Joe Schoen “Feels Good” About Giants’ Off-season Acquisitions

The Giants' general manager sounded off on Good Morning Football Tuesday morning ahead of the final joint practice with the Detroit Lions.

Jul 26, 2024; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen looks on during Quest Diagnostics Training Center training camp. / Lucas Boland-USA TODAY Sports

Quite often, an NFL team will make a hefty investment in a big-ticket player, be it via the draft, free agency, or a trade, only to find that the investment doesn’t yield the desired returns.

However, for New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen, when it comes to veteran linebacker Brian Burns, acquired via trade from the Carolina Panthers, and receiver  Malik Nabers, their first-round draft pick this year, so far, so good.

 "[Nabers] has had a real good couple of weeks here,” Schoen told Kyle Brandt and Peter Schrager during a Tuesday morning appearance on Good Morning Football.  

“He's exactly what we saw at LSU. He was a dominant player in the SEC. We are able to move him around, and he's handling a lot right now. It's definitely encouraging where he is right now. He's able to go out and execute."

Of Burns, acquired via trade with the Carolina Panthers, Schoen said, the veteran is having “a terrific camp” so far, a prelude to Burns’s wrapping up another big day against the Lions in which he continued to live in their backfield.

Schoen was asked about running back Saquon Barkley, whose departure from the team was played out on Hard Knocks, and admitted that it was difficult to see the running back leave.

“It will be tough to see him twice a year," Schoen said. "He's a great kid–had a lot of production here. You can’t re-sign and keep everybody–that's just. not the reality,"

Schrager and Brandt asked Schoen about the quarterback situation, specifically the revelation on Hard Knocks that the Giants were seriously considering trading up in the draft for a new signal-caller to potentially replace incumbent Daniel Jones.

Schoen, who expressed some remorse that that footage was left in, reiterated what he told the media at the start of training camp and what he also said on the series. 

"I had a conversation with Daniel–I believe it was in episode four. We wanted to be upfront with him," Schoen said, adding that at the time, there were still questions as to how Jones’s recovery from a torn ACL might affect the football team’s needs. 

"Every patient reacts differently to surgeries. We did not know if he was having any setbacks. We were doing our due diligence. It was obviously a little uncomfortable. Did he love it? No, but he understood what we were doing and where we were coming from."

Schoen went on to say that he is very pleased with Jones's rehab and with his performance so far in training camp.

"I feel good about him. He had a really good day [Monday].. It’s only natural at the position to have a little rust when you come back from the ACL," Schoen said. 

"He's progressing in the right direction. I think with the upgrades to the offensive line and the weapons we brought in, he will be fine. We are expecting big things out of Daniel."

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