Why Giants’ make-or-break season could open the door for Bill Belichick

New York Giants co-owner John Mara said that head coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen know exactly what is expected of them this season after last year’s lackluster 6-11 finish.

“I obviously want to show significant improvement over last year, but I’m not going to make any specific guarantees or demands,” Mara said to reporters Thursday. “But they know what I want to see.”

That said, is this a make-or-break season for the Giants, and who’s to blame if they come up short once again?

“In New York sports — wherever you go — there’s one goal in common and that is to win championships,” John Fanta said on Friday’s edition of “The Carton Show.” “The Giants are the furthest thing from that right now. 

“I don’t think that this is on Brian Daboll one bit. This is on Joe Schoen for his decisions the last couple of years. … How is Brian Daboll supposed to win at a high level [with that roster]?”

“I think if they’re around .500 and scoring some points … Daboll is back for a fourth season,” Giants beat writer Pat Leonard said on the show. “I think you’re just looking at if they can’t get there and [if] you see some of the same issues crop up. … I think if you’re .500, you can at least walk into the owner’s office at the end of the year and say, ‘We have a better record than we did last year, and we were able to kind of put the pieces back together.'”

Daboll joined the Giants — who landed at No. 29 on our preseason Power Rankings list — in 2022. Over two seasons, he has a 16-19-1 overall record, 15-18-1 in the regular season and 1-1 in the postseason. The Giants were knocked out of the 2022 postseason in a divisional-round loss to the Eagles. Prior to that, they hadn’t made the playoffs since 2016.

The Giants upgraded their offensive line this offseason with the addition of veterans Jon Runyan, Jermaine Eluemunor and Greg Van Roten. They also added first-round draft pick and standout receiver Malik Nabers to the mix, along with veteran running back Devin Singletary to replace Saquon Barkley. 

Leonard went on to say that he believes Mara would pursue Bill Belichick if Daboll and the team parted ways this year.

“I believe the Cowboys and the Eagles have a stronger chance to land Bill than the Giants because, at that point, I think the Giants would be less ready to win and [in] more of a rebuild,” Leonard said. “Bill [is] getting up there [in age], and I think it would be more attractive to him to inherit some talent in Dallas [or] Philadelphia. 

“But not only is he still connected to [the Giants], it’s also where his heart is. [New York] is where he made his bones before he became the greatest coach in NFL history. There’s going to be — in my opinion, if Brian Daboll gets fired — a good chance that Belichick is their first call.”

Belichick began an 11-year stint with the Giants as the team’s special teams coordinator and defensive assistant in 1979. He added linebackers coaching to his duties in 1980 and was promoted to defensive coordinator in 1985. Belichick won two Super Bowls with the Giants after the 1986 and 1990 seasons before leaving for his first NFL head-coaching position.

“I don’t think Bill Belichick goes to a situation without a quarterback either,” Craig Carton added, “and I’d make the argument [that] the Giants don’t have a quarterback and won’t next year because of Daniel Jones’ contract.”

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