Before the New York Giants hired John Harbaugh, there was a question of whether or not he would be comfortable stepping into an organization with a general manager already in place.
It didn’t stop the team from landing Harbaugh as their head coach, but questions persist about his partnership with the general manager.
Joe Schoen, the leader of the Giants’ front office since 2022, has had an up-and-down tenure in New York.
His teams have accumulated a 22-45-1 record, and while he has made some good personnel decisions, he’s been hit-or-miss at best.
It’s why no one batted an eye when Harbaugh brought in Dawn Aponte as Senior Vice President of Football Operations and Strategy when he was hired, effectively demoting Schoen and minimizing his responsibilities as general manager.
This deep into the NFL offseason, it seems like Schoen is likely to play out the final year of his contract and serve the Giants for the rest of 2026.
But according to the New York Daily News’ Pat Leonhard, there have been rumblings about Schoen’s job security.
Pat Leonhard Suggests Joe Schoen Could Be Fired This Week
On a post-draft segment on CBS New York, Leonhard, the New York Giants insider, revealed that Schoen’s days in New York could be numbered, even after receiving positive reviews on the most recent draft class.
“This has been on kind of the back burner because of the excitement of the players that the Giants are going to be addressing and adding and stacking to John Harbaugh’s new team. But you talk to people in the league, it feels like anything’s on the board right now, there are people in the NFL who think Joe Schoen could be fired this week,” Leonard said.
– Giants beat writer Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News
“There are people who think that, based on the positive returns publicly of this draft that maybe he sticks around, but John Harbaugh moves on after the season because this is Joe Schoen’s final year of his current contract.”
It’s hard to deny that the Giants had an exciting draft.
They were able to land Ohio State linebacker Arvell Reese at No. 5 overall, a prospect who was considered by some analysts to be the best defensive player in the entire class.
At No. 10, they got arguably the top offensive line prospect in Miami’s Francis Mauigoa, an instant starter at guard and potentially a long-term option at right tackle when Jermaine Eluemunor calls it quits.
At the top of the second round, they landed Tennessee’s Colton Hood, another possible Day 1 starter and one of the draft’s top cornerbacks.
Whether you can give all the credit to Schoen is the question. Surely, Harbaugh had a hand in New York’s draft class. He sits at the top of the organization’s power structure, but someone had to do the scouting.
If Schoen is going to be fired, what would the reasons be?
Why Would the Giants Fire Joe Schoen Now?
As Leonard pointed out in his TV spot, there are several reasons why the New York Giants would part ways, even after letting him assist in free agency and the draft.
For starters, he received horrible grades from the NFL Players Association surveys, earning a “D+” from his players, the worst mark given to any general manager across the league.
His record also speaks for itself. It’s hard to justify keeping a general manager whose teams have lost more than double the number of games they’ve won since taking the reins of the Giants.
But arguably the biggest grievance would be the Dexter Lawrence situation. Yes, the contract dispute came to a head this offseason, but it’s a situation that Schoen let fester over the last few years. The standoff could have been settled a year ago with a new contract.
It’s not hard to imagine Harbaugh wanting his own hand-picked general manager to help him run the Giants, but whether or not he fires Schoen this week remains to be seen.
One thing is for sure: it wouldn’t be the first time in New York football history that a general manager was let go after running free agency and the draft.
Giants Insider Suggests Joe Schoen’s Days in New York Could Be Numbered