Joe Schoen Offers Glimpse into Giants' Roster Building Plans

How much will free agency factor into the Giants' 2023 roster construction?

If New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen had his way, he'd be able to keep all of his 20 soon-to-be unrestricted free agents around for 2023.

Such, however, will not be the case, as the Giants desperately need to close the gap between themselves and the rest of the NFC East if they're ever to give themselves a legitimate chance at winning the Super Bowl. 

The Giants had the worst won-loss-tie record against divisional foes this year, finishing 1-4-1. Washington, who didn't make the playoffs, finished a game better at 2-3-1, while Dallas and the Eagles, both of whom had higher playoff seeds than the Giants, both finished 4-2.

Schoen acknowledged the obvious, given how the Giants were blown out twice this year by the Eagles in their three meetings (including the divisional playoff game).

"I know Philly more intimately, and I would say yes, there, there's a talent gap that we need to close," he said. 

"It's the NFC East. If you win the division, the rest takes care of itself. So that's always gonna be a goal of ours, to close that gap and, you know, be NFC East Champs."

While Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll, both of whom addressed the media to put a bow on the 2022 season, won't admit it, the playoff loss to the Eagles exposed the Giants' biggest weaknesses at linebacker, offensive line, receiver, and cornerback. 

Schoen has said that he would prefer to draft, develop and retain long-term answers at every position. However, that's not always practical, which is where free agency comes into play. 

"If you get the right guys and they're durable--typically when you're signing outside your building, you're paying those guys a little bit of money," Schoen said. "If they stay healthy and produce at the level, then, yeah (it helps). 

"It's a tool we use before the draft, and we develop players in your system already in your building. You can't do a lot of research on some players that are with different teams, or you don't know their work ethic or their injury history. So I think when making those financial decisions, you have intimate knowledge of the players. I think there's less margin for error. 

With Schoen sounding like he intends to use free agency sparingly, the next obvious question is whether there are players out there he feels might fit into what the Giants are building. 

"You can look at it today, and it's gonna change by the time we get there because a lot of times the good players that are UFAs end up staying with their team," he said.  

"We'll start our free agent meetings next week and devise a plan for the players we may want to target, but there are some players out there that would help us."

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