Ex-NFL GM Rips Giants GM Joe Schoen's Roster Building (Again)

Michael Lombardi seems to have made ripping the Giants a favorite pastime.

Jul 24, 2024; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen talks to media before the start of training camp at Quest Diagnostics Training Facility. / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

The 2024 NFL season is barely two weeks old, and already the questions regarding the job security of New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll have begun to pick up steam thanks to the team’s 0-2 start. 

Those questions aren’t likely to go away any time soon, not with the six-week stretch the Giants have coming up that includes the Cleveland Browns in Week 3, the Dallas Cowboys in Week 4 on a short week, and the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 6. 

As questions continue to swirl regarding the Giants’ roster construction and management, and the results–or lack thereof–they are getting, former NFL general manager Michael Lombardi, who has three Super Bowls under his belt, had some strong words for the job Schoen has done after getting a peak behind the curtain courtesy of the Hard Knocks series that showcased the giants’ offseason.

“When you watch that, there were no models, there was no, ‘How are we building this team?’ It was really amateur hour,” Lombardi said on the latest episode of The GM Shuffle podcast. 

“What it did, it was insulting to my profession. It made people (who) hang out at sports bars think they can be a GM. So, to me, it was really embarrassing.”

Lombardi, who has been openly critical of the Giants' organization, expressed doubts about the Giants reaching five wins given how the roster has performed so far. 

“I feel bad for the Giants fans. I really do because I don’t see how it gets better,” Lombardi said. “How are they getting to five wins?”

The next step on the blame ladder is head coach Brian Daboll. Daboll took a great deal of heat following the failed roster gymnastics of not bringing in another kicker ahead of Week 2. 

The 2022 NFL “Coach of the Year” winner is facing his own share of heat just two games into his third year at the helm, mainly due to roster management decisions such as not having a backup kicker on the roster after Graham Gano tweaked his groin the day before the team’s Week 2 game against the Commanders. 

But Lombardi believes Daboll has nothing to work with.

“You can’t make chicken salad out of chicken (expletive),” Lombardi quipped.

Giants co-owner John Mara, who has said that he wants to feel good about the direction in which the franchise is heading by the end of the season, can’t be very happy at the moment given what’s transpired the last two weeks.

But at the same time, Mara, who gave Dave Gettleman, Schoen’s predecessor, four years to build the franchise into a winner, knows he has to be patient, that the Giants roster is still not completely rebuilt. 

That said, if the Giants don’t at least look competitive in their remaining games, win or lose, it’s probably fair to wonder if Mara will be looking for another general manager. 

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