm since Schoen hired Daboll in one of his first acts as general manager in 2022. There is no insignificant history at play here.
But the Giants have been in a perpetual state of renewal 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 Gettleman retire rather than face a formal firing.
In that eight-year span, the Giants have produced six losing seasons. They seem destined for a seventh in 2024. Mara has overseen everything. And he’s surely tired of the instability, which would speak to the votes of confidence he provided Wednesday night.
But he’s probably also more tired of losing. and the provided a similar vote of confidence for McAdoo in 2017, three weeks before firing him with four games left on the schedule. So let’s 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 become an effective NFL quarterback. The Giants made the mistake of extending his contract in 2023 and now everyone is dealing with the consequences.
Daboll benched Jones late in Sunday’s loss to the Eagles. After the game he said he was simply trying to “create a spark” and that the benching was not permanent. But it’s impossible to ignore the writing on the wall.
Barring a surprising trade, it’s hard to imagine a situation in which Mara brings back Daboll, Schoen and Jones next season. And he made it clear what he thinks about Daboll and Schoen.
