Mike Kafka’s first major move as the Giants’ interim head coach only intensified the spotlight on something this beaten-down team’s fans have known for a while: Joe Schoen has failed as general manager.
Kafka on Wednesday demoted quarterback Russell Wilson — who went 0-3 as the starter to open this year — from Jaxson Dart’s understudy to the third-string option, behind another fading veteran, Jameis Winston.
With Dart recovering from a concussion suffered Sunday — making him unlikely to start this week against Green Bay — Winston will get the nod. There’s a decent chance he starts next week in Detroit, too.
Kafka unequivocally said Wednesday that demoting Wilson in favor of Winston was his call — and his call alone. And while he wouldn’t commit to the new pecking order — Dart, Winston, Wilson — for the final seven games of this disastrous 2-8 season, Kafka would be foolish to let Wilson step foot on the field again, barring injuries to Dart and Winston.
Schoen signing the 36-year-old Wilson — who obviously was declining — to a one-year, $10.5 million contract has proven to be a terrible move. But that’s par for the course for Schoen, who somehow survived Brian Daboll’s firing (for now) and will lead the search to replace Daboll.
Giants co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch are inexplicably trusting Schoen — who drafted Dart because Daboll wanted him so badly — to build around this promising rookie. How will that turn out for them?
Schoen thinking Wilson still had enough good football left in him clearly isn’t his worst move as GM. There are plenty of other contenders. But Wilson has been such a disaster — for two of those first three games and then again Sunday in Chicago — that Schoen’s logic now looks laughable.
Again, though, there are so many other mistakes on Schoen’s Giants record, beyond just signing Wilson and letting Saquon Barkley leave for the Eagles. Even if you zero in on the draft — which is how the best GMs build a winner — you’ll find a pile of brutal picks.
Schoen drafted these underwhelming players in the top 100 from 2022-24: Evan Neal, Josh Ezeudu, Deonte Banks, John Michael Schmitz, Jalin Hyatt and Tyler Nubin.
That means six of Schoen’s 11 top-100 picks over his first three drafts have failed to live up to expectations, including all three of the players he selected in those premium slots in 2023 (Banks, Schmitz and Hyatt).
But Giants fans already know that. It’s a big reason why Daboll (who stunk as a coach) is gone and this team is 2-8 — after opening last year 2-13 and the 2023 season 2-8, before finally getting its third win.
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