John Mara Breaks Silence at NFL Owners Meeting

New York Giants co-owner John Mara spoke to reporters at the league meeting about the state of the team.

New York Giants co-owner John Mara, who last spoke to a group of reporters about a year ago at the annual league meetings, broke his silence this week to address the state of the franchise with reporters in attendance at the league meeting.

Here are a few takeaways from his press briefing and what they potentially mean for the club moving forward. 

"John Mara said he still has full confidence in Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll despite last season’s “huge” disappointment. Mara plays down the sideline dysfunction/Daboll element of it." -- Daily News

This statement comes as no surprise. We pointed out in the past that so long as the locker room stayed together and competed, regardless of whether the Giants were in the playoff hunt or out of it, head coach Brian Daboll wouldn’t have to worry about his job. 

Such was the case as the Giants won four of their last seven games of the 2023 season, going as far as to keep their slim playoff hopes alive until suffering a crushing Week 15 loss to the New Orleans Saints.

"Mara: If Joe Schoen & Brian Daboll have a conviction on a QB at the top, he supports going to get him. Still confident in Daniel Jones but says why not bring in someone to compete & let the best man win?" -- Daily News

Remember how general manager Joe Schoen said that the “expectation” is for Daniel Jones, when healthy, to be the starter? That’s a far cry from saying that Jones will be the starter, and Mara’s comments seem to indicate that while a healthy Jones will be the starter, it’s not firmly etched in stone.

The Giants can downplay it all they want, but there has to be concern over Jones’s injury history, particularly the two neck injuries he’s had over the last three years. While Mara is leaving the decision whether to draft a quarterback up to Schoen and Daboll, it’s hard to imagine them passing on the opportunity to add reinforcement from a deep class, especially given Jones's injury history.

However, this quote stands out because Jones will have to compete for his job, which should be the case. Yes, he got the four-year, $160 million deal, but as we have noted, the deal is more of a two-year contract, which the Giants can get out of after this year if Jones either gets hurt again or simply doesn’t play well.

The bottom line—and it’s good to see the coaching staff adapt to this—is that unless a guy is a top-5 performer at his position, he should not be put on a scholarship just because of his contract or draft status. The Giants were notorious for carrying guys on scholarships in years past before finally realizing that it wasn’t a smart way of building a consistent roster.

"John Mara said he “hated” seeing Saquon Barkley leave — texted him and told him it made him “sick” shortly after he signed. The fact he left for made it a tougher pill to swallow. Said he was “hoping” Barkley would be back. Referenced the two contracts they offered him." --SNY TV

Mara is probably not alone in terms of feeling sick once Saquon Barkle signed with the Eagles, but in the long term, it is probably best for the Giants. Given all the needs they had to fill this off-season, had they signed Barkley to a long-term deal last year, his cap number might have jumped even further, requiring a restructure.

And it’s clear that Schoen wasn’t interested in investing big money in a running back with an injury history and who was 27 or older, not with all the other needs on the team.

"You're right, it is ridiculous.'' That was John Mara's take on the failures of the Giants to fix the offensive line for more than a decade. The co-owner believes the team is headed in the right direction with the OL." -- New York Post

Ya think?

But in fairness to the offensive line, coaching has been an issue for years—how else to explain young guys not trending upward in their development? 

So between the investments made in the unit—and again, because the offensive line needs to hit the ground running, the Giants are going the veteran route, which makes sense—and the change in offensive line coaches from Bobby Johnson to Carmen Bricillo, Mara is right to expect the results to be far difference than what they have been in recent years.  

Speaking of the offensive line, the plan is to give Evan Neal another crack at right tackle, meaning the guards will likely be Jermaine Eluemunor and Jon Runyan, Jr. However, expect Neal's leash to be short at the right tackle spot.

"Giants GM Joe Schoen said Daniel Jones is "running on land'' and throwing in his rehab from ACL surgery. The belief remains that he will be ready for training camp and for the start of the season."--New York Post

This is a positive update on Daniel Jones’s rehab, but much more still needs to be determined. For one, it would be a shock if the Giant greenlights Jones to play in preseason games, even if he’s cleared by the start of training camp. 

But the big question—and who knows if the coaching staff has even contemplated this—is how much they will rein Jones in as a runner, given the ACL and the quarterback’s sometimes reckless play.

Jones, remember, has that injury guarantee in his contract: If he gets hurt again and can’t pass a physical next year, the Giants will be on the hook for an additional guaranteed money that would inflate their dead money hit. And it’s becoming increasingly apparent that they just seem willing to take that chance, however ill-advised it might be. 

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