Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, meanwhile, now faces the task of replacing a veteran head coach who got MVP-level play out of quarterback Dak Prescott in 2023, despite a disappointing past 13 months that fell short of expectations.

What dominoes will fall due to McCarthy’s availability? It could have a ripple effect on a lot of franchises:

The Cowboys: Presumably Dallas believes it can either land Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, or it has a chance to acquire a general like the Steelers’ Mike Tomlin via trade. Jones could view Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore as his next Jason Garrett, but that would be a mistake. Moore’s questionable, pass-heavy play-calling in key spots of Sunday’s Eagles playoff win was the latest reason why. Bill Belichick was long rumored as a fit in Dallas post-McCarthy, but he carries a $10 million buyout at North Carolina until June. It’s also hard to imagine Cowboys players not getting whiplash if Belichick instilled no-nonsense accountability.

The Jets and Giants: If the Giants were able to, they should hire McCarthy tomorrow. His pedigree with quarterbacks, his consistent ability to score points, and his experience running a team all would be immediate upgrades for their program. Co-owner John Mara already recommitted to GM Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll, so this is probably a moot point. Still, the Giants interviewed McCarthy for their head coaching vacancy back in 2020, and McCarthy just went 8-1 against them head-to-head as Dallas’ head coach. It’s worth putting out strong feelers to gauge his interest through back-channels. Frankly, Cowboys GM Will McClay and McCarthy would be a home run duo to hire for any franchise in need of a shift.

The Bears: It’s not crazy to think Chicago’s Williams could immediately flash his No. 1 overall pick pedigree in year two with a quarterback whisperer like McCarthy in his ear, compared to this past season’s learning experience with fired coach Matt Eberflus and fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron. The NFC North is the toughest division in football, and the Bears have a president in former Big 10 commissioner Kevin Warren who wields a lot of power for a non-football executive. But this would be a better job for McCarthy than New Orleans, Jacksonville or either New York team, it would seem, given that the QB is already in place.

The Raiders: The Lions’ Johnson seems like the clear frontrunner to take over in Las Vegas, where minority owner Tom Brady is trying to help owner Marc Davis build a winner. If Dallas swoops in to court Johnson, however, McCarthy could enter the Las Vegas sweepstakes as a trusted veteran coach who may be able to steady the Raiders’ sunken ship. That could take some convincing of McCarthy, because he’d be more likely to inherit a program that he believes is closer to competing than Vegas. Still, opportunity and money might make a strong enough case.

COMMANDERS NOT A BLUEPRINT

Magic Johnson found the cameras on Sunday night and then told the media not to make Washington’s Wild Card playoff win about him. But it was good timing for the minority Commanders owner to grandstand in the spotlight.

Because it was a good reminder that Washington’s immediate turnaround is about way more even than drafting a new star quarterback in No. 2 overall pick Jayden Daniels. And that is exactly what Daniels is: a star.

The harsh reality for franchises like the Titans, Giants and Raiders – who are selling hope of a single quarterback draft pick like Daniels turning their own operation around – is that Washington improved because it changed everything.

Everything. From the top-down. Owner, general manager, head coach, quarterback and offensive and defensive coordinators.

Owner Josh Harris, GM Adam Peters, head coach Dan Quinn, Daniels, offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury and defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. are wall-to-wall improvements on predecessors Dan Snyder, Martin Mayhew, Ron Rivera, Sam Howell, Eric Bieniemy and Jack Del Rio, respectively.

Peters and Quinn also inherited some talent like wide receiver Terry McLaurin, running back Brian Robinson Jr. and defensive linemen Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne.

Finding the quarterback ties it all together, no doubt. But the Houston Texans are another example of why an immediate turnaround – even with a promising young QB – isn’t necessarily replicable.

Quarterback C.J. Stroud, the No. 2 overall pick in 2023, is a superstar. Still, he hasn’t done this alone.

Texans GM Nick Caserio used a motherload of draft picks from his trade of former quarterback Deshaun Watson to restock his roster and surround Stroud with pieces once he arrived.

Caserio has drafted wide receiver Nico Collins (third round), edge rusher Will Anderson (first round), corners Derek Stingley Jr. (first round) and Kamari Lassiter (second round), safeties Calen Bullock (third round) and Jalen Pitre (second round) and other key pieces since taking over in 2021.

Getting the quarterback is imperative, but it also takes special circumstances and making the right hires or draft picks to pull a franchise out of the depths and into the light.

AROUND THE PLAYOFFS

Go figure that the recently underwhelming Texans (32) would score the most points of any team on Wild Card weekend. Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert threw more interceptions in L.A’s playoff loss (four) than he had all regular season (three) … Lamar Jackson’s Ravens against Buffalo’s Josh Allen in the upcoming Divisional Round might end up being the game of the year. Neither offense is showing any signs of slowing down. Jackson and Allen are the top two MVP frontrunners, and both quarterbacks are under pressure to finally win in the playoffs. The loser of this game will dwell for a long time on a missed opportunity after an explosive regular season … The Eagles should beat the winner of Monday night’s Vikings-Rams Wild Card game. But if Moore, their offensive coordinator, keeps abandoning Saquon Barkley and the running game – especially in the red zone – they will be eliminated at home … No coordinator has had a bigger impact on his team this season than Philadelphia defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. Three interceptions and only 10 points allowed against a solid Packers team, led by first-team All-Pro linebacker Zach Baun, a former special teamer signed and moved inside just this past offseason. … Fangio’s continued success is a reminder of why Michigan DC Wink Martindale could make a return to the NFL in this cycle. Fangrio’s experience, attitude and scheme has transformed and strengthened the Eagles, and Martindale has that effect wherever he goes, too. … The Giants seem to want it both ways with defensive coordinator Shane Bowen: no blood on their hands if he leaves, and full confidence in him if he stays. Regardless, no one is spending more time on how Bowen’s status looks to the outside world than they are, that’s for sure.

All the owner did, by acting as quickly as he did once the season was over, was try to look confident giving both of them what sounded more like a no-confidence vote the longer he spoke with the media.

“[It] better not take too long [for them to get results], because I’ve just about run out of patience,” Mara finally said.

Of course that begged a question from just about any Giants fan I know:

You mean the season we all just witnessed didn’t get you there, patience-wise? Because if 3-14, if the bottom falling out the way it did, really from the time the Giants got thrown down a flight of steps on the opening Sunday of the season against the Vikings, wasn’t enough to make him run out of patience with his current operation, what’s it going to take?

