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Giants GM Joe Schoen's Comment to Bears GM Ryan Poles Creates a Stir on Hard Knocks

Why general manager Joe Schoen's throwaway line to Bears GM Ryan Poles raised eyebrows.

Patricia Traina

Jul 26, 2024; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen looks on during training camp at Quest Diagnostics Training Center.
Jul 26, 2024; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen looks on during training camp at Quest Diagnostics Training Center. / Lucas Boland-Imagn Images
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The New York Giants, fresh off their turn as stars in HBO’s popular Hard Knocks series, made a cameo appearance on the current edition covering the Chicago Bears' preseason.

The clip in question showed Giants general manager Joe Schoen conversing with Bears general manager Ryan Poles during warm-ups on August 31, prior to Saturday's Clemson-Georgia game.

In the clip, Schoen is heard congratulating Poles on having landed quarterback Caleb Williams as the team’s franchise quarterback, saying, "Gotta be nice not to be looking at the, uh ..."

"Quarterbacks?" Poles said, finishing Schoen's sentence before adding, "Hopefully it stays that way for a long time," Poles said.

The clip has been interpreted by some as a diss on Giants’ starter Daniel Jones, who, as was revealed during the Giants’ appearance on Hard Knock, was facing the possibility of being replaced by a rookie had Schoen and the Giants been able to engineer a trade up in the draft order to make it happen.

In the series, Schoen also revealed a conversation he had with Jones off camera in which he made the team’s first-round pick from 2019 aware that he might see some of the big-name quarterbacks come through the building as part of the Top 30 draft visits.

Schoen, who, through the series, spoke of the uncertainty as to whether Jones would be ready for the start of the 2024 season since he was still rehabbing his ACL then, leaned on that as one of the team's main concerns about the position.

The problem with the scenario is that SChoen and the Giants appeared willing to trade multiple draft assets to move up if the Patriots had been willing to move off of selecting Drake Maye out of North Carolina.

The Giants' considering a trade involving assets suggested they were looking toward the long-term future rather than having a temporary backup plan in place should Jones not receive clearance to start the season.

The Giants instead pivoted and selected receiver Malik Nabers out of LSU with the sixth overall pick in the draft, giving Joins his first legitimate No. 1 receiver of his career.

The Giants also upgraded the offensive line with veterans, and they’re having head coach Brian Daboll call the plays this year, all in an attempt to create a solid atmosphere for Jones and the offense to succeed.  

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Patricia Traina

PATRICIA TRAINA

Patricia Traina has covered the New York Giants for over three decades for various media outlets. She is the host of the Locked On Giants podcast and the author of "The Big 50: New York Giants: The Men and Moments that Made the New York Giants" (Triumph Books, September 2020). View Patricia's full bio.

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