When former Buffalo Bills assistant general manager Joe Schoen took over as GM of the New York Giants a year ago, he was faced with the unenviable task of straightening out a bloated, underachieving roster that had lost 10 or more games five years in a row.
Schoen also had hardly a morsel of salary cap space to work with. In fact, he had to reduce the cap by nearly $40 million just to get the Giants in a position to operate for the upcoming season.
He didn’t know what Year 1 was going to bring. Everything and everyone was new to him. He had to introduce himself to his staff and then hope they bought into his vision.
“I was drinking out of a fire hose last year,” Schoen told Paul Schwartz of the New York Post.
This year, however, Schoen’s situation is a lot different. His choice for head coach, former Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, as well as many other moves, has paid off in spades. The Giants finished the season 10-8-1 and won their first playoff game since Super Bowl XLVI in 2012.
“I feel much better this year than I did last year,” Schoen said. “Just having the staff in place, Dabes and I are aligned, the defensive staff and the personnel staffs aligned, the offensive staff is aligned with the personnel staff, we’re on the same page in terms of what we’re looking for in the process moving forward. We’ve now been through a year cycle, we’ve done everything together for 365 days and everyone knows the expectations. Yeah, I think we’re in much better shape this year.”
The Giants have $44 million in available cap space to work with this spring, a far cry from the mess Schoen inherited a year ago. He still will have work to do, however.
Quarterback Daniel Jones and star running back Saquon Barkley are both weeks away from becoming unrestricted free agents. Hard decisions could be ahead for Schoen.
The Giants currently have nine selections in the upcoming NFL draft. That number could grow to as many as 11 if the league awards them compensatory picks as experts are projecting.
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