Giants sign GM Joe Schoen to multiyear extension in concerning start to John Harbaugh Era
The Giants paid John Harbaugh $20 million a year to change their organization, only to extend the general manager that drove their franchise far enough into the gutter to require such a desperate hire. The team signed GM Joe Schoen to a multiyear extension on Thursday and announced it through the national media outlets that have helped Schoen spread false narratives to survive a scapegoating of Brian Daboll while running one of the worst teams in the NFL. This extension is akin to the Giants organization seeing its shadow like Punxsutawney Phil, signaling several more years of winter.
The announcement comes only days after Schoen received a lukewarm reception, including some boos, at a fan Town Hall in Manhattan. The Giants clearly knew the extension news would be met with mixed feelings from the fan base. The team leaked the news only an hour before the Knicks tipped off Game 2 of the NBA’s Eastern Conference Final at Madison Square Garden.
Schoen has an astonishing 22-45-1 overall record in his four seasons, a 13-38 mark in the last three and a 7-27 mark in the past two. The Giants won a playoff game in his first season of 2022, with a 9-7-1 record, before getting blown out in the divisional round. And they haven’t won more than six games in any season since.
They have never finished better than third in the NFC East on his watch. Harbaugh is playing some friendly politics, though, knowing Schoen has some favor with prominent members of ownership — and knowing the coach, not the GM, has final say running the team. When the Giants courted Harbaugh in January, and when he ultimately took the job, the belief among several league sources was that Schoen’s days were numbered.
Harbaugh required final say in the Giants’ organization, rather than answering to the GM, just to sign the contract and take the job. His public dynamic with Schoen has been that of a boss and his subordinate. But lately, even after the team’s best player Dexter Lawrence forced his way out of town via trade, Harbaugh has been playing nice and speaking about himself and Schoen collaboratively.