Five Questions (Each) for Giants GM Joe Schoen and HC Brian Daboll

Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll are scheduled to meet the media Tuesday afternoon as the NFL scouting combine gets underway in Indianapolis.

Author:
Patricia Traina
Publish date:
Mar 1, 2022 10:18 AM EST

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New York Giants

Welcome to the Combine week, otherwise affectionately known as the Underwear Olympics. This week-long event will see various position unit groups brimming with aspirations of becoming the next great NFL star rotating in and out of downtown Indianapolis where they'll 9mostly) be put through a series of athletic tests and )more importantly) interviews.

There will also be a chance for most NFL team reporters to interview said prospects and, perhaps even more importantly of all, the head coaches and general managers of each team. Among those will be the new one-two punch of Giants general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll, who will make their first public statements since their respective introductory press conferences.

What are some of the burning questions for each man? Here are five to which we'd want to know the answers...

Joe Schoen

Are you any closer to deciding on Daniel Jones's fifth-year option?

The deadline to make any kind of decision regarding an eligible player's fifth-year option is May 2, so there is plenty of time if the Giants want to table that decision for now. They might indeed have that on the back burner if Daniel Jones's neck isn't yet fully healed to where they would feel comfortable in guaranteeing the quarterback $21+ million moving forward.

What decisions have you made regarding restoring the Giants' salary cap health?

This is a big one and a decision that cannot be tabled much longer. Tough cuts will have to be made and could involve receiver Sterling Shepard, cornerback James Bradberry, punter Riley Dixon, tight end Kyle Rudolph and more. Schoen told NBC's Peter King weeks ago that the team needed to shed about $40 million in cap space to be in compliance with the cap and have rook to operate as far as adding low-cost veteran options.

Those cuts could start coming after the combine as the Giants brass will not only be meeting with prospects, the entire roster of NFL agents are scheduled to be in town for their annual meetings.

How has your working relationship been thus far with Brian Daboll and his staff?

Schoen and Daboll are currently in their honeymoon period, where everything is brand new and looking rosy. But it's also a critical period for each man in that they're learning how the other thinks and operates, and while it would be great if they were always on the same page, chances are there will be differences of opinions that pop up. How they work to resolve those differences is key.

If you were to enter into a trade of one of your players, what type of value in return would you consider fair, i.e., 2022 draft picks, future draft picks, a player?

Does anyone care to guess which veteran players we have in mind with this question? Right, running back Saquon Barkley and cornerback James Bradberry. Those are two players who, if not on the Giants 2022 roster, will yield almost $20 million in cap savings alone.

Again, Schoen probably gives a generic answer here, but the reason behind this question can provide some insight into how Schoen plans to build the roster moving forward. For one, the Giants will never get equivalent value on what they spent to acquire the player, meaning that if they move Barkley in a trade, they won't get a first-round pick in return for him.

But would they want picks to use this year? Next year? Conditional picks? A mixture? What Schoen might consider fair value for a running back that has missed games in each of his last three seasons due to lower-body injuries and who right now seems to be a luxury piece on a team in dire need of a rebuild might offer some additional insight into the master rebuild process plan.

What's your strategy to rebuild the offensive line?

Whatever it is, it better be a good one, or it's going to be another long year. The safe answer and the answer Schoen will likely give is that they'll explore every avenue, including the draft, who they have under contract and free agency. At the end of the day, that's precisely how one might expect the new-look offensive line to be.

Andrew Thomas will return from last year. The hope is that injured players Shame Lemieux and Nick Gates will also be ready to go. Of the two, Lemieux might have a better chance of being ready for training camp than Gates as of this writing.

The Giants will also add at least one reasonably priced veteran to the mix just to create balance--maybe Buffalo interior guard Ike Boettger? And it would be a stunning upset if at least two of their nine draft picks aren't offensive linemen.

Brian Daboll

How has your working relationship been thus far with Joe Schoen and his staff?

If we're going to ask this of Schoen, we might as well ask it of Daboll since it's imperative the general manager and head coach work together collaboratively.

With the offensive playbook coming along, what kind of flavor does it offer thus far?

Daboll comes from Buffalo's offense, while offensive coordinator Mike Kafka comes from Andy Reid's Kansas City offense. They're two very different systems, and it's certainly fair to wonder if the Giants' new system, which figures to be a mixture of the two schools of thought, more closely resembles what the Bills run or what the Chiefs do.

Since Mike Kafka has never before called plays, and this is a new offense, are you closer to naming yourself as the play-caller this year?

Daboll probably won't answer this directly and will probably say that it remains to be determined and that they'll go through the spring and summer before finalizing that decision. But don't be surprised if Daboll takes on that aspect of the job, at least initially, as it's important for the Giants offense to get off to a hot start.

What drew you to Don "Wink" Martindale as your defensive coordinator?

Say what you want about Daboll, but he did a pretty good and thorough job interviewing different people with varying philosophies for his defensive coordinator role after Patrick Graham bolted for the Raiders.

In the end, Daboll went with Martindale, known for running an attacking defensive style. Besides that, it's also fair to wonder if the Giants felt they remain closer to being a solid 3-4 unit than a 4-3 group given their personnel.

How Daboll responds to this question could also offer some insight into the plans for any defensive player additions in the coming weeks and months.