Giants GM Joe Schoen basically is relegated to running the franchise’s scouting staff and department in John Harbaugh’s new organizational structure, the Daily News has been told.
The rest of the building now reports to Dawn Aponte, the team’s new senior VP of football operations and strategy, and Aponte reports to Harbaugh, the empowered head coach.
Aponte technically replaces Kevin Abrams with the same title and job description, but with Harbaugh reporting directly to ownership and Aponte reporting to Harbaugh, her responsibilities carry more weight.
The team says Aponte is responsible for “strategic planning for football operations, analytics, salary cap management, player contract negotiations, compliance and working closely with the college and pro personnel departments.”
That doesn’t leave much else.
Sources had told the News during the hiring process that they expected Harbaugh would either want Schoen out of the picture or that he would reduce Schoen’s role significantly in a more head coach-centric structure. And those sources were correct.
Reducing and isolating Schoen’s role happened quickly. Harbaugh needed final say and a direct report to Giants ownership to sign his contract, and he is not shy about reminding people who is in charge.
He actually volunteered in an interview with The Athletic that Aponte reports directly to him, a piece of information the News also had confirmed independently during Super Bowl week.
His description of his recent dynamic with Schoen implied that the GM has been handling some menial tasks in the past month.
“I had high expectations for Joe, and I would say he’s lived up to those high expectations,” Harbaugh told The Athletic. “We’ve worked really well together. We talk multiple, multiple times every day … and a lot of things come up. ‘We hired an analyst, so what are we paying him? What did the Raiders or Eagles say when we asked for permission to speak to someone?’ Joe’s been a smart judge of tactics and situations.”
Even if Harbaugh wields final say in personnel matters when free agency and the NFL Draft arrive, though, he does need someone overseeing the scouting and player side.
He is known to watch a lot of film on players, and he will speak his mind in personnel meetings and challenge colleagues on evaluations. But he is not a general manager.
He still needs someone trustworthy and qualified to steer the player selection process towards those conversations and final decisions.
So what does this mean for Schoen’s future with the organization as the GM prepares for next week’s NFL Combine press conference in Indianapolis? It depends on who you ask.
Schoen is entering the final year of his original five-year contract with the Giants.
On one hand, there have been reports that Schoen is expected to receive a contract extension after the draft and that he will be here with Harbaugh for the long haul. Schoen definitely seems to believe he is safe, or he at least wants people to believe that an extension is inevitable.
On the other hand, some sources believe Schoen could be moved out of the organization in the months following the draft in a gradual but complete transition away from the previous regime.
It is not out of the question that Schoen — a survivor, if nothing else — could find a way to stick around in the new organizational structure in his reduced role. Similar arrangements work elsewhere in the NFL.
The Los Angeles Rams are maybe the current gold standard of separating organizational responsibilities with some insulation for ownership and clear demarcations of who is in charge of what.
President Kevin Demoff handles owner Stan Kroenke’s business side. GM Les Snead is free to do what he does best: pick players and build a team. Sean McVay, who also collaborates with the agreeable Snead on the roster, coaches the team.
The Detroit Lions have president Rod Wood shepherding a large part of owner Sheila Ford Hamp’s operation. GM Brad Holmes picks the players. Dan Campbell, who has a strong voice in that collaboration, coaches them.
The Atlanta Falcons now are trying this, too: owner Arthur Blank hired Matt Ryan as his “president of football,” alongside a seemingly mostly personnel-focused GM Ian Cunningham and head coach Kevin Stefanski.
Isolating responsibilities just as easily could further expose a person’s weaknesses in their new role, however, as it could benefit them and the whole.
Schoen will need to be able to stand his ground in personnel conversations with the convicted and experienced Harbaugh and be able to discuss the players and the game on the coach’s level. Many in the league believe he will have to prove that.
Harbaugh, who has been active in speaking with the media, also needs to be able to trust that the Giants are projecting one consistent message from the building.
Information and leaks have flowed freely from the organization during Schoen’s tenure, including during the Giants’ pursuit of Harbaugh. Former head coach Brian Daboll, who deserved to be fired, just found out the hard way what happens when a collaboration with Schoen suddenly becomes every man for himself.
Harbaugh has enough power that reducing Schoen’s influence and involvement in many Giants matters may take care of that concern, but he also may decide he needs someone who has fewer national reporters on speed dial and a better track record of picking football players.
That will be up to him.
Regardless, Aponte’s hiring is the latest step in creating a new organizational structure and possibly a new day for the Giants organization. And Schoen’s job, for the next three months at least, is to evaluate players more effectively than he ever has before.
