Joe Schoen’s level head has Giants in position to build

Giants general manager Joe Schoen could have bought into the hype and lunged at the carrot that was dangled in front of him.

Approaching the NFL trade deadline on Nov. 1, the Giants were 6-2 and in the thick of the hunt for the NFC East — which might have prompted more spontaneous GMs to make a splash and ride the wave of a surprising start. Many (including myself) had the Giants down for a five-or-six-win team all season; not to eclipse that mark by mid-October.

But Schoen clearly understood that his team was ahead of schedule based on the impact of first-year head coach Brian Daboll coupled with one of the easier schedules in the NFL this season. So with not a ton of cap space and a roster that has its fair share of holes, the Giants forged ahead with the group it had without giving up draft capital or taking on more money.

Nine wins and a playoff win in Minnesota certainly isn’t a bad way to start off the new regime, but Saturday night’s 38-7 drubbing in the NFC Divisional Round further showed the sizable shortcomings of the current roster.

The offensive line still needs some beefing up after the Eagles ran roughshod through its ranks with five sacks of Daniel Jones and eight QB hits.

Jones lacked legitimate receiving weapons all season — making his 2022-23 campaign all the more impressive — as the lack of reliable receivers clearly showed down the stretch. Isaiah Hodgins and Richie James, as inspiring as their stories might be, simply aren’t No. 1 and 2 receivers for an NFL team.

The defensive line lacks pass-rushing depth as they got to Jalen Hurts just once on Saturday night.

The inside-linebacking corps is ineffective, providing zero support against an Eagles ground game that rushed for 268 yards and three touchdowns.

The secondary could use some help, too. Hurts wasn’t at 100% and still completed 16-of-24 passes with a 112.4 QB rating thanks to spotty coverage and unimpressive attempts at open-field tackling.

All of this was obviously identified by Schoen even with that 6-2 record back on Oct. 31 — and that’s ultimately why he decided that the Giants had to stand pat.

Now with the offseason officially underway, Schoen has a projected $54.2 million to work with (per Over The Cap). That would be the third-most space amongst any team in the NFL. They also have 11 picks in the 2023 draft and all of their selections for 2024, as well.

It’s the perfect starting point for a team that must address numerous facets of the roster with the idea of building a more legitimate contender for the future.