Insider reveals 'magic number' for Giants to retain Brian Daboll, Joe Schoen

While New York Giants co-owner John Mara strongly suggested in October he would retain general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll despite the team's woeful record, ESPN's Adam Schefter raised eyebrows when he said this past Monday he didn't know for sure that either Schoen or Daboll is safe. 

For a mailbag published on Wednesday, NFL insider Connor Hughes of SNY touched upon what the 2-8 Giants may need to achieve through Week 18 for Mara to run it back with Schoen and Daboll.

"It is entirely possible they finish this season 2-15, 3-14," Hughes said about the Giants. "It’s hard to foresee any situation, talking to sources, where Mara allows the regime to return with that mark. They will have regressed every season from their first together. The magic number is five. You can back a return if the Giants finish the year 3-4."

The Giants come off their Week 11 bye with a home game versus the 4-6 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. From there, New York plays a beat-up Dallas Cowboys (3-6) side, a New Orleans Saints (3-7) team with an interim head coach, the top-tier Baltimore Ravens (7-3), the talented Atlanta Falcons (6-4), an Indianapolis Colts (4-6) side going through another quarterback change and a Philadelphia Eagles (7-2) team that may rest starters in Week 18. 

It's not a stretch to suggest New York could trip and fall into three victories over those seven contests, but it is also worth noting that the Giants are widely expected to bench starting quarterback Daniel Jones so they can release him this coming offseason. Regardless of what fans think about Jones, Daboll made it clear through this past Sunday's loss to the lowly Carolina Panthers that he felt the 2019 first-round draft pick is the best player in a quarterback room also occupied by Drew Lock and 2023 undrafted rookie Tommy DeVito. 

The possibility exists that Daboll doesn't care about the injury guarantee attached to Jones' contract and will do whatever he thinks is necessary in his pursuit of three wins over seven games. Then again, Daboll benching Jones could be a sign that Mara has ensured everybody involved they're staying put through at least the start of the 2025 campaign.