The Giants appear to be pleased with the start of the John Harbaugh era, and in particular, his partnership with general manager Joe Schoen.
On Thursday, the franchise announced that they had agreed with Schoen on a multi-year extension that will keep him in New York beyond the 2026 season. Schoen was entering the final year of his current deal before this extension, and is now ensured to be with the Giants in the years to come.
Though the Giants fired coach Brian Daboll during the middle of the 2025 season, they decided to retain Schoen, a move that surprised some since teams tend to bring in a new head coach and general manager at the same time. Additionally, Schoen played a pivotal part in the Giants’ struggles as of late due to certain personnel moves, from signing quarterback Daniel Jones to a massive extension that didn’t work out, letting star running back Saquon Barkley walk in free agency to a division rival and first-round draft busts such as offensive tackle Evan Neal and corner Deonte Banks.
Along with Schoen and the Giants’ recent track record, there were also questions regarding how Schoen and Harbaugh would go about working together, particularly after Harbaugh negotiated in his contract to directly report to ownership, instead of the team’s general manager. Both Harbaugh and Schoen downplayed this reporting system, particularly since this was the system Harbaugh was used to from his time on the Ravens.
“I'm not worried about that. I've been in the league for 26 years, so everywhere I've been, the head coach and general manager work together,” Schoen said in January. “That's the only way it's going to work. Get on the same page, go through the process, we've done it everywhere I've been.”
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Back in January, Harbaugh was also complimentary of Schoen when he was introduced as the Giants’ new coach. He said, “You get to know Joe and we started talking ball and see he is a football man. This guy lives and breathes football. His knowledge is deep, he knows the league, knows the coaches, players, scouts in the league. He was impressive to me and it was really a joy to talk football and dig into some of the plans that we might have going forward.”
While Schoen certainly doesn’t have a spotless record as the Giants general manager, he has made some good moves from bringing in players such as Brian Burns, Abdul Carter and Malik Nabers to taking part in the decision to draft quarterback Jaxson Dart. Most importantly, he helped the Giants land Harbaugh as the their next coach, ensuring the most coveted candidate was heading to New York.
So far, Schoen and Harbaugh have navigated their first free agency, draft and major contract standoff together. They brought in Tremaine Edmunds, Isaiah Likely and Darnell Mooney among others in free agency and landed some star prospects in the draft in Arvell Reese, Francis Mauigoa and Colton Hood. They also traded Dexter Lawrence II to the Bengals for a surprisingly high draft pick, allowing them to select Mauigoa in the draft.
This is only the beginning for Schoen and Harbaugh, but they have done well nagivating their first offseason and the Giants clearly felt good enough about their work to ink Schoen again before the season begins. The true tests will come when the games take place and they put their product on the field, but at this time, the Giants are committed to letting Schoen and Harbaugh turn the franchise around—together.
