From his mailbag earlier.
Some snippets…
1) Mara isn’t like Jerruh when it comes to being involved in personnel calls.
2) Chris Mara has taken a step back in terms of personnel decisions per his sources.
3) Tim McDonnell-‘the nephew’ as I like to call him-has a ‘prominent role as director of player personnel.’
4) Duggan doesn’t think Mara is telling Schoen what to do, but he can’t speak as to the implicit influence that might be there.
5) Duggan believes Schoen made the final call in terms of Jones and Saquon, but again notes how ownership might have subconsciously influenced Joe into the Jones contract/decision because of Mara’s public gushing over the kid.
6) Duggan speculates Mara might step in to mend the Dabs/Wink relationship.
7) Duggan himself doesn’t think John is telling the football ops what to do on ‘individual moves.’
MARA WANTS TO HAVE IT BOTH WAYS. He wants to be seen as an owner who keeps hands off, while being involved in all big decisions.
Exactly. Some dullards on this website prefer to put on blinders because they don't want to acknowledge this reality.
Haters going to hate.
Owners of any company can do whatever they want with their company - comment as they see fit, get involved where they choose, insert their brother and nephew into the senior management hierarchy, whatever.
And customers of those companies can have whatever opinion of that owner that they want, and it doesn't mean that they have to boycott the company just because they think the owner is a dweeb.
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Then go find a team whose owner is never seen, never asked questions, and never responds to them. You probably can't find one.
Haters going to hate.
Owners of any company can do whatever they want with their company - comment as they see fit, get involved where they choose, insert their brother and nephew into the senior management hierarchy, whatever.
And customers of those companies can have whatever opinion of that owner that they want, and it doesn't mean that they have to boycott the company just because they think the owner is a dweeb.
EXACTLY - thank you.
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Is worrisome. If I’m Schoen, I’d be careful with that guy. Hopefully he’s not “GM in waiting”..he’d have that job for life…
He’s not the GM in waiting. He’s the team President in waiting. Not that hard to figure out.
Its like people dont understand that these are FAMILY businesses.
Steelers-Rooney
Chiefs-Hunt
Raiders-Davis
Bears-Halas McAskey
Cowboys-Jones
We just scream love to scream NEPOTISM !!!!
MY dad has a business. I have worked in my field for years and now I am training in his field to take over that business one day.. is that Nepotism or is it an inheritance?
From what I have seen and read both Chris Mara And Tim McDonnell worked outside the organization before joining the Giants. McDonnell worked as a scout for six years and according to what I have seen STILL does scouting..
So if a person DOES THE WORK, to work in the family business to eventually take over the family business..
why is that a bad thing ??
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of what he thanks.. OMG.. it's the end of the world...
He can do whatever he wants, he owns the team. But anyone who thinks that the GM can just openly defy the owner's very public opinions is either being naive, obtuse, or simply has never actually kept a job.
Yup. If Mara signs the paychecks, it is best to listen to the owner otherwise you won't have a job very long.
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I never called someone a conspiracy theorist for saying Mara has no influence in personnel matters. I've seen no other poster call someone a conspiracy theorist for doing the same.
I've made my views on this quite public. By their job titles alone, the family has influence. The question is how how much influence and did it decline with the hiring of Schoen and Daboll? We don't know the answer to that. The reporters don't know the answer to that.
But we do know that John Mara has publicly commented on high-profile players. We don't know what he said behind closed doors, but we do know what he tells reporters. And he does tell reporters his views on personnel.
Seems like fans got everything they wanted in a true outside football hire in Schoen as GM. Then they also got Schoen doing HC interviews and selecting his guy Daboll. Two rising stars in the NFL. Some folks have been turned over as well in the building and some titles changed. And when the Giants were winning in 2022 there was no indication of foul play by the family, but now in a bad 2023 losing season it all comes back.
Believe what you want. You're getting all tied up knots to wind up in the same place...Schoen and Daboll are running the football operations and they report to the CEO/Owner.
I suspect Schoen and Daboll are calling the shots.
But I am not convinced they have final say.
I don't think that is a radical position to take.
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Then go find a team whose owner is never seen, never asked questions, and never responds to them. You probably can't find one.
Haters going to hate.
Owners of any company can do whatever they want with their company - comment as they see fit, get involved where they choose, insert their brother and nephew into the senior management hierarchy, whatever.
