INDIANAPOLIS – It seemed fitting Tuesday that Joe Schoen followed Brandon Beane to Podium No. 5 inside the Indiana Convention Center.
Schoen, the New York Giants’ general manager, previously spent the past five seasons as the assistant general manager to Beane with the Buffalo Bills, so he was once again following in his footsteps at the NFL scouting combine.
“All those good things he said about me are very true,” Schoen joked when his news conference began shortly after Beane left the podium. “We could be here all day talking about what I’ve taken from Brandon, whether it’s how to treat people around the building, how to build through the draft, free agency, throughout the entire football organization, training room, strength staff, you name it. Again, I’m fortunate that he put me in his pocket and allowed me to go along for the ride during my five years in Buffalo. I can’t thank him enough for that opportunity.”
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Schoen amassed plenty of institutional knowledge during his five years with the Bills. So much so, in fact, that Beane was asked just how well Schoen knows the Bills’ draft board, and whether that matters.
“Joe knows the fall grades, how our scouts had 'em and he knows the December looks, but he doesn't know the tweaks that we've made in February,” Beane said. “We just met for nine days with the scouts. He'll have his own ideas and that stuff.”
Does that mean the Bills have to be mindful of where the Giants are picking in the draft?
“Yes and no,” Beane said. “I mean, every team's got their own way of doing things. … I haven't looked at the full draft. I know he's at five and seven (in the first round). … We're going to be picking at different parts of the round, unless he trades up. Now, if he trades in front of me, I'm gonna call ‘BS.’ But hopefully that doesn't happen, hopefully we're allies through this process. I don't want us to have to get the golf clubs out.”
There is no doubt Schoen has his work cut out for him in New York. The Giants need to trim some $40 million from their salary cap, the GM said, and started that process Wednesday by releasing veteran tight end Kyle Rudolph, a move that saved $5.2 million.
It’s the first of what promise to be plenty of moves to come for a team that finished 4-13 last season.
“There’s a lot of contingency plans that weigh on some of the decisions that we’re going to make,” Schoen said. “We’re getting together with some of the agents of the players on our current roster and starting some initial conversations on different things. Sooner than later, we’ll start making the necessary moves to get under the salary cap and start planning for the 2022 season.”
Schoen has experience in going through the process. The Bills all but punted on the 2018 season – quarterback Josh Allen’s rookie year – by absorbing a massive amount of dead money on their salary cap, effectively resetting it for years to come. Schoen will undoubtedly use some of what he learned that year as he approaches dealing with the salary cap.
“I came up on the personnel side, the traditional scouting path, if you will,” Schoen said. “There’s a lot more to the job than just sitting in your office and watching film for 12 hours a day. Brandon came up the football operations side, and he can evaluate and he can scout and when he became a GM, really dove into the personnel side. His exposure to the football operation and his background in that area is really what I wasn’t exposed to, so those five years were invaluable in terms of how to manage and lead an entire football operation. Again, you’re not sitting in my office for 12 hours a day. It’s a revolving door. Kind of the days of watching film for 12 hours uninterrupted, those days are over.”
Schoen said Tuesday the Giants will consider everything to get their financial picture right, up to and including trading running back Saquon Barkley, the former No. 2 overall pick of the draft. That move would save $7.2 million against the cap and the return, likely in the form of draft picks, would aid in the Giants’ rebuild.
Another huge question Schoen has to answer is what to do with cornerback James Bradberry, New York’s best player at that position. Bradberry is scheduled to count $21.8 million against the salary cap in 2022, and releasing or trading him could save $12.1 million. Bradberry, 28, is a former second-round pick of the Carolina Panthers when Beane and Bills coach Sean McDermott was there, so it doesn’t take much dot connecting to think there could be at least a phone call between Beane and Schoen to see if a deal makes sense for both sides.
“We’re still working through that, but I’m open to everything,” Schoen said of making trades. “I’ll listen to anybody if it’s trading a couple players. I’m not going to say the entire roster, we’re open for business on the entire roster, but if anybody’s going to call and they’re interested in any of our players, I’ll certainly listen. Again, we’re in a situation where, unfortunately, we have to get under the salary cap and we’re not in very good salary cap health. I’m not going to say yes to every deal, but I’m definitely going to listen and I’ll be open to the situations that are best for the New York Giants.”
Of course, it’s not only Schoen who moved from Western New York downstate. His first major move was hiring former Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll as his new head coach. Daboll has since brought former Bills assistant coaches Bobby Johnson and Shea Tierney to join his staff as offensive line coach and quarterbacks coach, respectively.
“Those are really good people,” Beane said. “It's bittersweet. We're going to miss them personally and professionally, but wish them nothing but the best. And I'm confident that they'll do a really good job for the Giants. I'm glad it's not in the division. I'm glad it's in the NFC. And I'm sure we'll all share ideas as we kind of move along in whatever process, free agency, the draft, who knows, maybe preseason.”
