Giants rumors: ESPN insider wonders if Joe Schoen could go way of Trent Baalke

Giants rumors are shifting from who gets the next coaching job to who gets to hire that coach, even after Mike Kafka finally put a stop to New York’s nine-game skid with a 34-10 win over the Raiders and called it a three-phase effort that started with better execution up front and timely plays across the board.

That’s where ESPN’s Dan Graziano drops the real tension into the room. He wrote that he hasn’t heard anything suggesting Browns GM Andrew Berry is in trouble, but he’s still hearing people keep an eye on the Giants after Brian Daboll’s midseason firing.

The idea was that GM Joe Schoen would run the coaching search, yet the team hasn’t done much since then besides keep losing, which naturally turns the spotlight upward.

Graziano added that, from what he can gather, Schoen is aligned with the other decision-makers in the building, but the record during his tenure is poor enough that “eyeballs are on this situation.”

In other words, even if the relationships inside the building are smooth, the standings don’t care, and neither do the people making comparisons around the league.

And that comparison is the nerve of the rumor. Graziano said some people wonder if this could mirror what happened in Jacksonville last offseason, when the Jaguars publicly said GM Trent Baalke would lead their coaching search, then fired him anyway to help entice Liam Coen into taking the head coaching job.

The implication is clear for them: if the Giants decide they need a cleaner pitch to a top candidate, the GM seat can become part of the negotiation.

On the field, Kafka has tried to shut down the noise about a quarterback reset by backing rookie Jaxson Dart, saying he has no doubts Dart can be the franchise guy, even with the ups and downs that come with his aggressive style and the hits he’s taken.

With one game left, the Giants finally have a win to point to. But the ESPN framing makes it clear the bigger evaluation may be happening above the locker room.

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