And customers of those companies can have whatever opinion of that owner that they want, and it doesn't mean that they have to boycott the company just because they think the owner is a dweeb.
The discussion on ownership is an exercise in futility
It s not changing. Nor is the reality that owners have and share opinions, I sure as hell would
It s not like the Giants under the ownership of the Mara’s is devoid of any success
But if people want to waste their time with this topic I guess this is the place to do it
Tim has worked his way up learning football, no different that Schoen has. He has been in the football world 16 years as a non player including 6 as a scout and 8 in the NFL total. He is eventually going to be the top guy on the Mara side
What professional team in any sport hires a person, however qualified, to work in a different organization that is related to the owner of your competitor.
By some peoples rationale here, no family members should be involved in the family business - there are millions of businesses out there that are family run and go through good/bad cycles and still have family running them
Is it not smart to have someone in the family learn from the bottom up if he is to ultimately be co-owner of the family business
Tim has worked his way up learning football, no different that Schoen has. He has been in the football world 16 years as a non player including 6 as a scout and 8 in the NFL total. He is eventually going to be the top guy on the Mara side
What professional team in any sport hires a person, however qualified, to work in a different organization that is related to the owner of your competitor.
By some peoples rationale here, no family members should be involved in the family business - there are millions of businesses out there that are family run and go through good/bad cycles and still have family running them
Is it not smart to have someone in the family learn from the bottom up if he is to ultimately be co-owner of the family business
This is all fair. However, just because you "worked your way up", it does not mean you are good at your job.
Dave Gettleman "worked his way up" too. So did Jerry Reese.
From what I have seen and read both Chris Mara And Tim McDonnell worked outside the organization before joining the Giants. McDonnell worked as a scout for six years and according to what I have seen STILL does scouting..
So if a person DOES THE WORK, to work in the family business to eventually take over the family business..
why is that a bad thing ??
Can they be fired?
How is their performance judged?
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From what I have seen and read both Chris Mara And Tim McDonnell worked outside the organization before joining the Giants. McDonnell worked as a scout for six years and according to what I have seen STILL does scouting..
So if a person DOES THE WORK, to work in the family business to eventually take over the family business..
why is that a bad thing ??
Can they be fired?
How is their performance judged?
This is the heart of it right here. It is fine to have family working in a family business - if they are good at it. If they aren't, can they be moved out like everyone who is not related would be, or does the company just suffer?
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the problem you have here is people believe that a family run organization should have no family members involved, even if that person has worked their way up like many other non family members/
Tim has worked his way up learning football, no different that Schoen has. He has been in the football world 16 years as a non player including 6 as a scout and 8 in the NFL total. He is eventually going to be the top guy on the Mara side
What professional team in any sport hires a person, however qualified, to work in a different organization that is related to the owner of your competitor.
By some peoples rationale here, no family members should be involved in the family business - there are millions of businesses out there that are family run and go through good/bad cycles and still have family running them
Is it not smart to have someone in the family learn from the bottom up if he is to ultimately be co-owner of the family business
This is all fair. However, just because you "worked your way up", it does not mean you are good at your job.
Dave Gettleman "worked his way up" too. So did Jerry Reese.
You are correct it doesnt guarantee success or that you are good at your job..
But you have to at least put in the work...
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In comment 16314197 UberAlias said:
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Then go find a team whose owner is never seen, never asked questions, and never responds to them. You probably can't find one.
Haters going to hate.
Owners of any company can do whatever they want with their company - comment as they see fit, get involved where they choose, insert their brother and nephew into the senior management hierarchy, whatever.
And customers of those companies can have whatever opinion of that owner that they want, and it doesn't mean that they have to boycott the company just because they think the owner is a dweeb.
The discussion on ownership is an exercise in futility
It s not changing. Nor is the reality that owners have and share opinions, I sure as hell would
It s not like the Giants under the ownership of the Mara’s is devoid of any success
But if people want to waste their time with this topic I guess this is the place to do it
Great post.
I'll will add that ownership might make changes if it hurt them in the wallet. With the stadium basically sold out with thousands of willing buyers behind any dissatisfied customers, these changes in management won't be coming soon.
Also, I believe John Mara wants the Giants to be successful. Does anybody here know for sure about Mara's football IQ? I mean, he is the owner of the Giants and have been around the team for a few decades. His dad Wellington was a scout for the team for years.
