Five Burning Questions for Giants General Manager Joe Schoen

After weeks of evaluating a roster that failed to lie up to expectations in 2023, partially due to injuries and partially due to performance, New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen, head coach Brian Daboll, and the rest of the decision-making brass presumably have a plan in place to get the Giants back on track for 2024.

That plan will begin to take place this week as the Giants decision makers join the rest of the NFL community, the NFLPA-certified agents, and over 300 prospective draft picks in Indianapolis for the annual scouting combine, a week-long affair in which teams look at the various drills, interview the prospects, and review medical information as their primary activities, while also taking time to discuss contract negotiations with representation of pending free agents and potential trade opportunities for April's draft.

Schoen is scheduled to take the podium at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, where he's sure to be peppered with numerous questions during his scheduled 15-minute press briefing. Schoen has always tried to be as forthcoming as possible when asked a question, but there are sure to be some questions to which he just won't have an answer this early in the combine--or not be willing to answer.

Here are five burning questions (and potential answers) Schoen will likely get during his media session.

Where do things stand with Saquon Barkley and Xavier McKinney?

Odds are Schoen isn't going to have any sort of concrete update to give on tasks with either player because the plan, as he mentioned a few weeks ago during an interview with SiriusXM NFL Radio aired during Senior Bowl week, was to sit down with the representation for both Barkley and McKinney during the combine.

With the combine kicking off Tuesday and Schoen set to speak first thing Tuesday morning, it's probably a safe bet that he hasn't yet sat with either agent.

Where is the franchise in terms of its rebuild timeline?

Schoen is starting his third off-season with the Giants, his tenure thus far being something out of Bizzaro's world in that the first season, the team overachieved with its 9-7-1 record and playoff berth. That success likely fooled Schoen and his colleagues into thinking the team was a little further along than it was, and that affected how the roster was built up.

Then came 2023, when certain players' injuries and lack of development brought the franchise back down to earth. Suddenly, there are questions about the quarterback, the coaching, the receivers, the defense, and everything in between.

The biggest question mark, though, is after going through two different extremes, where exactly does Schoen view the item in its rebuild timeline? The answer, which he may or may not offer hints to, could provide insight into how he plans to ensure the 2024 roster progresses.

Are there concerns about Brian Daboll's demeanor?

The Daily News published an explosive report after the season about Daboll's fiery demeanor and how it reportedly rubbed members of the coaching staff the wrong way, including offensive coordinator (and now assistant head coach) Mike Kafka, who reportedly was willing to accept a lateral move after being shut out in the head coaching cycle if it meant getting a fresh start elsewhere.

The report even went so far as to say that Schoen donned the headset to listen to communication among the coaches during their Week 10 road game against Dallas, about a month before FOX Sports insider Jay Glazer reported friction between Daboll and then-defensive coordinator Wink Martindale being so bad that a split was likely imminent.

Schoen will likely downplay any questioning along this vein, stating how Daboll, like everyone else in the organization, wants to win and that sometimes emotions run high during a game. But this is still a question worth asking because part of being a head coach is managing people, and in managing people, one has to know how to communicate most effectively with them.

Why the willingness to stick with QB Daniel Jones this year?

Schoen has already said that Jones is expected to be the starting quarterback once he's healthy, but let's be realistic here. If the Giants were convinced that Jones was their future long-term starter, would Schoen have put an escape hatch into the contract after two years?

Judging by some of the other contracts given to quarterbacks around the league, like Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow, to name a couple, probably not.

Schoen won't admit it, but the Giants are locked into Jones for this year because of his $47.105 million salary cap. Their thinking could very well be to add a young quarterback via the draft, which is a very strong possibility, and until that player is ready for the bright lights, let Jones lead the offense this year.

The Giants took a very similar approach with Eli Manning back in 2004, and they were supposed to take the approach with Jones in 2019, except in 2019, then head coach Pat Shurmur couldn't wait to unlock the part of his playbook that incumbent Manning couldn't run as well due as the more athletic Jones. Although Jones showed flashes of promise in 2019, the ensuing years threw up roadblocks that, along with his injury history, he just couldn't overcome.

Five years later, we still ask whether this team can win a Super Bowl championship with Jones. Schoen may point to the injuries last year, but if he's indeed planning to, for example, move on from running back Saquon Barkley, then that might just be the tip of the iceberg of what's still to come.

Would he consider trading up for a quarterback?

Schoen's response to this question will probably be something like, "All options are on the table." The truth is that until he goes through free agency and starts having conversations with his fellow general managers who draft ahead of the Giants, this question can't be answered in any sort of definite way.

But yes, all options should be on the table when he speaks to the media. Whether they stay on the table depends on how the next several weeks play out.

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