Giants' John Harbaugh may have made final Joe Schoen decision

Numerous reports surfaced in late April suggesting that New York Giants head coach and true head of football operations John Harbaugh could part ways with general manager Joe Schoen in May. 

However, there continues to be no indication that Harbaugh will make a move before Giants players begin their summer breaks in June. As far as outsiders know, Schoen is still in the final year of his contract. For a mailbag published on Thursday, Giants insider Dan Duggan of The Athletic was asked about Schoen's future with the organization.

Is Joe Schoen safe in his job through the 2026 season?

"There hasn’t been any word on general manager Joe Schoen’s status, which is a strong sign that he’s safe, for now," Duggan wrote. "Beyond that, his status remains unclear. Schoen is clearly liked by ownership, but two prime opportunities to extend him — after coach John Harbaugh’s hiring and after the draft — have passed. (There’s no official transaction wire for executive contracts like there is for player signings, but news of an extension likely would have leaked.) Bears general manager Ryan Poles, who was in a similar position to Schoen last offseason, received an extension in July to sync his contract with coach Ben Johnson’s. Perhaps the Giants will operate on a similar timeline?"

Duggan added that "there really isn’t any downside to just letting the final year of [Schoen's] contract play out at this point." Schoen and Harbaugh seem to have a "great" working relationship. Schoen was able to at least assist in the Giants' trade of star defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II to the Cincinnati Bengals, and Schoen also scouted players drafted by the Giants in April. 

What does Joe Schoen do with John Harbaugh running the Giants?

Giants senior vice president of football operations and strategy Dawn Aponte reports to Harbaugh, who reports directly to team co-owner John Mara. Meanwhile, a February story claimed that Schoen had been "basically relegated to handling scouting." 

Thus, it's understandable that one reader asked Duggan about Schoen's day-to-day duties under Harbaugh.

"Schoen and his staff are immersed in scouting draft prospects 365 days a year in a way that’s impossible for a coach to do," Duggan explained. "Schoen clearly still has a prominent role in that process. His staff will spend the months leading into the season scouring the waiver wire and scouting other teams in the hopes of finding hidden gems after cut day. The biggest difference looming over everything is that the head coach is at the top of the organization’s new power structure."

It appears to outsiders that Harbaugh wants to keep Schoen around through at least the end of springtime workouts. Perhaps Harbaugh wants to see what he can get out of players previously drafted by Schoen before a final decision is made about the executive's future.