I love the Giants and I have been watching them for 47 years. My 26 year old son is a Giants fan as well. He knows a lot more about the game and he does some scouting of players before every draft. He might actually be a good scout if he dicided to to that for a living.
Do either of us know more about football than John Mara? Probably not but I think we'd like to think so.
Mara may get attached to players like Barkley and who can really blame him. High Character, likeable, really good player when healthy. Jones is easy to like and root for and he did have a very good year in 2022. You would like to think the arrow is pointing up on Jones.
To expect an owner to not have any input on key players is obsurd.
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From what I have seen and read both Chris Mara And Tim McDonnell worked outside the organization before joining the Giants. McDonnell worked as a scout for six years and according to what I have seen STILL does scouting..
So if a person DOES THE WORK, to work in the family business to eventually take over the family business..
why is that a bad thing ??
Can they be fired?
How is their performance judged?
Can they be fired.. sure...
How is the performance judged? No one outside the orgaziation knows knows. And that is a reality that exists in every family business.
Hell I dont know how people judge performance across the board on MY job LOL
What was Mara's role in this on the offensive side that changed the performance of that side of the ball this year.
QB, RB's, OL, TE's, WR's
Then all the coaches?
I'm staying away from the QB spot. I will just add that QB played 5.25 games and AT played one of those and SB 2.25 with Jones.
The three most important players who also had the three best performances last season were DJ, AT and SB.
Not really seeing a lot of meddling unless you are going saying the draft picks and FA additions/subtractions are Mara influenced. I think BD/JS are running things.
With all the speculation on the coaches/OL this season maybe more attention should be placed elsewhere imv. Did Mara also interfere with the teams prep in camp?
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In comment 16314264 blueblood said:
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From what I have seen and read both Chris Mara And Tim McDonnell worked outside the organization before joining the Giants. McDonnell worked as a scout for six years and according to what I have seen STILL does scouting..
So if a person DOES THE WORK, to work in the family business to eventually take over the family business..
why is that a bad thing ??
Can they be fired?
How is their performance judged?
Can they be fired.. sure...
How is the performance judged? No one outside the orgaziation knows knows. And that is a reality that exists in every family business.
Hell I dont know how people judge performance across the board on MY job LOL
Then your job is amateur hour.
Real companies have performance reviews, merit bonuses, etc.
As for Chris and Tim getting fired, how can you say that either of them is fireable? Chris has basically (supposedly) had all of his authority stripped from him, but still retains his vanity title. For what purpose? It's because he's just as much an owner as his brother, the team president, is. And their nephew also has implied ownership stake - he also can't be fired.
Nothing about the Giants' front office operations have improved since Chris and Tim took on senior leadership roles. If they had different DNA, they'd be under the microscope, as any senior executive on a flagging team should be. But neither of them can be removed from the organization; the only thing that can be done is the company has to build up separate organizational hierarchies to sidestep the owner/execs when necessary. Every time that happens, it muddies the water for all actual employees who are just trying to genuinely do the best job that they can. That's the problem.
It probably would have been easier if you had just written this most recent post earlier on so that everyone could see that you have no idea how real companies operate and could ignore your posts on the topic.
Mara saying he thinks they ruined Jones back in 2022 carries about little to no weight in who the starter is next season.
Stay with me here, you know what carries more weight in who starts next at QB next season? You ready for this one?
Whether we draft a QB and/or how Devito looks from now through next August and how well DJ is playing in September.
I know, radical.
2. Allow that GM to hire the head coach. (check)
3. Allow said GM to bring in talent beneath him from outside the organization. (check)
4. Be in front of the media less. (check) I'll add that Mara did not introduce Daboll to the media (Schoen did), in the past Mara always did this with head coaches.
The team is 4-8, so the default is to go back and bash Mara despite him doing what many people said he never would. "Well, Mara wanted to keep Judge." He didn't keep Judge. I'm not interested in speculating what could have happened. He did what we wanted.
This is an organizational failure. Everyone else is gone except ownership and their family/cronies. There's no one left for them to point the finger.
I think at this point, its fair for fans to point the finger at the only guys left.
2. Allow that GM to hire the head coach. (check)
3. Allow said GM to bring in talent beneath him from outside the organization. (check)
4. Be in front of the media less. (check) I'll add that Mara did not introduce Daboll to the media (Schoen did), in the past Mara always did this with head coaches.
