New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen refuses to give up on quarterback Daniel Jones, and rips into the offensive line he built in 2023 instead.
Philadelphia Eagles v New York Giants / Sarah Stier/GettyImages
The New York Giants offensive line was a disaster during the 2023 season. The team allowed a whopping 85 sacks during the regular season, second-most in league history. That was 20 more sacks than the next closest team — the Washington Commanders — allowed in 2023.
The porous protection made it difficult for quarterback Daniel Jones to find success and, eventually, it made it difficult for him to stay on the field. Jones suffered a neck injury in Week 5, then returned in Week 9, only to immediately tear his ACL.
HBO’s “Hard Knocks” series, which is covering the Giants this offseason, provided some insight into general manager Joe Schoen’s perspective on the team.
Joe Schoen says even Patrick Mahomes can’t win with 2023 Giants offensive line
In Tuesday’s premiere episode, Schoen stressed the importance of protecting Jones from injury, while noting that he’s not “giving up” on the starting quarterback with three years left on his contract.
Then, Schoen tore into his offensive line, suggesting that even Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes would struggle to find success with the Giants’ protection in 2023.
“The reality is, three serious injuries in two years,” Schoen said. “We need to protect ourselves. He didn’t have much of a chance this year. That’s legit. The core guys that were gonna play together played 60 snaps together. Miami, we got three f***ing practice squad guys playing for us. You could have Pat Mahomes, and he can’t f***ing win behind that.”
Andrew Thomas, Evan Neal, and John Michael Schmitz will return to the lineup this season. The Giants also brought in a slew of offensive lineman, such as Jon Runyan Jr., Jermaine Eluemunor, and Aaron Stinnie.
“I’m not giving up on [Jones],” Schoen said. “He’s under contract for three more years. Best predictor of the future is the past.”
If the past is any indication, Schoen is bound to build a losing roster once again. Regardless of injuries, the sieve-like offensive line that Schoen ripped into was one that he hand-picked himself. Then, instead of selecting an offensive lineman with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, Schoen opted to take a wide receiver instead.
During the 2023 offseason, Schoen made the controversial decision to sign Jones to a four-year, $160 million contract extension. The team received a lot of criticism for not prioritizing the contract of star running back Saquon Barkley. Even Giants edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux expressed his disapproval.
Rather than admitting that Jones’ exorbitant contract was a mistake, Schoen used it as a justification this offseason to not pay Barkley. The third-year general manager claimed that he’s not paying Jones an average annual salary of $40 million “to hand the ball off to a $12 million back.”
Schoen wanted to let Barkley test the market and then match any offer he received. He believed Barkley wouldn’t receive any significant offers on the open market, even when Giants director of pro scouting Chris Rossetti predicted that the Philadelphia Eagles could sign Barkley. Instead, Schoen ignored his colleague’s advice and opted to find out the hard way. Now, Schoen’s Giants will have to face Barkley twice a year — and the former Giants running back will be behind a much better offensive line than he has ever had before.