Note to Giants GM Joe Schoen: You're 4-1 now, but stick to your plan for the future
New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen during training camp at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center on July 27, 2022. Credit: Brad Penner
Back when he was assembling this team Joe Schoen had one overarching philosophy. He did not want to dip into future assets to accommodate the needs of this year’s squad. His plan was to get the team’s salary cap situation under control and set the Giants up for long-term and sustained success that would almost certainly begin with a free agency splurge in March 2023 and the draft a few weeks after that.
Expectations for 2022 were kept low, patience was preached, and it was understood by all that the promise of a rebuild was still tied up awaiting the proper permits and zoning boards to give their go-ahead.
Well, things have changed.
The Giants have performed better than anyone could have imagined, including Schoen. They have won four of their first five games, including Sunday’s narrative-turning victory over the Packers, and if they win this week against the Ravens there is strong potential for them to head into their bye week with six or even seven Ws. They are contenders.
It’s easy to stay on a diet when the fridge is empty. Now that there are some goodies available that could possibly push these Giants toward the postseason, Schoen has to maintain the discipline he had no choice but to adhere to during the offseason.
This is the time of year when front-office phones begin ringing around the league. Three weeks until the trade deadline and every executive wants to have a grasp on what the market will look like, who might be available, and what the price tags could be. General managers will be making decisions that will change the fates of their franchises, just as they did last year. The Rams traded for Von Miller and it led them to a Super Bowl. At the same time, the Bills had a chance to acquire James Bradberry from the Giants. They passed. Think a Pro Bowl cornerback might have been able to help them in the final stages of that epic postseason loss to Kansas City?
The Giants won’t be sellers in this trade market mostly because they have little to offer. The only asset other teams might be sniffing around is Saquon Barkley. While trading him could certainly bring in a haul of picks that would be nice to have in April, it would destroy the morale and culture of the current team and possibly ripple for years.
The temptation will be there, however, to become buyers. In that role there are plenty of intriguing options for them. Robbie Anderson of the Panthers would give them a big-time target in the passing game, which has been absent all season. Robert Quinn of the Bears has been pushing for a trade out of Chicago since the start of the season. Imagine him harassing opposing quarterbacks down the stretch. The Giants made it through Sunday’s game against the Packers without a true starting-caliber cornerback on the field in the second half, but it certainly would be nice to not rely on Wink Martindale turning water into wine in the secondary each week.
Schoen was part of a front office that fell into such a trap with the Bills. As that team was starting to make noise as up-and-comers and creeping toward their first postseason appearance in nearly two decades in 2017, they traded two future picks for wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin. The Bills wound up making the playoffs but not because of the addition of the veteran who hurt his knee shortly after arriving. Before the 2018 season was over, Benjamin was released and the Bills missed out on two young players who might have helped them get back to the playoffs that year and become key parts of their current championship-level team.
Such scars will only serve as a reminder to Schoen this year as he avoids the lure of bettering these Giants at the expense of future teams.
At some point the Giants may be one move away from becoming a true title seeker. They appear to be on a trajectory toward what Schoen and Brian Daboll envisioned when they arrived here in January. When they get there it will be time for them to be aggressive and perhaps even start bankrolling the present no matter the mortgage rate down the road.
Heady as this first month has made it feel, the Giants aren’t there yet. Schoen needs to stick to the plan he drew up. They are ahead of schedule so far. Tinkering with it, even if it feels like something that would propel them further and faster ahead this season, would only slow down the overall process.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