The team is 4-8, so the default is to go back and bash Mara despite him doing what many people said he never would. "Well, Mara wanted to keep Judge." He didn't keep Judge. I'm not interested in speculating what could have happened. He did what we wanted.
And Sean, you left out the biggest part. The "barometer" of Mara's influence was whether or not they picked up the 5th year option on Jones.
IT's called playing the best talent on the team. Using what you got. Even the worst staffs in NFL history can and will implement this methodology.
They aren't starting Jones if a better option is on the bench. Not in 2024. And they won't eschew drafting a QB just because of some bullshit lip service Mara issued 15 months ago. Anyone thinking otherwise probably thinks Aliens shot JFK. Get a grip.
2. Allow that GM to hire the head coach. (check)
3. Allow said GM to bring in talent beneath him from outside the organization. (check)
4. Be in front of the media less. (check) I'll add that Mara did not introduce Daboll to the media (Schoen did), in the past Mara always did this with head coaches.
The team is 4-8, so the default is to go back and bash Mara despite him doing what many people said he never would. "Well, Mara wanted to keep Judge." He didn't keep Judge. I'm not interested in speculating what could have happened. He did what we wanted.
He didn't keep his mouth shut on the quarterback on the eve of contract negotiations, and that contract is currently the biggest mistake looking over this year, 2024, and 2025.
No one knows for sure whose call the Jones contract was, but someone in the building was stupid enough to ok that decision. Ultimately it falls on the owner for either influencing the decision or hiring incompetent people.
2. Allow that GM to hire the head coach. (check)
3. Allow said GM to bring in talent beneath him from outside the organization. (check)
4. Be in front of the media less. (check) I'll add that Mara did not introduce Daboll to the media (Schoen did), in the past Mara always did this with head coaches.
The team is 4-8, so the default is to go back and bash Mara despite him doing what many people said he never would. "Well, Mara wanted to keep Judge." He didn't keep Judge. I'm not interested in speculating what could have happened. He did what we wanted.
Solid.
Believe what you want. You're getting all tied up knots to wind up in the same place...Schoen and Daboll are running the football operations and they report to the CEO/Owner.
I suspect Schoen and Daboll are calling the shots.
But I am not convinced they have final say.
I don't think that is a radical position to take.
I will stipulate Mara has final say on certain bigger decisions or ones where there is rare disagreement on a personnel decision brought to him. He said as much about this last year when asked specifically.
Just hopefully you don't think he is sitting in his office waiting with some big VETO stamp and springing that on his GM/Coach in the final hour and to their complete surprise. Mara's final sign off/say means he is agreement with the strategy(ies) developed and brought or communicated to him all along or adjustments needed thereto.
(1) They tell you it isn't true.
(2) Simply raising the question makes you some sort of crazy person.
(3) Even though it's not true, so what? He owns the team.
Make of that what you will.
Pretty much. They seem to take it personally as well.
2. Allow that GM to hire the head coach. (check)
3. Allow said GM to bring in talent beneath him from outside the organization. (check)
4. Be in front of the media less. (check) I'll add that Mara did not introduce Daboll to the media (Schoen did), in the past Mara always did this with head coaches.
The team is 4-8, so the default is to go back and bash Mara despite him doing what many people said he never would. "Well, Mara wanted to keep Judge." He didn't keep Judge. I'm not interested in speculating what could have happened. He did what we wanted.
Said same thing earlier.
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1. Hire a GM from outside the organization. (check)
2. Allow that GM to hire the head coach. (check)
3. Allow said GM to bring in talent beneath him from outside the organization. (check)
4. Be in front of the media less. (check) I'll add that Mara did not introduce Daboll to the media (Schoen did), in the past Mara always did this with head coaches.
The team is 4-8, so the default is to go back and bash Mara despite him doing what many people said he never would. "Well, Mara wanted to keep Judge." He didn't keep Judge. I'm not interested in speculating what could have happened. He did what we wanted.
And Sean, you left out the biggest part. The "barometer" of Mara's influence was whether or not they picked up the 5th year option on Jones.
You know the funniest thing in my mind...
If THIS year was last year.. and last year was THIS year...
The entire fanbase would be TOTALLY different...
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In comment 16314157 Dnew15 said:
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let's also not forget that, at least according to the NY Giants home page, my man is walking around with business cards that read:
Chris Mara
Senior Player Personnel Executive, Board Director
That sure as hell doesn't sound like he "doesn't have much involvement".
