So much for the idea that the John Harbaugh and Joe Schoen partnership would only last one year.
The New York Giants caught the football world off guard on Thursday, announcing an extension for their fifth-year general manager.
Speculation had mounted since Harbaugh’s arrival in January that he’d eventually want to bring in his own man. Instead, the Harbaugh and Schoen duo are clearly aligned, and Giants fans should be ecstatic.
Joe Schoen’s extension bodes well for John Harbaugh and the Giants
Sometimes, there’s no need to overthink the how and why regarding a contract extension.
If Harbaugh didn’t want to move forward with Schoen, then the Giants would not have extended him ahead of Week 1.
After nearly 20 seasons as a head coach, Giants fans should trust Harbaugh’s judgment.
"We ended up on the same page,” Harbaugh said of his offseason planning with Schoen. “We didn't always agree, but we understood where we were coming from.”
Harbaugh isn’t Bill Belichick, who ruled the Patriots with an iron fist. Such an approach only goes so far when you don’t have Tom Brady at quarterback. However, Belichick’s stubbornness failed him in his final years in New England, and the early results at North Carolina aren’t exactly promising.
Belichick is relevant here because he would have either pushed Schoen out or made him a puppet figure.
Harbaugh, though, has proven he can collaborate with the lead football executive.
John Harbaugh and Joe Schoen are going all-in together
The Ravens consistently built playoff-contending rosters under Harbaugh and Ozzie Newsome, and that remained the case when Eric DeCosta replaced Newsome in 2019.
"We were able to get on the same page right off the bat in terms of what we were looking for, in terms of team building, trying to find the right type of guys that fit our scheme and our system," Schoen said at a town hall earlier this week.
“We were aligned from Day 1,” Schoen continued. “So, it's been great. It has been a really good offseason for us."
No one is denying that Harbaugh has plenty of power with the Giants, and he might even have the final say over Schoen in many areas.
But if Harbaugh didn’t want Schoen around, then he’d have set things up so he was the head coach and de facto general manager by next season.
Now, Schoen just needs to do what DeCosta has yet to do in Baltimore: win a Super Bowl as the top football executive.
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