The NFL will hold its annual meeting this week down in Orlando and New York Giants CEO John Mara is expected to formally field questions from the media for the first time in nearly a year.
Mara, once accused of being too “hands-on” and influential over the team’s direction, has basically stepped back since hiring Joe Schoen as general manager back in 2022.
NJ.com’s Darryl Slater recently wrote a piece about what subjects Mara might be probed about. They appear to range from his patience level with the current management team and coaching staff to the draft to his perception of how close the team is to contending after a 6-11 showing last season.
“The Giants last reached (and won) the Super Bowl after the 2011 season,” writes Slater. “In 12 seasons since, they have reached the playoffs twice — a one-and-done trip in 2016 and the 1-1 divisional round trip in 2022. Mara isn’t getting any younger (and probably isn’t getting any more patient). He turns 70 in December. Since that most recent Super Bowl title, the Giants have endured records of 9-7, 7-9, 6-10, 6-10, 11-5, 3-13, 5-11, 4-12, 6-10, 4-13, 9-7-1, and 6-11.
Their fans are fed up. Is Mara?”
That is a good point to ponder. Mara’s father, Wellington, viewed the fans as “customers” and even went through the fan mail personally, addressing and answering each letter and concern.
His son appears to be just as caring but the pro sports paradigm has changed vastly since those days. There is a formula for winning in the NFL now that allows the “meek” to “inherit the earth” so to speak. No team should have more than three consecutive losing seasons if they follow the formula.
The Giants veered away from that in the latter days of Jerry Reese’s stewardship and it continued through the archaic, old-school tenure of Dave Gettleman.
With Schoen still putting his stamp on the team, Mara has little choice but to sit back and see how things unfold. The Giants have a chance to draft a new quarterback and move on from Daniel Jones, of whom Mara was a chief proponent.
We’ll find out just how much faith he has in Schoen this week. Schoen’s performance in free agency has far onshore his record in the draft. He may have to outperform this year to gain Mara’s full support again.