After the mistake of having Dave Gettleman as their general manager — and, to be fair to Gettleman, both Schoen and Daboll really made the playoffs a couple of years ago with what was essentially Gettleman’s team — and the coaching mistakes that were Ben McAdoo and Pat Shurmur and the immortal Joe Judge in succession, ownership has now decided not to make any major changes between the merciful end of this season and the beginning of the next one.

Now the current management team is given the responsibility of finding the team a quarterback if Cam Ward or Shedeur Sanders doesn’t fall to the Giants at No. 3. But why would anybody think that Schoen in particular is the right guy to make as important a personnel decision, either in the short run or the long run, as any Giants general manager has ever made at quarterback?

We’ll never know how much input Mara had when the Giants decided to extend Daniel Jones, and for big money, after Jones won them the one playoff game the Giants have won since their last Super Bowl 13 years ago this February. All we know for sure is that Jones’ contract goes on Schoen’s permanent record, even if they were basically able to get out from under it after just two seasons.

And Schoen is the executive who, having seen what we all saw from Jones before Jones hurt his knee in the fall of 2023, came into this season with no-backup plan, none, unless you consider Drew Lock and Tommy Cutlets a big-boy solution at backup quarterback. Jones was coming off an ACL injury, it had become clear early last season that he was never going to be the player and thrower and leader that Giants so desperately wanted him to be after taking him with the No. 6 pick in the draft. So, there was no safety net, not after Schoen realized before the last NFL draft that he wasn’t going to be able to swing a deal with the Patriots and move up to draft Drake Maye.

Now there is speculation that if the Vikings decide to keep Sam Darnold and let J.J. McCarthy go, that the Giants might be in play for McCarthy if either Ward or Sanders doesn’t fall to them. Please remember something, though, if the Giants really are sweet on McCarthy now, then why weren’t they sweet on him last April when they could have taken him with that same No. 6 pick that Gettleman had once used on Jones?

There is so much that is going to happen between now and the draft this coming April, but if it really does play out this way, you have to say it would be a very Giants thing, just because of the way everything has gone with them and for them over the past several years, if they had to perhaps put a No. 1 pick into a package for a quarterback they could have had when he was coming out of Michigan.

Listen, I like John Mara. I loved his father and I loved his mother and I grew up a Giants fan in central New York. There isn’t an owner in pro sports who has more skin in the game, just because of legendary family history, than Mara does. This has been a family business for 100 years. It is a family football business here the way it is in Pittsburgh with the Rooney family and with the Halas/McCaskey family in Chicago where, by the way, as much of a mess as the Bears are, they at least go forward with Caleb Williams.

The Ford family only goes back to 1963 with the Lions. The Cowboys only go back 36 years with Jerry Jones. By the way? It is practically a national pastime, with America’s Team, to make fun of Jones for talking too much, and having one coach after another be on the hot seat down in Dallas. But lately John Mara has started to act like Jones on training wheels. He just has. He said way more than he needed to the other day when he met with the media, as a way of trying to appease his fan base for the decision he’d just made with Schoen and Daboll.

Schoen, you bet, is the guy who let Saquon Barkley, a 2,000-yard rusher, walk out the door, amidst all of his tough talk on “Hard Knocks.” We keep hearing about what a good draft he had last time around. He had a decent draft, after taking Malik Nabers at No. 7, Nabers being such a supremely talented kid and such a baller that he put up the kind of numbers he did when it sometimes had to seem as if the ball was being thrown to him by you and me.

Now Schoen stays, if for no other reason that Mara doesn’t want to hire his third general manager since the Giants won their last Super Bowl with Jerry Reese in that job. According to Mara, Daboll stays, at least in part, because he was Coach of the Year two years ago. I like Daboll, too. He did go 9-7-1 with Jones as his quarterback and the Giants did win that playoff game, on the road, with Jones at quarterback. As I’ve said before, that ain’t nothing. It also ain’t enough for Giants fans these days.

The Giants have been a hot mess. They did not become less of one last Monday morning. All John did was kick the can — what has become a tomato can — down the road. He’s been wrong about a lot of things lately. He needs to be right about this, because the ones who have run out of patience are fans as good as we have around here.

NOTRE DAME’S FREEMAN CAN REALLY COACH, BRING BACK PETE & NOT MISSING AARON THAT MUCH …

That interception Drew Allar threw at the end against Notre Dame made you wonder, in the moment, if Allar were still right-handed.

But Allar isn’t the first quarterback to throw a pick that felt like a walk-off home run, and won’t be the last.

But as bad as Allar’s throw was on Thursday night, it wasn’t nearly as bad as Steve Sarkisian calling for that boneheaded sweep at the goal line at the end of Ohio State vs. Texas on Friday night.

Always remember that Peyton Manning, one of the greatest of them all, cost the Colts a Super Bowl one time when Tracy Porter of the Saints jumped a route on him in Miami.

If it can happen with somebody as great as Manning, it can happen to a college kid in the biggest game of his life.

Incidentally, and whatever happens in the championship game?

Marcus Freeman of Notre Dame has shown himself to be a total coaching star, before he turns 40.

Though you still sort of kind of have to wonder how in the world his team got beat by Northern Illinois.

If Uncle Steve can pony up $765 million for Juan Soto, there has to be a way for him to find enough money under the bed to bring back Pete Alonso.

Right?

The biggest reason of all to think that this Knicks season can end up being better — and longer — than the last one is Karl-Anthony Towns, who continues to put up Patrick Ewing numbers.

The Red Sox getting Garrett Crochet could turn out to be as big a pitching move in the AL East as the Yankees getting Max Fried.

And the Sox are spending a lot less money to do it.

How long before Kyrie gets tired of Dallas?

The Cavs and Thunder played a game the other night that reminded you of how, even in the regular season, the NBA can be so much more than a glorified game of H-O-R-S-E from out there beyond the arc.

Somehow the two teams managed to provide a terrific show while only combining for 26 made 3-pointers.

Imagine that.

The next time you’re watching one of those NFL pre-game shows, see how long they go in any given segment without cracking themselves up.

As a tennis guy, I love the Australian Open, just because it’s on when I go to bed and still on when I wake up in the morning.

