On Wednesday night in Manhattan, Giants co-owner John Mara issued a vote of confidence for head coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen, while stopping short of doing the same for quarterback Daniel Jones.
One day earlier, several members of the Giants organization took in practice at the University of Colorado, where potential top quarterback Shedeur Sanders was on display.
Mara is facing yet another crossroads for his organization. The Giants are 2-5 heading into Monday night’s game against the Steelers, heading for what would be the 10th losing season in the 13 years since their last Super Bowl victory.
“Obviously, we’re all very disappointed with where we are right now,” Mara said Wednesday night at the debut of an NFL Films piece about his father, Wellington. “But I’m going to say one thing: We are not making any changes this season and I do not anticipate making any changes in the offseason either.”
Mara says he plans to exercise patience with his braintrust, one that two years ago got the Giants to the playoffs but has struggled since. But he gave no such statement about Jones.
“I’m not going to get into that,” Mara said when asked about Jones’ injury guarantee.
Jones’ guaranteed money runs out at the conclusion of this season, his second in his four-year $160 million contract extension signed in March 2023. But should he get injured and be unable to pass a physical come March, $12 million of his 2025 salary would be guaranteed. And another $11 million would be guaranteed if he’s not able to pass a physical by the start of the year.
Everyone, including Jones, is aware of the contract mechanism, but the Giants are still hoping to play competitive football despite what history says about a 2-5 team making the postseason. But conversations could easily change in two weeks after the Giants face the Steelers and Commanders in a consequential NFC East battle just before the Nov. 5 trade deadline.
The Giants have given up the most sacks (31) through the first seven weeks of the season and, of course, the team did watch Saquon Barkley sign in the offseason with the rival Eagles. But Jones is 3-10 in his past 13 starts, and his 80.6 passer rating ranks 26th among qualified quarterbacks and below the league average of 91.5.
Daboll took over the offensive play-calling this year and has been much more involved in the quarterback room in 2024 than in previous seasons.
The timing of Mara’s comments and the whereabouts of Giants executives was coincidental. Every NFL team will send multiple scouts to see Colorado this fall due to the presence of Sanders and Heisman hopeful Travis Hunter.
At Colorado, a trio of Giants watched practice Tuesday. Assistant general manager Brandon Brown, director of player personnel (and Mara’s nephew) Tim McDonnell and special assistant to the GM Jessie Armstead, who earned three All Pros nods as a Giants linebacker.
After practice, Colorado head coach Deion Sanders asked Brown to talk to his players in a speech that was captured by cameras — like most things — at Colorado. Brown’s message: when you think no one is watching you, someone is watching.
“We’re looking at everything whether it’s your mannerisms, your attention to detail, what kind of teammate you are, how do you strain,” Brown told the players. “It’s not just Saturdays. It’s what do you value in the process. Is the process important to you? Do you like ball? Do you love ball? Do you live ball?”
Last year Joe Schoen and Brown scoured the nation during the fall and winter, heavily scouting the draft-eligible quarterbacks. It culminated in the Giants unsuccessfully attempting to trade into the top-three of the draft for a quarterback. Their best shot — taking Drake Maye at No. 3 overall — was rebuffed by the Patriots, as seen on HBO’s Hard Knocks this summer.
Sources around the league have wondered whether Mara would hit reset yet again on his franchise. For those in the building, Wednesday’s comments did not come as a surprise. For those outside the building, many remain unconvinced that what Mara doesn’t “anticipate” won’t still wind up happening.
“Owners always say that,” one NFC personnel executive said.
Daboll is two years separated from winning Coach of the Year. And the Giants front office took one of the worst dead-cap situations in the NFL just a few years ago and gave the team financial flexibility with one of the league’s youngest rosters and a defense that leads the league in sacks.
Of course, Mara didn’t have any designs on firing Joe Judge at this point in the 2021 season before a calamitous final two weeks of the season. And there wasn’t a head coach like Bill Belichick available then either.
