The Daniel Jones experiment had failed. He played poorly in 2023 before suffering a neck injury and a torn ACL. The ball was handed over to Tyrod Taylor and Tommy DeVito and they were only moderately better.
Schoen banked on re-signing Taylor but completely misread the room. The veteran jetted across town (no pun intended) and that left the GM scrambling. Schoen ended up settling on Drew Lock as the new backup to Jones, who the Giants were briefly stuck with thanks to the bad contract (he was released after the bye week).
Also in free agency, the Giants allowed Barkley to sign with the Philadelphia Eagles over roughly $2 million and didn’t see the value in re-signing McKinney, who joined the Green Bay Packers.
Offensive lineman Ben Bredeson and defensive lineman A’Shawn Robinson also took off. The loss of Robinson proved to be much more significant than Schoen ever imagined even though it was a clear misstep that everyone saw but him.
To backfill the roster, Schoen went out and signed offensive linemen Jon Runyan Jr., Jermaine Eluemunor, Austin Schlottmann and Greg Van Roten, running back Devin Singletary, and a few others on one-year deals.
While some of those signings have worked out (Eluemunor most notably), others did not. Cornerbacks Jalen Mills and Tre Herndon, tight end Jack Stoll, wide receivers Myles Boykin and Allen Robinson, safety Elijah Riley, and linebacker Curtis Bolton are among the deals that didn’t move the needle or were quickly gotten rid of.
But then came Schoen’s best moment to date — the 2024 NFL draft.
After more failures than successes over his two-plus years, Schoen hit a home run in the draft and that includes the brilliant trade to acquire linebacker Brian Burns.
In addition to landing Burns, Schoen went ahead to draft wide receiver Malik Nabers, safety Tyler Nubin, cornerback Andry Phillips, tight end Theo Johnson, running back Tyrone Tracy Jr., and linebacker Darius Muasua.
Every single one of those players was impactful in 2024 and every single one has a notable role ahead of them. Was it a masterclass? Time will tell but what Schoen did with those draft assets is why he’ll likely keep his job come Black Monday.
Unfortunately, back on the field, injuries plagued the team — something Schoen vowed to fix. The roster was ravaged and the GM simply didn’t invest enough in depth to overcome those issues. As a result, the product on the field continued to deteriorate.
Entering Week 18, the Giants are 3-13 on the season, 1-8 at home, winless within the NFC East (one game remaining), and suffered through a franchise-worst 10-game losing streak. A miracle win against the Indianapolis Colts this past Sunday is the only thing that saved this team from its worst-ever season.