I haven’t missed Aaron Rodgers this past week nearly as much as I thought I might.

I’d be perfectly fine if the Mets retired David Wright’s number twice.

Is there some way that the Giants and Jets can get clipped for congestion pricing over on Route 3?

People who still deny that climate change is real also believe that pigs can fly.

Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley and Green Bay Packers safety Xavier McKinney were both named to the Associated Press’ All-Pro First Team after Schoen let them walk in free agency last spring.

No Giants players made either the AP First or Second All-Pro teams.

And a damning anecdote about Schoen came out in an ESPN.com story about the Giants’ dysfunctional 3-14 season.

Schoen, whose negotiations with Barkley became publicly contentious and personal in 2023-24, further damaged the locker room’s trust in the Giants’ operation this season with his behavior surrounding former Giants corner Nick McCloud, according to the report.

The Giants wanted McCloud to take a pay cut before a Week 4 game against the Cowboys that McCloud was set to start. McCloud wanted to keep playing on the one-year, $2.98 million deal he had signed as a restricted free agent in the offseason.

So Schoen allegedly told McCloud’s representatives: “Don’t pay October’s rent, all right? As soon as I can replace him, I’m going to replace him. I’m not f–king around.”

Then the Giants GM hung up the phone.

McCloud started four more Giants games before being released on Nov. 5 and signing with the San Francisco 49ers.

Those kinds of vindictive and personal comments have been and will continue to be deterrents to prospective free agents, both players and coaches.

Dealing with players and agents like that creates a reputation for a GM and a team around the league.

It’s alarming that Mara and co-owner Steve Tisch would endorse this kind of behavior and stand by Schoen, whom they pay to represent the franchise in a positive way.

The other option is that they were unaware of it, but that would be damning, too, because these stories are not secrets in the NFL.

Mara, meanwhile, may want to rethink his statement that “we had a really good free agency period” last spring, as well.

That was the period that Schoen let Barkley sign with the Eagles and McKinney sign with the Packers.

Barkley just ran for 2,005 yards and scored 15 total touchdowns for the NFC East champion and No. 2-seeded Eagles, while McKinney snatched eight interceptions for the No. 7 seed Packers.

Their teams will face each other this weekend in the NFC’s Wild Card round.

The Giants will watch from their couches and, apparently, cross their fingers that players and agents and other teams don’t read or talk to each other.

Giants GM Joe Schoen, after all, was referencing the amount of salary cap space that the team will have in 2026 and not just this 2025 offseason during his Black Monday press conference, for crying out loud.

“We’re sitting here with $40-plus million in cap space and over 100 the following year,” Schoen said.

Is he concerned that he won’t get enough time to fully realize his plan?

“No,” Schoen said.

Schoen was conducting his press conference alone.

This was a stark departure from his and Daboll’s typical joint press conference setup, which they consistently have used to portray the optics of collaboration.

That’s how they met the media one year ago, for example — when they tried to run an end-around on defensive coordinator Wink Martindale by firing his top two assistants and they avoided Saquon Barkley by not holding individual exit meetings.

Martindale responded by resigning out of loyalty to Drew and Kevin Wilkins, leaving Schoen and Daboll with a 2024 defense so disappointing that John Mara hilariously complained more about Shane Bowen’s side than Daboll’s 31st-ranked offense on Monday.

Barkley left to sign with the Eagles in free agency and ran for 2,005 yards for the 14-3 NFC East champions.

On Monday, Daboll first conducted his solo press conference while standing at a podium in the Giants’ fieldhouse. He was difficult and unhelpful, but maybe he had a good reason for that.

Maybe he could see that Mara was demanding several changes in Daboll’s operation while raving about how great Schoen’s process has been assembling one of the worst rosters in the NFL.

Why wasn’t Schoen there with him?

“He’s coming out here after me — to talk,” Daboll said, the first public announcement by anyone that Schoen was even doing a presser.

The reality is many people in the NFL believe that Schoen wanted a new coach, but two primary factors stopped it:

1. This is not an attractive job to candidates

2. Firing Daboll would have ripped down the supposedly collaborative curtain behind the Wizard of Oz.

Daniel Jones is being used as this year’s scapegoat. And now it feels like Daboll is being set up to have it pinned on him in 2025 to protect Schoen into 2026.

This is the game of thrones the Giants play, though.

Getting or being closer to ownership earns people do-overs — or in some cases, lifetime contracts. And give Schoen this: while he is not good at picking players, he is a savvy and proactive politician.

Something needs to be explained further about how this all went down, though:

Mara said he met with Schoen and Daboll for “several hours” on Friday afternoon and then had a conversation with Steve Tisch “after” the other three met.

It would be helpful to know the logistics of why it happened that way and to hear from a member of the Tisch family about why they’re OK with their franchise being driven into the ground.

Schoen’s excuse-making continued on Monday.

He complained about “the injury gods” compromising his supposedly improved offensive line, one year after connecting the departure of strength and conditioning coach Craig Fitzgerald to improvements that could help the team’s injury fortunes.

By the way, the team was actually healthier to start this season and they still “stunk,” in Mara’s words.

Schoen lamented left tackle Andrew Thomas’ irreplaceable status on his roster as if that problem weren’t created by Schoen rostering his own draft pick Josh Ezeudu as Thomas’ backup tackle.

The GM revisited how in his first year running the Giants, “you’re working with a room full of people that you’re still trying to figure out” while drafting with the incumbent scouting staff.

Yeah? Was it that? Or, as Schoen slipped in later, “I reflect on some of the decisions we made and maybe where there was a blind spot or I turned a blind eye to some things that I learned from?”

Yeah, drafting Kayvon Thibodeaux and Evan Neal Nos. 5 and 7 overall were the latter.

He also took credit for correctly evaluating quarterbacks he hasn’t drafted. That is really something.

“We’ve done these quarterback deep dives the last two or three years, and I would say the players that we were high on have [gone] on to have solid rookie years or second years, whatever it may be,” Schoen said.

Does that include Bo Nix, a quarterback who just won 10 games for Denver and is starting a playoff game this weekend in Buffalo? A QB who was coached at the Senior Bowl by Daboll’s QB coach Shea Tierney, by the way.

Meanwhile, Schoen’s statistic to endorse his promising rookie draft class was how “five out of six of those guys played over 50% of the snaps.”

