Joe Schoen isn’t going anywhere. The New York Giants confirmed they are keeping their general manager in place for a fifth season, as Schoen will lead the team’s search for a new head coach.

“The 2025 season has been deeply disappointing, and the results on the field have not lived up to the standard this organization and our fans expect,” team co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch said in a statement. “Joe Schoen will remain our general manager and continue to lead our football operations and the search for our next head coach. Continuity and stability in the front office is important to our progress.

“We believe in our young core of talent, which we can build around for future success.”

The decision to stick with Schoen comes as the Giants finished the season 4-13 following Sunday’s season-ending 34-17 win over the division rival Dallas Cowboys. This was the third year in a row the team lost double-digit games. During Schoen’s tenure as GM, the Giants have gone 22-45-1 and reached the playoffs only once.

To call the decision controversial is putting it mildly.

The news of Schoen sticking around for another season comes nearly two months after the Giants fired the coach Schoen hand-picked to lead New York just a few years ago. The team parted ways with Brian Daboll in early November, leaving Mike Kafka as the interim head coach. The Giants later fired defensive coordinator Shane Bowen in late November before axing assistant defensive line coach Bryan Cox last month.

Kafka went 2-5 as the interim, seemingly hurting his chances of retaining the job in 2026, which means Schoen will likely find the Giants’ next head coach outside of the building.

There was some belief that Schoen would be following Daboll out the door come season’s end, especially after the way last season ended. Giants co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch made the decision last offseason to give Schoen and Daboll another year to try and turn things around in New York despite their ugly 9-25 record over the previous two seasons.

Still, Mara threw down the gauntlet, saying after an embarrassing 2024-25 season, which included a 10-game losing streak and planes flying over MetLife Stadium demanding change, that an improved product “better not take too long because I’ve just about run out of patience.”

It seems Mara had more patience, at least for Schoen.

And, as the statement indicated, that can be tied back to the roster Schoen has constructed, even if it didn’t produce the desired results this season and only made a one-win improvement from 2024-25 to 2025-26.

On offense, an argument could be made that the offense did indeed improve, as the team finished 16th in points per game after finishing 31st last season. With significant input from Daboll, Schoen secured a potential franchise quarterback, Jaxson Dart, who has exceeded expectations as a rookie, after trading up to select him at No. 25. It’s too early to pinpoint Dart’s ceiling, but the rookie has displayed tantalizing traits and intangibles in his 11 starts.

Beyond Dart, the Giants have some young, affordable talent at running back (Cam Skattebo and Tyrone Tracy Jr.), a game-changer at wide receiver (Malik Nabers) and an interesting young tight end in Theo Johnson. The offensive line played OK this season, but it’s also the unit Schoen has largely tried to patch holes in throughout his tenure and will need to address this offseason.

But the defense has been a disappointment despite the high expectations it entered the year with after Schoen poured significant resources into the unit. The Giants spent the No. 3 pick on linebacker Abdul Carter after making some big-ticket free agent acquisitions, including cornerback Paulson Adebo and safety Jevon Holland, but those investments didn’t help elevate a defense that was once again one of the NFL’s worst (26th in points allowed per game at 25.8).

The run defense was yet again the primary culprit in the Giants’ defense’s downfall, as they surrendered the second-most yards on the ground (2,470 yards) in the NFL. Last season, they finished 27th (2,316).

Addressing the run defense will be a top priority for Schoen to tackle once the new coach is in place.

To set the timeline for when the Giants can start HC interviews:

• Anytime — Coaches not employed by an NFL team: McCarthy, Pierce.

• Wednesday-whenever — Coaches on teams not in the playoffs: Kafka, Anarumo, Nagy, Spagnuolo, Kingsbury, any fired coaches (Harbaugh,…

— Dan Duggan (@DDuggan21) January 5, 2026

On that topic, Schoen will be running the team’s pursuit of its next head coach. It’s a little too early to speculate as to whom he might be targeting, but reports from the weekend suggest Schoen will be casting a wide net in order to find the franchise’s next coach. The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reported that the team has a list of 10 to 15 potential candidates, with Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy, Indianapolis Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo and Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury expected to be among them.