New York Giants fans have a lot of reason to be optimistic now that Brian Daboll is gone, but the job as far from finished. As long as Big Blue still employs Joe Schoen as their general manager, all of that optimism will be limited because Schoen seems hell-bent on running a historic NFL franchise into the ground.
After John Mara opted not to fire Daboll and Schoen together, the decision was met with outrage. The fourth-year general manager hasn't led the Giants to any semblance of success since his first season, and the fact he thinks he's done a good job constructing this roster is textbook delusion.
Schoen said several things that made Giants fans roll their eyes during his Tuesday afternoon press conference, but patting yourself on the back for calling the shots for a 2-11 team is not the flex he thinks. And he's only digging his grave even deeper with a fanbase who has already turned on him.
Joe Schoen has no business running the Giants any longer
It feels like these words were just Schoen trying to prop himself up and do anything to save his fate. He knows he should be as good as gone when the season ends, so this presser almost felt like he was publicly lobbying to Mara not to get rid of him, even though he should've been gone with Daboll.
He has constructed a solid nucleus, but Schoen himself hasn't impressed. Jaxson Dart was Daboll's quarterback of choice (he wanted Cam Ward), Abdul Carter has been a walking PR nightmare, and young phenoms Malik Nabers and Cam Skattebo will miss the remainder of the season due to injury.
The Brian Burns trade was undoubtedly his best move as GM, but the bad moves have been more frequent than the good ones. He drafted busts like Evan Neal, Jalin Hyatt, and Deonte Banks with premium draft capital, while his Jevon Holland and Paulson Adebo signings haven't fared any better.
As much as the 46-year-old was wrong in his assessment, he was also correct to an extent. The Giants do have a strong young core in place, which makes the coaching vacancy extremely attractive for several candidates, but the fact he's running the coaching search isn't very encouraging.
If his track record in talent evaluation is any indication, I have no faith in Schoen to hire the right head coach. This whole nightmare has made it abundantly clear that a full reset is what the G-Men truly need is a new GM and a new head coach calling the shots.