Does he mean that his draft picks all played a lot on arguably the worst team in Giants history, a team that finished 3-14, tied for the worst record in the NFL?

Impressive.

Who could these arguments possibly work to convince of promise in some so-called plan or process?

Giants ownership, it appears. That’s who.

Darrelle Revis won Super Bowl XLIX with the New England Patriots in 2015.

Odell Beckham Jr. caught a touchdown for the Los Angeles Rams in their Super Bowl LVI victory in 2022.

In that same game, then-Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Eli Apple was cooked by Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp, including for the game-winning touchdown.

In 2023, Kadarius Toney delivered a record-setting 65-yard punt return and caught a touchdown for the Kansas City Chiefs in their Super Bowl LVII win — mere months after being traded by the Giants.

And last year, Mecole Hardman caught the game-winning touchdown in overtime of the Chiefs’ LVIII victory — mere months after being traded by the Jets.

While the Jets and Giants missed the playoffs again this year, another one of their former players could emerge as the latest Super Bowl hero this February.

Here are notable former Jets and Giants in the 2025 NFL playoffs.

SAQUON BARKLEY, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES

The Giants’ decision last spring to let Barkley test free agency — and ultimately sign a three-year, $37.5 million deal with the hated Eagles — aged very poorly very quickly for Big Blue.

Barkley, 27, delivered a season for the ages, rushing for 2,005 yards for a Philly team that went 14-3, won the NFC East and enters the playoffs as the conference’s No. 2 seed.

It was only the ninth 2,000-yard season in NFL history. Barkley could have set the single-season rushing record — he was 101 yards away — had the Eagles not decided to rest him in Week 18 against his former team.

The only way letting Barkley go could look worse for the Giants? If the former No. 2 overall pick leads the Eagles to the second Super Bowl title in franchise history.

SAM DARNOLD, MINNESOTA VIKINGS

It took seven years for Darnold to look the part of the franchise quarterback the Jets drafted him to be with the No. 3 pick in 2018, but everything clicked for him this season in Minnesota.

Darnold, 27, blew past his career bests with 4,319 passing yards, 35 passing touchdowns and a 102.5 passer rating in leading the Vikings to a 14-3 record and the NFC’s No. 5 seed.

He excelled in coach Kevin O’Connell’s QB-friendly system and with Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson to throw to.

Darnold’s performance in his first postseason as a starter will help dictate how much money he gets this offseason — from the Vikings or someone else.

DANIEL JONES, MINNESOTA VIKINGS

Two postseasons ago, Jones and the Giants upset the Vikings in the wild-card round.

On Tuesday, the Vikings added the former Giants quarterback to their active roster in the lead-up to these playoffs’ wild-card round.

The Vikings signed Jones, 27, to their practice squad in November, shortly after the Giants cut their onetime franchise quarterback during the second season of his four-year, $160 million contract.

It is unclear if Jones would be the next man up if something happened to Darnold or if Nick Mullens remains Minnesota’s No. 2 quarterback.

XAVIER MCKINNEY, GREEN BAY PACKERS

Most of the attention last offseason centered on Giants general manager Joe Schoen letting Barkley walk, but his decision to part ways with the former second-round pick McKinney similarly backfired.

The playmaking safety ranked second in the NFL with eight interceptions in the first season of a four-year, $67 million contract with Green Bay.

McKinney, 26, recorded an interception in each of his first five games and also totaled 88 tackles, 11 passes defended and a sack.

MEKHI BECTON, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES

Becton struggled with injury and inconsistency throughout his four years with the Jets, who drafted him No. 11 overall in 2020 to be their franchise left tackle.

His departure last offseason commanded minimal fanfare, as did the one-year prove-it contract he signed with the Eagles.

But the 6-7 Becton moved to right guard and thrived with Philly, helping to open lanes for Barkley during the latter’s historic season.

Pro Football Focus ranked Becton as the 21st best guard in the NFL and gave him its 19th highest run-blocking grade.

KEVIN ZEITLER, DETROIT LIONS

Another guard who excelled for one of the NFL’s best rushing attacks was Zeitler, who spent 2019-20 with the Giants.

PFF graded Zeitler, 34, as the third-best guard in the NFL and as the second-best run blocker.

His presence proved important for a Lions offense that led the NFL with 33.2 points per game and averaged 146.4 rushing yards.

Lions running backs Jahmyr Gibbs (16) and David Montgomery (12) both scored double-digit rushing touchdowns and combined for nearly 2,200 yards on the ground.

The Giants, who have struggled for a decade to fix their offensive line, released Zeitler in 2021 in a cost-saving move.

OTHERS

Bryce Huff disappointed with only 2.5 sacks in 13 games after leaving the Jets in the offseason for a three-year, $51 million contract with the Eagles, but the linebacker recently returned from midseason wrist surgery.

Former Giants wide receiver Sterling Shepard carved out a nice role in his first season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, catching 32 passes for 334 yards and a touchdown.

Ben Bredeson, who spent the previous three seasons with the Giants, started all 17 games this year with Tampa and was rated by PFF as the NFL’s 91st-best guard.

Mike Williams caught nine passes in nine games after being traded from the Jets to the Pittsburgh Steelers in November, but his lone touchdown reception was a game-winner.

Zach Wilson, whom the Jets drafted No. 2 overall in 2021, is the Denver Broncos’ third-string quarterback and did not take a snap this season.

A more consequential ex-Jet on the Broncos is defensive tackle John Franklin-Myers, who had seven sacks and 40 tackles in his first season since leaving New York.

Jamison Crowder, who played three seasons with the Jets from 2019-21 and did not make the Giants’ roster in 2023, caught nine passes for 72 yards and two touchdowns with the Washington Commanders.

James Bradberry, a standout cornerback for the Giants from 2020-21, remains employed by the Eagles but spent the entire season on IR after suffering a lower-leg injury during an August practice.

Right guard Jon Runyan Jr. supported the GM and coach, saying “I feel comfortable with them” and the “vision they’ve installed here.” But he qualified that this doesn’t mean the Giants (3-14) can afford to stay the same.

“Something has to get better, for sure,” Runyan said. “If somebody in this building [is] comfortable with three wins on the season, they shouldn’t be here next year. … We’re not comfortable with three wins, and we’ve got to do better next season. Bottom line.”

A sluggish Malik Nabers, with a hood over his head, mustered a subdued endorsement.

