The Ringer Isn't Sold on Giants GM Joe Schoen's Combine Statements
'Tis the season for deceiving in the NFL, as general managers and head coaches begin the annual process of blowing smoke around to hide their intentions ahead of free agency and the draft.
But if one uses careful and deductive reasoning, not even the craftiest wordsmithing general manager can hide his true intentions.
So claims Danny Heifetz of The Ringer, who tried to read into what Schoen was saying when he spoke to reporters at the combine last week.
For example, when Schoen said, “I have faith in Daniel [Jones] as our starting quarterback,” Heifetz interpreted that statement to be, “I have less faith in Daniel as our starting quarterback than I did 11 months ago when I gave him $82 million.”
We're not sure what anyone was expecting Schoen to say in that instance, but for what it's worth, the fact that the Giants put an escape hatch into Jones's contract, which they can use after this year if they want cap savings, would suggest that the team may have been squeamish about Jones's well-documented injury history, which later laying dormant in 2022, popped up again when the quarterback suffered his second neck injury in three years and a torn ACL.
When he did play, Jones never really looked comfortable behind center, putting together really just two solid quarters of football, those coming against the Arizona Cardinals in a coe-from-behind win in which the Giants were being blown out by the half.
Heifetz also took aim at Schoen's statement about running back Saquon Barkley, with whom the Giants have begun contract negotiations. The general manager said, “I think we’ve all grown—Saquon, myself, the organization—through the last 12, 13, 14 months. Saquon may be in a different place now than he was then in terms of understanding the market and the business side of it. I’m looking forward to having those conversations with him.”
Heifetz, however, took Schoen's words to mean, “Lol, we aren’t paying Saquon.”
With the Giants deciding not to franchise tag Barkley, that interpretation sure would seem to be the case.
Schoen might have meant that both parties have come to view the valuation of the running back in a different light. Barkley, who was on the Money Matters podcast before training camp last season, revealed that he and the Giants viewed his value much differently. He turned down an extension before the end of the 2022 season, reportedly a $13 million/year deal.
He also reportedly turned down an increased offer that could have topped $14 million per year before finally adding Ed Berry of CAA to his negotiating team just before last year's July 15 deadline to get a long-term deal.
Barkley just turned 27 and still has juice left in the tank. However, the Giants need to decide if it's worth tying up money in him over the next two years, given his injury history, and if they think he can help them go on a deep postseason quest.
Ultimately, it's not what Schoen said or didn't say, but rather what he does that will tell the story about what he thinks.
