Joe Schoen Speaks of Giants' Front Office Dynamic, Malik Nabers' Rehab, and More

New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen has had something of a whirlwind six weeks between running the team’s head coaching search and, more recently, working with Harbaugh to help him with putting his coaching staff in place.

That activity, Schoen admitted, has set him back in evaluating draft prospects, as he and Harbaugh skipped the college all-star games, including the Senior Bowl, to focus on building Harbaugh’s staff. But the general manager said he’s been “crushing it” to catch up on the critical part of the roster-building season.

“I was behind, but this past week I was crushing it in the office doing film,” Schoen told reporters at the combine.

“This research for the head coach did set me back. That was my priority: to find the best head coach for the New York Giants. So I spent a lot of time in December when I would normally be watching film, doing a lot of research on the coaching candidates.”

But having had a chance to catch up some, Schoen said he feels good about where things are.

“I feel like I'm in a good spot from a free agency standpoint,” he said. “In the last week, I've been able to play catch-up on the college draft prospects, and I'll continue to do so, but I'm really gonna start focusing on free agency this week with the meetings that we're gonna have and then the strategy and planning starting next week.”

Speaking of feeling good, Schoen described his working relationship with Harbaugh as they went through their first offseason together.

“His communication has been phenomenal,” Schoen said of Harbaugh. “You know, as you, as you're getting to know somebody, no matter what the relationship is, you, you're trying to feel how people communicate, how they operate.

“Do I go down to his office? Does he come to mine? Do I text him? Does he text, text back? You're feeling through all that stuff initially in a relationship, but it's been phenomenal so far.”

Here are a few other takeaways from Schoen’s combine presser.

On Malik Nabers’s Rehab

New York Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Nabers, who is recovering from a torn ACL, sparked some positive news with a recent social media posting of him going through workouts, and Schoen said there is optimism about the third-year receiver and where he’s currently at, although the general manager chose his words carefully, relaying guarded optimism.

“I've been texting with him the last couple of days, and he's in a good spot. He feels good,” Schoen said of Nabers, who is in Miami training. “And yeah, the plan is hopefully for him to still be ready for training camp. Again, don't hold me to it; things change.

“You guys have done this before. I learned my lesson, but you know, every patient reacts differently, and hopefully there won't be any setbacks. But the plan is for him to be ready to go to training camp.

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Dawn Aponte’s Role

Schoen confirmed that Dawn Aponte, the team’s new senior vice president of football operations and strategy, will have significant duties within the organization, including overseeing video and analytics and managing the salary cap.

“She's been on health and safety committees, she's been in charge of the salary cap negotiations in the past, so her skillset's going to help us across the entire football organization. A really good hire for the New York Giants that I'm fired up about.”

Schoen also emphasized that he will still be involved in player contract negotiations.

“I'm still the general manager of the team, and my role has not changed,” he said. “I'm still tasked with leading the entire football operation, and we're gonna work in collaboration like most good teams do.

“Everybody's gonna have their role, but there's constant communication between Dawn, Coach Harbaugh, and myself in terms of how we're going to build the football operation, and then how we're gonna execute the draft trades, free agency, contract signings, coaching staff--whatever it may be.”

“I will lean on Dawn in terms of her expertise and her background when I see fit,” he added. “Basically, it's an easy transition 'cause it's a lot of what (former senior vice president of football operations) Kevin Abrams was doing.”

Schoen Remains Tight-lipped About His Contract

New York Giants General Manager Joe Schoen | Julian Leshay Guadalupe/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Schoen once again declined to shed any clarity on his contract and whether an extension is forthcoming. He is currently entering the final year of his original five-year deal, and it’s been rather curious that, when the team hired and finalized Harbaugh’s contract to change the reporting structure and other matters, Schoen’s contract was not addressed.

It is possible that an addendum was issued to update the reporting structures that Schoen was previously tasked with overseeing, such as the head coach and Aponte’s role, which was previously held by longtime team employee Kevin Abrams. Again, Schoen wouldn’t divulge whether that was the case.

“I'm not gonna get into my personal situation,” Schoen said.

On possibly trading back to add draft assets

The Giants currently have two picks in the top 100 of the draft after having traded away the third-round pick last year to move up in the order for quarterback Jaxson Dart.

“We're gonna look at all options. You know, we're open to moving back if an opportunity's there. We're also fine staying and taking a pick,” Schoen said.

“If you can't get out of five, you know, there's always a chance in the second round if you wanna move back or if there's a good player you can sit and take them, you can move back into the first round. So we're gonna keep all of our options open.”

Schoen Punts on Tisch Question

Schoen declined to offer any comments on the recent revelation that team co-owner Steve Tisch had electronic mail correspondence with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein which according to the emails released by the Dept. of Justice, showed that the two men communicated after Epstein was convicted and jailed for his transgressions.

Schoen referred reporters to the statement Tisch released after the story was initially broken by The New York Times, who reviewed the emails exchanged between the two men.