“I’m happy that they’re back,” he said. “I’m trying to do better next year.”

Wide receiver Jalin Hyatt, however, failed to conceal his lack of enthusiasm.

“Yeah, that’s good — that’s good for them,” he said of Schoen and Daboll returning.

Hyatt said of his future with the team: “We’ve got some talks we gotta have, but we’ll see.”

Asked why he had a disappointing second NFL season, his review of the entire offensive system was damning:

“I don’t know,” Hyatt said. “We’ve got a lot of problems that we’ve got to fix. And that’s where I’m gonna leave it.”

Fellow wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson then posted the phrase “quality over quantity” on his Instagram story on Tuesday.

That was an obvious reference to Robinson’s limited and predictable usage in Daboll’s offense, which typically involves a short check-down underneath just in time for a linebacker to crush him.

Robinson finished the Giants’ season finale in Philadelphia with an absurd 10 catches for 43 yards.

Beyond some individual player gripes, there is a ton of uncertainty about where this program is going.

Multiple players are hopeful that consistency in the coaching staff and systems will result in faster and more effective play.

But one player said one of the Giants’ biggest issues is that they don’t have a strong enough belief as a team that they can win, dominate and overcome setbacks in games.

Daboll’s sideline tends to collectively hang its head too often when something goes wrong. The head coach’s demeanor in those moments doesn’t help players to loosen up and play freely, either.

It also said something on Monday that Dexter Lawrence, the team’s best player and a captain, didn’t show up at all to speak — although it’s not clear exactly what that message was.

Meanwhile, it was transparently hypocritical that Schoen and Daboll avoided individual player exit meetings last season — when they were orchestrating staff firings and avoiding Saquon Barkley — and then resumed them this year after winning three games.

“We didn’t like the way we did it last year, so we changed it this year,” Daboll said.

There were several players saying what Runyan and Nabers did: that they’re glad Schoen and Daboll are back.

Left tackle Andrew Thomas said of Daboll: “Continuity is a big thing in this league. He’s a great leader, a great coach.”

Middle linebacker Bobby Okereke said he’s “excited” about next year now because the Giants have a “talented roster.”

And linebacker Micah McFadden said that the defense will benefit from continuity in the system after adjusting to a new scheme in 2024.

Major questions persisted in the locker room during December and January, though, about what the team is going to do at quarterback and about what this roster is even going to look like in 2025.

Some players were tracking the NFL Draft order week-by-week down the stretch of the season just like Giants fans were, curious who had won or lost after their games.

And on Monday, when Schoen and Daboll were declared safe by co-owner John Mara, other players understandably were wondering if the blame wasn’t being placed there, where would it land?

Because as Runyan said, something has to get better.

They can’t just do the same thing and expect different results, right?

That is, as they say, the definition of insanity.

When his predecessor as general manager, Dave Gettleman, retired in January 2022, the Giants were in salary-cap hell, devoid of depth and hampered by questions about their franchise quarterback.

They lost at least 10 games in each of Gettleman’s four seasons, received minimal production from big-money signings such as Kenny Golladay and Nate Solder and were less than a year removed from using a first-round draft pick on Kadarius Toney.

Fixing such a bleak situation promised to be difficult, but Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll knew what they were getting into when they left the Bills for bigger jobs with Big Blue.

And three years later, it doesn’t look much better.

Yes, the Giants boast a more reasonable cap situation these days. And yes, they seem to have hit on quite a few of their 2024 draft picks.

But the Giants just tied for the NFL’s worst record at 3-14, are 9-25 overall in the last two seasons and have less certainty than ever at quarterback.

They’ve missed on premium draft picks under Schoen.

Arguably their two best players — left tackle Andrew Thomas and defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence — were drafted by Gettleman. Another star from the previous regime, Saquon Barkley, just rushed for 2,005 yards with the hated Philadelphia Eagles after leaving the Giants in the offseason.

Despite those disappointments, Schoen and Daboll will be back for a fourth season, co-owner John Mara announced Sunday.

They now enter a pivotal offseason with a chance to draft a franchise quarterback — they have the No. 3 overall pick — or find another way to acquire one.

So how did they end up here? Here is a look back at the last three years under Schoen and Daboll.

Declining Daniel Jones’ option

The first major decision for the Giants under Schoen came about three months after his hiring.

Schoen and company declined Jones’ $22.39 million option for the 2023 season, meaning the former first-round pick would play 2022 on the last year of his rookie deal.

Jones was just 12-25 through three NFL seasons at that point and was coming off back-to-back down years.

But the Giants’ decision not to commit an extra year would eventually have significant ramifications.

2022 NFL Draft

With the Giants lacking cap space, Schoen’s first draft took on extra importance as he began to rebuild the roster.

The Giants owned their own pick at No. 5, as well as the No. 7 overall pick from the Chicago Bears thanks to a draft-day trade made by Gettleman the previous year.

Schoen drafted pass rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux at No. 5, then missed badly with the No. 7 pick by taking offensive tackle Evan Neal.

The Giants took second-round slot receiver Wan’Dale Robinson nine picks before star wideout George Pickens went to the Steelers.

They have received differing degrees of production from third-round cornerback Cor’Dale Flott, fourth-round safety Dane Belton and fifth-round linebacker Micah McFadden, but offensive lineman Joshua Ezeudu has started only 10 games and has not lived up to his draft slot.

2022 season

The Daboll-Schoen era got off to a great start when the Giants upset the Titans, 21-20, on the road in Week 1.

The win was particularly impressive for Daboll, who opted to go for two and the win after the Giants’ final touchdown rather than settle for tied score against the AFC’s reigning No. 1 seed.

The Giants continued to shock the NFL by reeling off wins — including over the Aaron Rodgers-led Packers and Lamar Jackson-led Ravens — en route to a 6-1 record, despite using a roster largely assembled by Gettleman.

They evened out down the stretch, finishing 9-7-1. All but one of those wins was by one score — a rate that’s widely considered unsustainable — but the gritty Giants made the playoffs as a wild-card team nonetheless.

Perhaps more notably, Jones flashed under Daboll, who arrived with a reputation as a quarterback whisperer.

Jones’ 3,205 passing yards and 708 rushing yards marked career highs, while his 15-5 touchdown-to-interception ratio was the best of his career.

