Giants’ Joe Schoen believes successful foundation is already in place

The New York Giants are 2-8 to begin the 2024 NFL season and are essentially out of the postseason picture two weeks before Thanksgiving — again.

It’s co-owner John Mara’s recurring nightmare. Potentially having his multi-billion dollar stadium half-empty down the stretch while the rest of the league is chasing their dreams has become an all too familiar reality for the Giants.

Since handing over the reins to general manager Joe Schoen in January of 2022, the Giants are 17-26-1 and 1-1 in the postseason.

But there is hope, Schoen said in his annual bye-week press conference this week. He is confident the team is “not far off” and is not wavering in his plan, which is deep into its third season.

“I believe in the process. I believe where we’re going,” he said. “Again, building it, sometimes it hurts and it’s painful and it’s hard to go through it. But, we’re going in the right direction.”

Schoen feels that way because of the young nucleus that he has under his roof and hopes to continue building on. He spoke about his latest draft class, which has been performing very well.

“There’s some young pieces here in place in terms of the foundation that we’re going to continue to build on. Another year of free agency and another draft, we’re not far off. We’re not far off,” he said.

The previous two drafts have also yielded some talent and depth the roster so sorely needed as well.

“I like the guys in our first two drafts. Where we were then and what we were trying to do by moving back,” he said. “We needed players. There were five healthy offensive linemen on the roster at the time. So, there were players or situations you were in, trying to fill out the roster, whether it was depth players with some of those guys or certain roles that they’ve developed.

“(Cor’Dale) Flott is a third-round pick that’s played solid this year for us. He plays nickel. Wan’Dale (Robinson) has turned into a good slot receiver. I think he’s in the top 10 in receptions in the league. Some guys are role players. You need those guys as well. So, I wish I could bat a thousand, you always want to do that.

“But, I believe in the people in the building. I believe in our process. I believe in the research that we do, the work we’re doing. I think you saw the results this last offseason with the draft that we had. I look forward to continuing to, hopefully, have some drafts that compare to this one.”

Schoen apparently will get the chance to continue building. He was asked if he felt he’d be back next year and did not hesitate to confirm that he would be.

This comes after Mara said he did not see the team making any changes at the top either during or after the season.