Giants Rumors: John Mara 'Doesn't Want to Blow It Up Again' Firing Daboll, Schoen

The New York Giants have lost 10 straight games. They have the worst record in the NFL at 2-13. Daniel Jones was benched and later released this season. Saquon Barkley is thriving in Philadelphia after ditching the Giants in free agency during the offseason. Very little has gone right for the team in 2024.

Normally, this level of ineptitude would lead to major changes, either at general manager, head coach or both. It's possible, however, that team owner John Mara may choose to keep both Brian Daboll and Joe Schoen in place, as SI.com's Albert Breer reported Monday:

"Now, I still believe Daboll has a high ceiling as a coach, and the same goes for Schoen as a GM. But the team I saw Sunday looked disengaged and lifeless, and it's been that way far too often since the Giants last won a game. And while I know Mara doesn't want to blow it up again—if he fired those two guys, he'd be into his fifth head coach and third GM in less than a decade, which is unbecoming of the NFL's Tiffany franchise—the facts are the facts, and narratives have slowly become reality."

Keeping both would be wildly unpopular in New York, and even retaining one of the two after last season's 6-11 record and this year's utter collapse would raise more than a few eyebrows around the Big Apple. The alternative viewpoint, of course, is that there's no guarantee Mara would hire the right people to replace them.

Schoen's drafts have had highs (Kayvon Thibodeaux, Malik Nabers, Tyrone Tracy Jr.) and lows (Evan Neal, Deonte Banks), and while losing Barkley to a divisional rival hurt, it arguably made sense for a rebuilding team to allocate those resources elsewhere. Will Mara trust him in a vitally important 2025 draft, however, when the team likely will have the top overall pick and its choice of quarterback prospects?

Daboll, meanwhile, led the Giants to the playoffs in his first season, though the team has regressed in each campaign since. In his defense, he was saddled with poor quarterback play and a lack of talent.

The Giants have some major decisions to make going forward, but one certainty is that retaining the status quo won't be a popular option.