Daboll won 2022 NFL Coach of the Year honors for the Giants’ unlikely season.

2022 playoffs

The playoffs came with another surprise, as the Giants upset the Minnesota Vikings, 31-24, on the road in the opening round.

Jones passed for 301 yards and two touchdowns and added 78 yards on the ground — a performance many consider instrumental in him receiving a long-term contract with the Giants.

But the Giants crashed back to reality in the second round, when the Eagles embarrassed them, 38-7.

Jones and Barkley

Jones’ impending free agency became a polarizing topic.

On one hand, he had just led the Giants to a playoff win and showed enough promise to inspire hope he could continue to improve under Daboll.

On the other, his statistical production still paled in comparison to that of the NFL’s top quarterbacks, and a big payday would limit the Giants’ ability to bolster the roster elsewhere.

That’s where the $22.39 million fifth-year option would have fit quite nicely.

Using the franchise tag on Jones would have cost $32.416 million, all of which would have been guaranteed in 2023.

In the end, the Giants signed Jones to a four-year, $160 million contract featuring front-loaded guarantees, making it palatable for them to cut ties midway through the deal.

They then used the franchise tag on Barkley, guaranteeing him about $10 million for one year rather than giving an extension to their best player.

2023 offseason

Following their commitment to Jones, the Giants made a splash trade for pass-catching tight end Darren Waller in an effort to build around him.

They also signed linebacker Bobby Okereke, who has stood out as a leader and playmaker through two seasons in his four-year deal.

The rest of the offseason was relatively quiet, mostly defined by one-year signings and a draft class headlined by cornerback Deonte Banks, center John Michael Schmitz and wide receiver Jalin Hyatt that is yet to move the needle much.

2023 season

The 2023 season got off to about as opposite of a start as possible compared to the previous year.

The Giants lost, 40-0, to the Cowboys in Week 1, setting the tone for an ugly season.

Jones’ play regressed, as he managed only two touchdown passes against six interceptions in six games before he suffered a season-ending ACL tear. Before that injury, he missed three games with a neck ailment.

The Giants began the season 2-8 and at least appeared poised for a high pick in a draft flush with quarterback prospects, but they won four games from that point on, including three with undrafted rookie quarterback Tommy DeVito.

The Waller trade was a bust, as the former Pro Bowler managed only 552 receiving yards and one touchdown, then retired.

Daboll butted heads with defensive coordinator Wink Martindale, leading to a divorce between the latter and the Giants.

Barkley’s departure

In a saga that’s largely defined his GM tenure to this point, Schoen allowed Barkley — a locker room leader, fan favorite and, again, the team’s best player — to test the open market rather than tag him for a second consecutive offseason.

The Eagles struck quickly, giving the do-it-all Barkley a three-year, $37.5 million contract, operating much differently than a Giants regime that was reluctant to pay a running back entering his age 27 season.

Instead, the Giants used their money to sign pass rusher Brian Burns, whom they acquired from the Panthers, to a five-year, $141 million contract and to add multiple offensive linemen.

2024 NFL Draft

The 2023 late-season surge put the Giants in line for the No. 6 overall pick, and while Schoen tried to trade up — most aggressively with the Patriots to take quarterback Drake Maye at No. 3 — a deal never manifested.

Instead, the Giants stuck at No. 6 and drafted wide receiver Malik Nabers, who, through one season, seems to be the best player Schoen has added in his three years.

But the Giants passed on quarterbacks Michael Penix Jr., who went No. 8 to the Falcons, and Bo Nix, who went No. 12 to the Broncos. Both looked good as rookies.

Second-round safety Tyler Nubin, third-round cornerback Andru Phillips and fifth-round running back Tyrone Tracy all appeared to be suitable building blocks as rookies, but whether any will develop into anything more remains to be seen.

‘Hard Knocks’

Schoen’s 2024 decision-making earned renewed scrutiny when HBO featured the Giants on its offseason edition of “Hard Knocks.”

The Giants’ very visible pursuit of a quarterback in the draft put Jones in an unenviable spot, while their approach to Barkley’s free agency aged poorly.

Among the biggest takeaways were that Mara told Schoen he would have trouble sleeping if Barkley signed with Philly and that Schoen did not make the running back a final offer.

Jones’ release

The worst-case scenario played out for the Giants in 2024, as Jones continued to struggle upon returning from his knee injury.

He threw eight touchdown passes against seven interceptions before the Giants, at 2-8, decided to bench him.

The decision came with financial implications, as Jones’ contract included a $23 million injury guarantee for 2025 that would have triggered if he got hurt and was unable to pass a physical in March.

The decision to move on from the best QB on the roster, however, did not sit well with players in the locker room.

The Giants would go on to grant Jones his release.

Rest of 2024

The rest of the 2024 season remained a disaster. The Giants, in their 100th season, would bottom out with a franchise-record 10-game losing streak.

Planes flew over MetLife Stadium demanding that Mara fix the mess and clean house.

The Giants didn’t even end up with the No. 1 overall pick, as a Week 17 win over the Indianapolis Colts dropped them down in a draft considered weak at quarterback.

The 14 losses are the most in Giants history.

And Mara isn’t happy about it. But while he expressed his discontentment with all of the Giants’ losing, and described quarterback as their “big issue,” he told reporters Monday that he likes the plan Schoen and Daboll laid out for him last week.

“It’s my strong belief that we are going — that we are gonna go in the right direction,” Mara said. “It’s hard for me to say we’re going in the right direction right now because we’ve been going backwards.”

John Mara, the lost franchise’s president and co-owner, said Monday that he is retaining GM Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll for a fourth season despite acknowledging his 3-14 team has been “going backwards.”

“It’s my strong belief that we are going — that we are gonna go in the right direction,” Mara said. “It’s hard for me to say we’re going in the right direction right now because we’ve been going backwards.”

Mara also admitted he does not consider his roster better than it was when Schoen and Daboll were hired in Jan. 2022.

“I’m not sure I am all that confident that it’s that much better,” Mara said.

But he nevertheless issued an ultimatum that this turnaround “better not take too long because I’ve just about run out of patience.”

That confirms the Giants will continue to be irrelevant. Their owner is expecting a team with a barren roster to ascend and win in 2025?

The most interesting part of Monday, though, was the noticeable separation that seemed to occur in Mara’s judgment of his Giants’ flaws:

Schoen received rave reviews and minimal critiques, while Mara said he suggested to Daboll that he should give up offensive playcalling and make “some other changes in the way he operates.”

