It’s not every day that a former coach who was fired for being hot garbage looks to help the team that let them go, but maybe Monday is that day.
The New York Giants have actually seen a bit of that happening this offseason. It first happened when former head coach Brian Daboll spoke to interested candidates in the Giants' job, giving rave reviews of the opportunity and quarterback Jaxson Dart. And then on Monday, it happened again... this time in a less obvious way with former defensive coordinator Shane Bowen.
ESPN's Todd Archer reported the news, stating the much-maligned former DC has an interview scheduled with the Dallas Cowboys, of all teams, for a potential defensive staff position. And that's going to have Giants fans rolling on the floor laughing:
Cowboys in the midst of interviews for their defensive staff with a number of candidates at all three levels. Per sources, two are former NY Giants DC Shane Bowen and Steelers OLB coach Denzel Martin (@Schultz_Report first on latter).
— Todd Archer (@toddarcher) January 27, 2026
It honestly makes you wonder if he's a double agent, playing the long game this whole time, and now he's about to sabotage the Cowboys from within. A guy can hope. Otherwise, what has Dallas seen over the past two years that would have them believe he's the answer to any of their defensive problems?
Shane Bowen to Cowboys would be comedy gold for Giants fans
Talk about an uninspiring hire. It doesn't get much better than this for Giants fans, knowing what Jerry Jones is about to sign the Cowboys up for. Bowen was the bane of Big Blue Nation's existence the past two years, and now he might be taking his talents to one of Big Blue's most hated rivals?
You cannot make this up.
The 39-year-old struggled mightily in his one-plus season in New York. Hired by Daboll in 2024 after the Wink Martindale experience, Bowen was tasked with helping turn the defense's fortunes around. He didn't. Instead, fans got a weekly reminder of just how in over his head he was.
The inability to close games, effort concerns, anemic pass-rush, poor gap discipline, secondary struggles, inability to force turnovers, head-scratching run defense, terrible game management, and scheme criticism are just a few of the core problems under Bowen's leadership. And now he gets to take all of that to Jerry's World.
This is not a personal attack on Bowen by any means, but the fact that Tennessee didn't keep him when his contract expired after the 2023 season, and then two years later, he was fired midseason after one of the worst runs as a DC in recent memory, should say something about his services.
Fortunately, it looks like the Cowboys might look past his flaws. Giants fans can only hope. Now armed with John Harbaugh and a competent coaching staff, maybe the G-Men will finally have a fighting chance against their NFC East foe.