The New York Giants search for a general manager is complete after officially announcing the hiring of Buffalo Bills assistant GM Joe Schoen as their guy.
One of the immediate names that were speculated, Schoen has been an integral part of building the Bills into a legitimate Super Bowl contender. His side is fresh off two straight AFC East titles and will face the Kansas City Chiefs in the Divisional Round on Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium.
He won’t see the end of their run, however, as he’ll immediately begin overseeing the search for a new head coach after Joe Judge was dismissed.
“It is an honor to accept the position of general manager of the New York Giants,” Schoen said. “Now, the work begins. My immediate focus is to hire a head coach, with who I will work in lockstep with to create a collaborative environment for our football operations. We will cast a wide net, it can be former head coaches, first-time head coaches but, more importantly, it has to be a person who possesses the ability to lead an organization and the ability to motivate and develop players.
“On the personnel side, we will begin to evaluate our roster and prepare for the draft and free agency. Our goal is to build a roster that will be competitive, have depth, and most importantly, win football games.”
Schoen has been at this position with the Bills for over five seasons after working as the director of player personnel for the Miami Dolphins.
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He was one of three finalists for the Giants’ GM gig alongside San Francisco 49ers assistant GM Adam Peters and Kansas City Chiefs executive director of player personnel, Ryan Poles.
The Giants’ search for a new GM, led by co-owner John Mara, took less than two weeks after the announcement that former GM Dave Gettleman had retired. They spoke to as many as nine potential candidates in their first round of interviews last week before conducting a second and final round in recent days.
“We are pleased and proud to name Joe as our general manager,” Mara said. “Throughout our search, Joe impressed us with his ability to communicate a progressive and comprehensive vision for our team. His philosophy and collaborative approach to building a roster and coaching staff align with what we were looking for in a general manager.”