Then Schoen and Daboll, who typically conduct their press conferences together on a dais, held separate media sessions in a stark departure from the norm.

Daboll did his while standing at a podium. Then Schoen sat alone on a stage in the Giants’ auditorium about 45 minutes later.

And while Schoen admitted off the top that “I’ve got to do a better job assembling a roster with more talent so we can go out and compete at a higher level,” he also carried himself with the confidence of someone who felt no internal heat about his job security.

He even went as far to say of his Daniel Jones contract mistake: “I wouldn’t change what we did.”

For Schoen to skate away unscathed from this wreckage, however, while Daboll scratches and claws to regain his standing, is to provide a reminder that the Giants employed Dave Gettleman as their GM for four years through two head coaches.

Why would anyone expect anything different? Why would anyone have confidence that they would have changed and stopped being loyal to someone who underperforms at their job?

Maybe Schoen and Daboll both are on the hot seat in 2025. Mara, after all, wouldn’t say they weren’t.

“You guys are gonna have them No. 1 on the hot seat so no matter how I answer that question,” he said. “We’re gonna have to see. I’m gonna have to be in a better mood this time next year than I am now.”

Or maybe Daboll’s seat is warmer than Schoen’s because Mara and the Giants just don’t want to do the work to upgrade the GM chair. Because their hope in their current failed hired feels stronger than their belief that they would hire the right replacement if they moved on.

Mara’s rationale for retaining both his GM and coach, meanwhile, was mind-numbing confirmation that the Giants no longer have any real standards.

He cited Daboll’s dusty 2022 Coach of the Year award, the “information” Schoen accrues to make personnel decisions and the Giants’ 2024 draft class as the reasons for his confidence.

“I certainly can’t justify it based on the record,” Mara said.

Of course he can’t.

Schoen and Daboll just concluded an historically bad 3-14 campaign in the Giants’ 100th season as a franchise. It was the most losses ever by a single Giants team.

They lost a franchise record 10 straight games and 11 of their final 12, including Sunday’s defeat in Philadelphia. They didn’t win a single game in the NFC East (0-6), their first season ever with no division wins.

And they went 1-8 at home at MetLife Stadium, including 0-8 before a late December win over the sorry Indianapolis Colts.

They have a 19-33-1 overall record through three years, including a 9-7-1 mark, a playoff win in Minnesota and blowout postseason loss in Philly in their first 2022 year.

They then followed that up with an embarrassing 6-11 season in 2023 filled with coaching dysfunction and fingerpointing by Daboll that prompted a coaching exodus by several principles, including defensive coordinator Wink Martindale.

Then Schoen and Daboll oversaw this year’s mess, culminating in a 12-31-1 record in their last 44 regular season games and a 1-12-0 record in 13 meetings with the Eagles and Dallas Cowboys, including playoffs.

Mara said the NFL is “a bottom-line business” and “you’re judged on what your record is. And our record has been pretty lousy right now. And I get that, and I take responsibility for that.” But that rang terribly hollow, because Schoen and Daboll aren’t being held accountable in any way to that bottom line.

Mara also claimed the money remaining on both men’s contracts was not a factor in retaining them, despite an ESPN report that Mara has complained about those payouts to the NFL.

“Absolutely not,” he said. “That’s never been a factor in any coaching decision that we’ve ever made here.”

When asked how the Giants got to 3-14, Mara said: “Because we stunk this year.” But he said he likes the “plan” Schoen and Daboll laid out for him in a Friday meeting between Mara, Schoen and Daboll that lasted “several hours.”

Mara said he spoke to co-owner Steve Tisch after, so it does not appear Tisch was present in that meeting with the GM and coach.

Mara’s diagnosis of the team’s problems started with the team’s most important position.

“Obviously the quarterback is the big issue,” he said.

He then said he asked Daboll: “Do you really believe it’s in your best interest to continue calling the plays?” That echoed Schoen’s preference, which the GM has said on the record previously. “I’m not gonna demand that you do one thing or the other,” Mara said, “but are you better off letting someone else call the plays?'”

Mara then vented about how he was terribly disappointed in the defense.

“Quite frankly I didn’t think our defense played very well this year at all,” he said. “I know when you have an offense like that you put more pressure on your defense, but we need to make improvements there. I’m tired of watching teams go up and down the field on us. So I think that needs to be addressed. I think we need some more depth on the offensive line. The No. 1 thing certainly is the quarterback.”

Mara’s complaint about Shane Bowen’s defense, when Daboll’s offense ranked 31st in the NFL at 16.1 points per game, sounded a lot like Daboll’s fingerpointing at Wink Martindale and the former Giants defensive staff when the 2023 offense floundered and couldn’t score points, as well.

It sounded like Giants ownership enabling the scapegoating that Schoen and Daboll have become experts at running on others to save themselves.

Ultimately, Mara made the argument that he hasn’t liked starting over every two years since 2016, so he figured he’d try something else.

“When you start over, you really set yourselves back,” he said. “And if I’m standing here a year from now and we’re having the same conversation, I’ll take the heat for it. But we still believe it’s the right decision.”

The Giants can’t go back any further, though. This is as bad as it gets.

They’re a laughingstock.

The entire NFL is either unconcerned with them, chuckling at them or looking forward to playing them.

Schoen was asked whether he would get desperate in 2025 and mortgage assets to assemble a winner given Mara’s expectations and the gulf between what the Giants are and where they want to be.

“I’ve got a tremendous amount of respect for the Mara family and the Tisch family. I would never do that,” Schoen said. “I understand we’re going to build this thing the right way. I’m not going to do a Hail Mary for self-preservation or anything like that … They understand where we are and where we’re trying to go. There will be no Hail Mary’s.”

Of course there won’t. Why would Schoen need to throw a Hail Mary when three wins is acceptable in New York?

It’s Backwards to the Future for the Giants.

Just not enough to guarantee them the chance to take one of the top two quarterbacks in the 2025 NFL Draft.

The Giants (3-14) are set to pick No. 3 overall in April after Sunday’s 20-13 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, coupled with the New England Patriots’ 23-16 win over the Buffalo Bills, allowed them to move up one draft slot.

The Jets, meanwhile, are slated to pick No. 7 overall after finishing 5-12.

