5 questions facing the Giants this offseason
Giants GM Joe Schoen, left, and head coach Brian Daboll speak to the media during locker clean out day at the Quest Diagnostics Center, Monday, Jan. 8, 2024, in East Rutherford. Credit: Corey Sipkin
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1. In the big picture, what should we make of the Giants season?
The Giants season was a failure.
As much as the 2022 playoff season was celebrated, when the Giants went to Minnesota and won a playoff game, 31-24, for their first postseason win in 11 years, the encore should be dissected. What went wrong and why?
The offensive line coach, Bobby Johnson, has been fired. So have two defensive assistants. There may be more departures to come.
At the top of the Giants list should be finding a truly capable offensive line coach.
How long has the offensive line and its instability plagued the Giants? Way too long.
2. What’s the deal at quarterback?
It’s not ideal when an NFL team plays three quarterbacks because of injuries.
Daniel Jones was lost twice during the season. In Miami, he sustained the second neck injury of his career. When he returned, in Las Vegas, he tore his ACL, which he continues to rehab.
Can the Giants depend on Jones to play a full season? Drafted in 2019, only in 2022 has he done so.
Tyrod Taylor left the Jets game with four broken ribs, two of which were displaced. Undrafted rookie Tommy DeVito, to his credit, was game. As you would expect over time, he just wasn’t always good enough. At least not yet. But the win over the Packers was his best game and perhaps the Giants best game of the season.
The Giants have to supplement the position. General manager Joe Schoen said Taylor could be asked back. It seems likely he’ll also have other options.
And Jones, given his history, seems likelier than not to sustain another injury. The Giants know they have to be prepared for those scenarios.
Schoen was asked Monday if Jones’ injury history plays into their planning at the position.
His entire response? “Absolutely. Absolutely.”
3. What about Daniel Jones' future?
This question feels like it deserves its own space, given all of the above.
Schoen was asked directly, “Do you feel like you can build a team around a quarterback who has that injury history now? With two neck injuries and now a torn ACL?
Again, Schoen’s entire answer: “Yes.”
4. Is Saquon Barkley destined to be franchise tagged again?
Last week, Barkley said he hopes the Giants “shoot him straight” about his contract status with the Giants.
That’s a heck of a way to start a negotiation.
For the second year in a row, the franchise tag does remain on the table for Barkley. For a Giants organization that generally believes it does the right thing, that would be a heck of a way to handcuff one of your two best players (Dexter Lawrence is the other) who has been a great – not good, great – citizen and teammate.
This season, Barkley ran behind an offensive line whose coach, Bobby Johnson, was fired by Daboll on Monday and an offensive line that allowed 85 sacks, 20 more than any other team, and 23 more than the previous team record, set in 1966.
Barkley never complained. But can you blame him if he’s wondering if he’s properly valued by the team that drafted him?
5. Where will this strange dance between Daboll and Wink Martindale end up?
When safety Xavier McKinney questioned if players’ and captains’ voices were being heard after the loss at Las Vegas, Martindale was initially hurt. He and McKinney worked through their differences, and both have told Newsday that they left the season on great terms.
But Daboll initially backed McKinney. When asked if McKinney would start the next week after griping about his defensive coordinator, Daboll didn’t hesitate. He offered an immediate yes.
It was FOX’s Jay Glazer who reported on Nov. 26 that the Daboll-Martindale relationship was “in a bad place.”
About that, Daboll said he and Martindale had met “over donuts.”
After the Giants won that day, 10-7, over the Patriots, Daboll gave Martindale a game ball. That, of course, was a diversion.
For one thing, Glazer has an impeccable record when it comes to breaking news. For another, the Giants themselves now have unveiled the truth.
Kimberly Jones covers the Giants for Newsday, a beat she first worked in the early 2000s before joining the YES Network to cover the Yankees. She worked for the NFL Network for more than a decade and has been heard semi-regularly on WFAN.
