Giants Could Turn Play Calling Back to Mike Kafka

New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll was given a second chance to save his job. Despite the football world expecting news out of Giants headquarters on Black Monday, owner John Mara stood by the current regime. No longer was Daboll a dead man walking, a coach skewered by the misfortune of a quarterback decision that wasn’t his to make.

With the opportunity of the 2025 season comes the chance to fix some of the things that went wrong in 2024. New York signed quarterback Russell Wilson and drafted Jaxson Dart to fortify the short- and long-term future of the position. On defense, general manager Joe Schoen revamped the secondary in free agency with an eye toward creating turnovers.

On the field, this is undoubtedly a more talented team than a season ago. But part of Daboll’s changes could come a few steps away from the sidelines.

The Giants hinted at a potential play-caller change at organized team activities (OTAs) when offensive coordinator Mike Kafka was radioing in the calls, per Pat Leonard.

That would be a distinct change from 2024, when Daboll was calling plays for New York’s offense. Notably, head coaches who initially delegate that duty often take it back when they feel their backs against the wall, a matter of going down on their own terms. Daboll did that, but lived to tell the story.

As such, it makes some sense to give that job back to Kafka, who admittedly had more success. Kafka was calling plays for the 2022 playoff run, and the offense wasn’t quite as bad in 2023 as it was in 2024.

While Kafka seems to be calling plays for now, Daboll’s comments in April suggest a longer time for the decision.

"Look, I have confidence in our staff," Daboll said. "I have confidence in Mike. I have confidence in the offensive guys. Again, what changes will be made, I'm going to go through the offseason and OTAs.

"You're going to see, I know last year you saw me with the microphone, holding it, the walkie-talkie. You'll see Mike with the microphone at times this year. We will go through that whole process leading to the preseason games and see where we are. To answer your question, I got to do both jobs better."

Given how helpful it would be to have continuity throughout the offseason program, Kafka should be considered the favorite to call the shots on offense in 2025, even if the decision isn’t official just yet.