This Week Will Tell Us A Lot About The 2023 New York Giants

The trade deadline came and went Tuesday, and Giants’ general manager Joe Schoen didn’t make any moves to improve the unlikely 6-2 team he’s overseeing in this, his first year. In fact, his only move was to subtract Kadarius Toney in exchange for future draft picks. He understands what that confused some within the fanbase.

“I understand the train of thought there,” Schoen said in a Tuesday press conference. “This particular move was the best for the organization. And we’ll continue to look, and we’ll continue to add players to the roster, the practice squad. Again, the rookie class – I’m proud of those guys. We’re number four in rookie playtime right now. I think we’re getting a big contribution from those guys. They’ll continue to get better. We did a study. I think this is a testament to the coaching staff, not to go off on a tangent on that. We lead the league with 12 players that were not here (before) September that have played offensive and defensive snaps for us. Whether that’s (linebacker) Jaylon Smith, (cornerback Fabian) Moreau, (guard) Tyre Phillips started at right tackle.

“A testament to our coaching staff; we’re bringing in new players and they got to stay here late hours and get these guys ready to play. A lot of these guys have played winning football for us. Again, the pro scouting staff has done a great job as well identifying these players, upgrading the practice squad and those players have filled in admirably and helped us get to where we are. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that. We didn’t add one, but the coaching staff has done a great job with what we’ve been trying to bring in to backfill some of the roster.”

But beyond just the question of who will be part of this 2022 playoff run, the decision-making from Schoen and company reflects a long-term bet on turning New York into a sustainably successful team.

“You have to step back and honestly evaluate the roster, too,” Schoen said. “You can get caught up in the, ‘Hey, we won the game,’ but we were also down 17-3 in the game at some point. You’ve got to step back and look at it for what it is. Again, there’s several positions where you look at it and maybe you don’t have a lot of depth or maybe we’re a little bit older or what’s best for the future in a three-to-four-year window – you’re always analyzing that – or what’s just better for this year. We had conversations with other teams for guys with expiring contracts this year. Again, obviously the value being a little bit lower with guys that expire next year or are in a contract for two years. So, you take that all into account in all the positions when you’re making these calls. But again, there’s not this surplus of players that are available if that makes sense.”

Again, note that the emphasis was on players with expiring contracts. That the Giants are 6-2 means both that there are elements of this Giants team Schoen wants to incorporate into his build, and that he is hoarding cap space to add those players he wants in the years beyond 2022.

All of which makes his comments on potential contract extensions for quarterback Daniel Jones and running back Saquon Barkley, each in their final season of their current deals, so interesting.

“Yeah, we’ll have those meetings this week,” Schoen said of contract extension evaluations. “We’ll talk about it if we want to (do something). We had to get through the trade deadline today and those conversations. We’ll kind of circle up with some strategy meetings as we move forward on contract extensions and if we may or may not do anybody. If I did, this would be the week. I would want to entertain it during the bye week, and then I probably won’t do anything after that. I don’t want anything to be a distraction to the players or organization. So, if we do something, it would be probably before Monday with any of our guys. I’m not saying him, but when we have those conversations.”

All of which means that for Barkley and Jones, whatever their price to avoid hitting the open market will either be met, or not, by the Giants over the next 72 hours. In each case, they’ve built a walk-year resume that will put them at or near the top of the free agent market at key skill positions.

So really, the Giants could be waiting them out in free agency, but short of an injury, it’s hard to imagine their prices going down between now and then. What Joe Schoen is really telling us, over these next 72 hours, is just how he sees the 2023 Giants, and whether Jones and Barkley are part of his vision.