Giants Rumors: Mara 'Intends to Keep' GM Schoen; 'Understands' Daniel Jones Contract

New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen has had an interesting year, from letting Saquon Barkley depart in free agency this offseason—and sign with the rival Philadelphia Eagles—to the team benching, and eventually releasing, quarterback Daniel Jones.

But Schoen is reportedly safe for now.

According to Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports, "Multiple sources reiterated this week" that Giants owner John Mara "intends to keep Schoen beyond this year. Mara has said as much publicly, and Schoen has echoed his boss as recently as last week."

He added that while the four-year, $160 million that Jones was signed to aged incredibly poorly, "because Mara is present for the day-to-day operations, he understands why and how the contract was given in the first place."

The Giants painted themselves into a bit of a corner in the 2023 offseason, with both Barkley and Jones set to hit free agency. Barkley reportedly turned down a deal that would have averaged him $13 million per season—which ended up being a slightly higher AAV than he received on his three-year, $37.7 million with the Eagles, though that deal came with one more year of wear-and-tear on his body—and the Giants chose to franchise tag him.

That meant risking the loss of Jones in free agency, with no tag as a security blanket if negotiations went poorly. And Jones was coming off a 2022 season that saw him throw for 3,205 yards, 15 touchdowns and five interceptions, completing 67.2 percent of his passes while leading the Giants to a 9-7-1 mark and playoff berth.

Those numbers don't exactly ring out, but it did mark his best season as a pro and offered hope that Jones could be a solid game-manager. No, he wasn't going to ever be Patrick Mahomes, but with the right coaching staff and talent around him, perhaps he could still be the type of quarterback who got the Giants into the postseason with consistency.

But signing him to a four-year, $160 million deal was undoubtedly an overpay, even in the incredibly inflated quarterback market. And the deal aged poorly—Jones tore his ACL in 2023, cutting his season short, and he was poor in 2024, throwing for eight touchdowns and seven interceptions in 10 starts, with the Giants going 2-8 in those contests.

Freeing themselves from the remainder of his contract, and the $23 million guaranteed only for injury in 2025, was the logical move. If Jones hadn't been waived during the season, he assuredly would have been waived in the offseason.

Now, New York has a major need at quarterback and likely will have a top-five pick to address it. And Schoen reportedly will be trusted to lead that search.