If you’re following along he may have a fancy title but he, along with Abrams, were clearly reassigned and sidelined relative to their previous positions with Schoen’s arrival.
Ok - I'll play.
Tell me what his role used to be and how it's different now?
And even if he's "not as much involved" what exactly does that mean in regard to level of involvement before and after?
And sure - there's lot's of people that labelled Assistant to the Director - President of mail sorting...it doesn't sound like that's what he used to be...and it's not like he's not involved completely these days.
It means Chris used to come into the office about twice a week. On Monday he would come in to do a write-up on a college prospect he saw on TV over the weekend, and on Friday he would come in to go through the Racing Forms for this week's action on the ponies.
Now he just comes in on Friday.
Mara saying he thinks they ruined Jones back in 2022 carries about little to no weight in who the starter is next season.
Stay with me here, you know what carries more weight in who starts next at QB next season? You ready for this one?
Whether we draft a QB and/or how Devito looks from now through next August and how well DJ is playing in September.
I know, radical.
Stay with me here, what if the two things above that I highlighted in bold are the exact same thing?
I know, radical.
2. Allow that GM to hire the head coach. (check)
3. Allow said GM to bring in talent beneath him from outside the organization. (check)
4. Be in front of the media less. (check) I'll add that Mara did not introduce Daboll to the media (Schoen did), in the past Mara always did this with head coaches.
The team is 4-8, so the default is to go back and bash Mara despite him doing what many people said he never would. "Well, Mara wanted to keep Judge." He didn't keep Judge. I'm not interested in speculating what could have happened. He did what we wanted.
Had we all decided that was our complete list of demands? I must have missed that.
Mara is the owner. He is free to do what he likes. I don't think anybody has said he has no right to voice his opinions publicly, or be involved in whatever decision he wants to be involved in.
Many here have criticized his public statements as being something they disagreed with, and something that may have held sway over the people he hired. That is not mutually exclusive of the four things you listed.
tl:dr - Mara is the owner of the team and free to determine his level of involvement or non-involvement. When he makes public statements about the team, fans are within their right to discuss the veracity of those statements and their potential impact on other events.
Once MetLife stadium was chanting "Daniel Jones" in the playoff clinching game against the Colts and then the playoff win, Jones was coming back. Not saying it's right, but after a decade of garbage it was a lock in Daboll's first year.
Once MetLife stadium was chanting "Daniel Jones" in the playoff clinching game against the Colts and then the playoff win, Jones was coming back. Not saying it's right, but after a decade of garbage it was a lock in Daboll's first year.
Well then he (and/or Schoen, and/or whomever) were fools to reverse themselves on what was initially a smart plan (Taylor as the cheap bridge to the next QB).
I agree with you that the fans influenced thinking. That tells you all you need to know about the quality of the football operation.
Do I think that happened? I would lean against it, but I am not convinced.
I'm ultimately pretty neutral on Mara. I think he's very loyal at QB, but I also think people go too far with the Mara talk too. He's what he is. He's been the owner for 2 Super Bowl titles and he's had a decade of mostly crap.
He's struggled in the post Eli Manning era including the back end of his career.
The turnaround will be dependent on Schoen/Daboll turning things around and managing any preferences the owner has on personnel.
You can include Jones, but I wouldn't include Barkley. Schoen has been firm on Barkley. Ultimately Barkley caved and reported to camp.
Do I think that happened? I would lean against it, but I am not convinced.
Okay but then that really goes against how Schoen handled himself with comments and negotiations with both players in the offseason, Barkley's comments to media, and the whole 5th year option passing but signing Jones anyway.
I simply think Schoen/Daboll made in error in judgment (and kind of a big one) in what they had with Jones and got a bit caught up in where they were with the roster after a strong Yr 1 on the job. That led to trying to play too much hardball with Saquon and wanting to contract up Jones so they could have some free agent cap room and keep the momentum going.
The prudent play was to 1) tag Jones and make him put up another good confidence-bearing season; 2) tell Saquon to find his best offer in free agency and then we'll match it; and 3) not get caught up in a playoff win when the difference between Dallas & Eagles and us was still significant as shown by those head-to-head games.
There is no mandate confusing the above.
