NFL Rumors: Teams Have ‘WILD’ Reaction to Giants, Jags Not Firing GMs Schoen, Baalke

Teams around the NFL are apparently just as surprised as fans that the Jacksonville Jaguars and New York Giants are keeping their respective general managers after horrendous performances in the 2024 season.

Per The Athletic’s Dianna Russini, the reactions from others around the league is “WILD” after Trent Baalke and Joe Schoen were able to retain their jobs.

Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz corroborated that response by offering some of the messages he received specifically about Baalke.

The Giants announced on Monday morning that Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll will return next season.

Jacksonville did fire Doug Pederson, but team owner Shad Khan’s statement announcing the move said he will “collaborate” with Baalke and others in the organization to find a new head coach.

Schoen retaining his job, while frustrating to Giants fans who want immediate change, is not a surprise. Team owner John Mara told reporters in October he didn’t “anticipate” firing either Schoen or Daboll in the offseason.

The Giants aren’t an organization that is generally patient just for the sake of continuity. Former head coaches Ben McAdoo, Joe Judge and Pat Shurmur were all fired within two seasons.

Dave Gettleman, who was GM from 2018 to ’21, is the only Giants general manager who lasted fewer than five seasons with the club since 1947. He didn’t even get fired, but opted to retire after the 2021 season.

Baalke’s continued employment by the Jaguars is stunning because Khan said in no uncertain terms he expected the team to be a contender in 2024.

“Make no mistake: this is the best team assembled by the Jacksonville Jaguars ever,” Khan said in an in-house documentary that was released in September. “Best players. Best coaches. But most importantly, let’s prove it by winning now.”

The Jaguars responded by going 4-13. You can’t even attribute that record to Trevor Lawrence missing seven games due to injuries because they were only 2-8 in the 10 games he played.

Jacksonville has two winning seasons and one playoff appearance in four seasons with Baalke as general manager. He has been heavily criticized for bad contracts handed out in free agency.

Even though Travon Walker has turned into a solid pass-rusher after being selected No. 1 overall in the 2022 NFL draft, Aidan Hutchinson is clearly the superior player when healthy. He wound up going second to the Detroit Lions in that class.