General manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll chatted with the media on Monday for the Giants‘ end-of-season press conference. While the year ended with a dud in the Divisional Round of the playoffs, it was still a noteworthy improvement for New York over recent years. Big Blue now heads into a critical offseason with several impact players needing new contracts.
Two of those players were among the team’s most valuable in 2022: quarterback Daniel Jones and running back Saquon Barkley. Understandably so, Schoen had to field questions about both and the Giants’ potential desires moving forward. It was interesting to hear and read Schoen’s comments because of how drastically different they were depending on the player he discussed.
When it came to Jones, he didn’t mince his words. The front-office executive wants the signal-caller back (quotes via Giantswire):
We’d like Daniel to be here. He said it yesterday, there’s a business side to it, but we feel like Daniel played well this season and did everything we asked him to do. We haven’t had those (discussions) yet but we would like to have Daniel Jones back.
He also said the following (and had to backtrack to clarify his comments):
We’re happy Daniel is going to be here.
Is an official reunion already in the works? Who knows, but I’d imagine Schoen knows that little comment will make some headlines.
When getting asked about Barkley, Schoen’s answer was more business-like and standard for these kinds of questions:
This was a special team, we’d like to have all the guys back. But there’s a business side to it. Saquon is a good player and a great teammate…he’s a guy we would like to have back.
So, Schoen and Co. want both Jones and Barkley back in the fold for 2023, but I mean..come on. We know who the priority is now that New York is officially shifting into offseason mode. It makes a lot of sense, too.
How easy is it to find a quarterback that can be the answer for your team into the foreseeable future? It’s a lot harder than finding productive running backs, that’s for sure.
Schoen also mentioned the goal is to build a team around Jones that’s capable of winning a Super Bowl. Jones clearly appears to be the centerpiece of the Giants’ plans moving forward.
We know Barkley isn’t looking to reset the running back market. He’s also stated on multiple occasions that he’d like to be a Giant for life. But if we’re just dissecting the Monday comments from Joe Schoen, the team will do what it takes to keep Jones around. While keeping Barkley is also something they’re open to, it looks like there will be a harder line from the front office on what makes sense for them financially.
Matt Musico can be reached at matt.musico@xlmedia.com and you can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.