The Giants entered Sunday’s season finale in line for the No. 4 pick, but the Patriots (4-13) fell out of the No. 1 spot — and down to No. 4 — by beating a playoff-bound Buffalo team that rested many of its starters.

The Tennessee Titans, who lost Sunday to the Houston Texans, will pick No. 1. The Cleveland Browns, who lost Saturday to the Baltimore Ravens, will pick No. 2.

The Titans and Browns both finished 3-14 but earned higher selections than the Giants due to their easier strengths of schedule, which serves as the tiebreaker.

The QB-needy Giants were in sole position of the NFL’s worst record going into last week’s game, but they beat the Indianapolis Colts to lose hold of the No. 1 pick.

That could prove costly, as this is considered a weak draft for quarterbacks. Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders and Miami’s Cam Ward are considered the draft’s top QB prospects and could go with the first two picks.

Tennessee is expected to be in the market for a quarterback after alternating this season between Will Levis and Mason Rudolph to less-than-stellar results. The Browns owe quarterback Deshaun Watson $92 million over the next two seasons, but he has struggled with poor performance and injury since being traded by Houston in 2022.

The Jets, too, are expected to explore quarterback options with 41-year-old Aaron Rodgers’ future uncertain. Their win Sunday did not change their draft position, as they had the easiest strength of schedule among 5-12 teams, according to Tankathon.

The Patriots’ win Sunday could actually complicate the Giants’ pursuit of a quarterback, as New England drafted Drake Maye last year and would presumably be more likely to consider trading down. Most evaluators consider Colorado cornerback/wide receiver Travis Hunter to be the best non-quarterback in this year’s draft.

The Giants and Jets are no strangers to picking in the top 10. In 2018, the Giants drafted running back Saquon Barkley with the No. 2 pick and the Jets took quarterback Sam Darnold at No. 3.

Barkley, who rushed for 2,003 yards in his first season with the Eagles, and Darnold, who put up MVP-caliber numbers in his first season with the Minnesota Vikings, were driving forces on two of 2024’s most formidable playoff teams.

New York’s teams also both had high picks in 2022, when the Jets drafted cornerback Sauce Gardner at No. 4 and the Giants took defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux one pick later. The Jets also drafted wide receiver Garrett Wilson that year with the No. 10 pick, which they received from the Seahawks in the trade that sent safety Jamal Adams to Seattle.

Sunday’s developments appeared to indicate that co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch could retain Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll as GM and head coach for 2025.

If that is true, it means the Giants (3-14) have lowered their organization’s standard for what is acceptable in New York.

It means they are no longer the franchise their outdated, nationally polished reputation paints them to be.

It means they are irrelevant. An afterthought.

A basement-dwelling franchise that has lived there so long, they can now see perfectly in the dark — and they’ve confused that with the lights coming on.

Keeping Schoen and Daboll either would mean Giants’ ownership doesn’t know what bad football looks like or doesn’t mind it.

It also would mean they are prioritizing something other than winning after Sunday’s 20-13 loss to the NFC East rival Philadelphia Eagles (14-3), which clinched the Giants’ first winless division record (0-6) in franchise history.

The defeat marked the Giants’ 12th consecutive loss at Lincoln Financial Field dating back to 2013. The Giants rotated starters in and out with backups. The Eagles played almost all backups and still won.

A roughing the passer penalty on Kayvon Thibodeaux, Schoen’s first-ever Giants draft pick at No. 5 overall in 2022, cost the Giants dearly late in the fourth quarter.

A scary possibility arose Sunday morning when ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that “John Mara … has railed against the NFL for making sure that the league doesn’t have this dead money in coaches’ salaries” and “Brian Daboll’s got time left:”

Are Mara and Tisch keeping Schoen and Daboll into the fourth season of their five-year contracts because of … money?

Because they don’t want to be paying the last coach while hiring the next coach, like they had to do with Ben McAdoo, Pat Shurmur and Joe Judge?

Say it ain’t so.

Maybe NFL commissioner Roger Goodell needs to step in and fix the Giants here in 2025 like former commish Pete Rozelle did in 1979.

They lost a franchise record 10 straight games this season. They didn’t win a single game in the NFC East.

Despite a playoff berth and a postseason victory in their regime’s 2022 rookie season, Schoen and Daboll are now 19-33-1 overall through three years.

That includes a 12-31-1 record in their last 44 regular season games and a 1-12-0 record against the Eagles and Dallas Cowboys, including playoffs.

Rookie receiver Malik Nabers set a new Giants franchise record for catches in a single season (109) with his 108th grab with around eight minutes remaining in Sunday’s third quarter. That snapped Steve Smith’s 107-catch mark from 2009.

But Daboll has overseen one of the NFL’s worst offenses after taking over playcalling full-time.

And Nabers’ individual promise did not help the Giants’ bottom line.

Neither did Saquon Barkley rushing for 2,000 yards after Schoen let him walk to the Giants’ biggest rival in free agency.

Neither did Schoen’s poor personnel moves and underwhelming draft picks — or Daboll’s 2023 coaching staff dysfunction and numerous game management flaws.

Pass rusher Brian Burns — the only healthy veteran leader with pedigree under contract for next season — said he is tired of turnover after going through constant regime changes with the Carolina Panthers before being traded to New York.

So he wants Schoen and Daboll to stay.

“It happened to me four or five [times], I don’t know how many, in Carolina,” Burns said. “Do I want it? Not really. I would like some stability. I would like [Daboll] and Joe to stay so we could get rolling next year without having to start a whole new regime and whole new everything. That’s been my life in the NFL so far.”

Veteran tight end Chris Manhertz said that the players must share in the accountability, too.

“Everyone from the players on up has had a hand in this result,” Manhertz said. “So I can’t subscribe to the idea that it’s just a leadership issue from the top.”

The GM and coach have caused the franchise and the roster to regress significantly, though. And many of the Giants’ leaders are injured or absent and no longer around to speak for this abandoned ship.

The airplane banners over MetLife Stadium and the fan outrage begging Mara for change have recurred so often that the shock value is gone.

That doesn’t mean the Giants should get comfortable in their new normal: irrelevance. But that’s exactly what they’ll be doing if they retain Schoen and Daboll.

They’ll be telling their fans that they have reset the franchise’s standard.

They’ll be telling their fans to get used to the darkness.