The Branch Rickey axiom of "We suck with you, we can suck without you" was the only way to go here. That went out the window when:
- A fanbase starving for something good chose to cling to the Minnesota win and forget the poor second half of the season and the Philadelphia beatdown
- The front office misevaluated what happened last year and allowed themselves to get swept up in the fans' feelings
I really hope they make smart decisions this offseason, but history tells us we shouldn't expect it.
I think this is the big criticism of Schoen thus far. He misevaluated the market and didn't need to reveal his plans in the post season press conference.
But, last season was a problem. I mentioned it often. They were in a predicament making with Jones & Barkley being upcoming UFA's. I got a lot of "let it play out", well it played out.
Opening night against Dallas still would have been sold out. From the moment Andrew Thomas jumped on that first drive, this season has been a catastrophe WITH Jones and Barkley on the payroll.
The fans will go in whatever direction. They loved Jones, then he got hurt and they used that as an excuse to not have to rationalize his poor play anymore and move on. But if the Giants don't draft a QB those same fans will be right back to rationalizing Jones next summer.
The fans are clinging to myths about Jones's work ethic and Barkley's leadership because there's nothing else. But win three games in a row without them and they'll be forgotten.
Once MetLife stadium was chanting "Daniel Jones" in the playoff clinching game against the Colts and then the playoff win, Jones was coming back. Not saying it's right, but after a decade of garbage it was a lock in Daboll's first year.
I'm not sure I buy that with Schoen at the helm, but sentimentality has been a powerful force in decision making for a long time.
Schoen's correctly didn't exercise the 5th year option on Jones going into 2022. The gauntlet had been dropped for "Prove it", Phase 1.
The error was not transitioning to "Prove it", Phase 2. And that phase would have been concluding that 2022 was a good year for Jones. Nowhere near great. Nowhere near an MVP-type season. Because if 2022 was a great/great+ season for Jones, it would have made more sense to say it's a watershed, and a long-term deal was probably a wise bet.
Instead, Schoen should have said to Team Jones we like what we saw playing under Dabka. But we want to see you take it to the next level in 2023. So, we are going to apply the FT and use this off-season to bring more upgrades to the offense.
That was the smart play.
Alas, we have to deal in reality because the courage that you and I may have wanted Schoen to show was not available for a first time ever GM.
They weren't going to cut Jones, and Schoen wasn't going to apply the TT, so paying him $32M for one year was better than the current financial reward.
I do find it odd how most pro Jones articles in the media ALWAYS cite his 'work ethic' to prop him up. It tells me the reporters/beats don't have much to work with so thus the 'Well, he's a hard worker' card.
& for the record, I bet he is a hard worker. And a diligent & willing learner. He seems like a good dude. He's never been arrested. That's all great. There's just the small issue of winning big & him being an elite QB...that's where he fails.
The attachment to him is so bizarre.
No, it was within reason of tagging him if Schoen didn't like what he could reach for at QB in the last draft. A one year tag set nobody back in the NFL, unless you are a moron GM. Taylor has no consequence as he can't even stay on the field for more than 2 games in a row. He's not in the formula.
Not liking Jones is one thing. Being extreme on making a bad situation worse is another, and not fair for Daboll or Schoen.
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1. Hire a GM from outside the organization. (check)
2. Allow that GM to hire the head coach. (check)
3. Allow said GM to bring in talent beneath him from outside the organization. (check)
4. Be in front of the media less. (check) I'll add that Mara did not introduce Daboll to the media (Schoen did), in the past Mara always did this with head coaches.
The team is 4-8, so the default is to go back and bash Mara despite him doing what many people said he never would. "Well, Mara wanted to keep Judge." He didn't keep Judge. I'm not interested in speculating what could have happened. He did what we wanted.
He didn't keep his mouth shut on the quarterback on the eve of contract negotiations, and that contract is currently the biggest mistake looking over this year, 2024, and 2025.
No one knows for sure whose call the Jones contract was, but someone in the building was stupid enough to ok that decision. Ultimately it falls on the owner for either influencing the decision or hiring incompetent people.
It was the wrong decision, for this year. It s not over yet.
The reason the franchise tag was bad, was the $32 mill was etched in stone against the cap and there would have been almost no money left for any signings.
IIRC, they at $45-$47 mill in cap space. Jones eating $32 mill would have left $15 mill total, so in effect $10 mill for other signings. I know you would have let Barkley go, but they needed money for Okereke, Slayton, A'Shawn and Nacho and few other lower level deals. Plus they needed $5 to $8 mill for draft signees(more or less).