Giants are 'open for business,' and that means everyone (well, almost everyone) is available
Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley of the Giants walk off the field after a game against the Washington Football Team at MetLife Stadium on Jan. 9. Credit: Jim McIsaac
INDIANAPOLIS — There was no pronouncement from the podium, no intentional shift in the conversation by Joe Schoen to deliver the line that will dominate his first year as the Giants’ general manager. But make no mistake, Schoen’s use of the words "open for business" was no accident, nor did it take long for him to use the phrase to describe his mindset as the NFL prepares to begin free agency and the draft process.
The first instance came in a direct question about whether Schoen would consider trading any of his current players — running back Saquon Barkley was mentioned specifically — and Schoen told reporters assembled Tuesday at the Combine that he was indeed "open for business" when it comes to players on the roster or draft picks the Giants own — including the Nos. 5 and 7 selections.
It’s on, people.
And that includes the centerpiece player from the ill-fated Dave Gettleman era. Gettleman staked his reputation on taking Barkley with the No. 2 overall pick in 2018, ignoring conventional wisdom that says the running back position is no longer what it once was and that it is all about getting the right quarterback. Gettleman doubled down on his roster-building process by taking Duke quarterback Daniel Jones with the sixth overall pick a year later, in hopes he had found the other missing piece.
Not by a long shot.
Gettleman presided over a disastrous 19-46 four-year run that concluded in January with his retirement, which would surely have been a firing if he didn’t have the good sense to leave on his own. The Giants wiped the slate clean, firing Joe Judge and setting the stage for Schoen and new coach Brian Daboll, the former Bills offensive coordinator who has more than two decades’ worth of experience as an NFL and college assistant.
It is neither a surprise nor a mistake for Schoen to chart a course correction because the Giants ended their 2021 season as the NFL’s worst team. There ought to be no allegiance to virtually anyone on this roster, up to and including the most high-profile names in Barkley and Jones, although the likelihood is that Jones will at least get the 2022 season to prove himself to the new brain trust.
Not only did the Giants stink, but Gettleman left behind a salary-cap nightmare that Schoen now has to navigate. He will need to shed contracts, which means that Barkley, who hasn’t been the same since a splendid rookie season due to injuries, is a potential trade piece. When you’re rebuilding like the Giants are, what’s the point of keeping a fifth-year running back who has missed games three straight years because of ankle and knee problems?
It makes for a potentially awkward scenario for Jones, who needs talent around him to prove his worth but will undoubtedly be playing alongside a revamped cast and thus be vulnerable to the same deficiencies he showed in his two seasons under Judge. And Schoen and Daboll acknowledge that they’ve already begun close scrutiny of this year’s quarterback class, even if it is a collectively underwhelming group highlighted by Kenny Pickett of Pittsburgh and Liberty’s Malik Willis.
Four years after the Giants passed on Josh Allen to take Barkley, Schoen and Daboll now need to find their own version of Allen after helping to develop the star quarterback in Buffalo since 2018. They won’t even commit to a fifth-year option for Jones next year, meaning this is truly a make-or-break situation for Jones. Again.
Daboll will have to be nimble in presiding over a roster that is sure to be overhauled in a significant way and simply cannot be expected to be playoff-worthy in 2022.
"I’d say being in the league for 20-plus years, nothing surprises you," Daboll said of the impending retooling. "There’s things that happen in the offseason as a position coach, as a coordinator and now a head coach that you have to learn how to deal with. If there’s a decision that needs to be made in the offseason, based on salary cap or whatever that may be, whoever we have, we’ll be excited to have."
How does he view his current roster?
"There’s some guys to work with," he said of a team that went 4-13 last year.
In other words, there isn’t much there.
It’s now Schoen’s turn to try and succeed where Gettleman failed. The Giants were a cataclysmic failure on his watch, and Schoen is faced with a herculean task in building what he hopes is a Super Bowl-worthy team.
He begins that process with the mantra he used early and often on Tuesday.
"We’re open for business."
Let the roster purge begin.
Bob Glauber retired in 2022 after covering the NFL for nearly 40 years. He was selected in 2021 for the Bill Nunn Career Achievement Award by the Pro Football Writers of America, and is a three-time winner of the New York State Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. President of the PFWA for the 2018-20 seasons, he is the author of “The Forgotten First” and “Guts and Genius.”
