Q. Joe, I know it's been a year, but looking back at the decision to let Saquon Barkley go to free agency, how do you view that? Do you regret not preserving him?
JOE SCHOEN: I'm happy for Saquon. Obviously he went on to win the Super Bowl. We wish him nothing but the best. You're always going to evaluate all the decisions you make, and we were at a different place in our build. Again, love Saquon and wish him nothing but the best.
Q. Joe, Ryan Cowden has left your front office for the Patriots. Can you kind of give us a scouting report on the guy you worked closely with for a long time?
JOE SCHOEN: I've known Ryan for a long time, so I guess it will be 25 years ago. He was a scouting assistant, and I was coming in to replace him as a scouting assistant. He was in my wedding. I was in his wedding. He really taught me the ropes early on in the scouting industry, and we've been really good friends since.
So you're getting a hard worker. You're getting a really good leader. You're getting a hell of an evaluator. Really good move by Coach Vrabel and the Patriots organization to come after Ryan, and he's going to do a good job for you.
Q. Joe, have you made a decision with the No. 3 pick, whether to keep it or trade it? If you trade it, what are you looking for?
JOE SCHOEN: We have a lot of work to do on that. This is a great opportunity obviously in Indy first time to get around some of the prospects and have conversations with them, first time meeting them.
We've got a lot of work to do on the No. 3 pick. We've done a lot of work throughout the fall in the college prospects, but this phase of the calendar is getting to know who they are as people, what the fit's going to be. Obviously free agency is before the Draft. Two weeks from now the roster will look different.
We have an idea of three to five players, six players, seven, whatever it may be, and move-back scenarios, you can do that. We'll also look at moving up if that's a possibility.
It's an exciting time of year for us and a chance to make a change on the roster. We'll look at all different scenarios.
Q. Joe, you mentioned moving up. Last year you really couldn't move up the way it worked out. Do you get the sense this year you're more available to make a move compared to last year maybe?
JOE SCHOEN: We haven't had any of those conversations yet. This week there will be a lot of that going on, conversations, what the time frame will be on teams open to moving. Again, it's the infancy stage of getting to know these kids and getting around them.
I look back on some of the trades that have happened in the past before the Draft, whether it was the Jets and the Colts in the 2018 Draft, that was like late March, early April. I know Carolina and the Bears did it, I think it was March 10th, not long after the Combine.
Teams are on different time frames. They're at different points in their process in terms of the information that they have and the capability to make those types of decisions that you're comfortable, moving out or in the inverse, us moving up. A lot of information will be gathered in the next week or so, and that will help us map out our spring.
Q. When you're evaluating what you want to do with quarterbacks, how do you balance acquiring a player, whether it's free agency or trade, where you know what they can do, compared to a rookie that you draft? How do you balance the two?
JOE SCHOEN: Where we are, Tommy DeVito is our only quarterback on the roster, so you may evaluate both of those. Both may be options.
Again, we don't know what's going to happen in the Draft. We don't know who's going to be there. When we get around these kids, they may or may not be a fit for us. We're going to have to address the position somewhere. Even if you get a young quarterback, you'd like to have a vet in the room with him to show him the ropes and how to be a pro.
We're looking at all different avenues. Hey, is this guy going to be really good for a young quarterback, or is this guy a starter? Can we get a guy in the Draft, or if we do, should we have a guy that's more of a guy that can develop and show a guy how to be a pro?
We're going to look at vets. We're going to look at the Draft. We're going to look at trade candidates. We're going to look under every rock to find the best prospect for us going into the '25 season.
Q. To follow up on that, you talked about a quarterback that you don't know much about yet, but free agency is in two weeks. Do you need to have a specific timeline with a handle for what you can do in the Draft part?
JOE SCHOEN: We have as good a grasp as we can. There's rules we have to follow in terms of when we can be around these kids. We have a process, a timeline in place that will lead us to exactly what you're talking about. We've got a plan in place for that.
Q. Joe, you mentioned trade candidates. There's reports that the Rams have given Matthew Stafford an opportunity to talk with other teams --
JOE SCHOEN: You'd have to ask the Rams that. You get that from the Rams and let them talk about that. He's under contract with them, so that would be a question for the Rams.
Q. Joe, getting a quarterback, a veteran for your opening? (No microphone). Sometimes you have thoughts where you look at different things, a young guy you can develop, an older guy maybe that can bring the balance. What's the process?
JOE SCHOEN: I've said it to you guys before. I think it's the most important position in football. We have one on our roster right now, and I think that's important wherever we address it that the play has to be better than what it's been.
Because of injuries, we played four quarterbacks this year. We played three last year. It would be nice to have one guy out there that can help you -- give you the best chance to win games and also stay healthy.
Again, that is an important position, and we need better play out of that position than what we've had, and that will help us.
Q. You talked about the idea that you have a lot of confidence in your process of evaluating players for the Draft. Is it a different feeling now, versus last year and the year before, to know that you have an opportunity to actually pull the trigger and Draft a guy or just lean on the same experience?
JOE SCHOEN: Definitely believe in the evaluation process that we have in place. Whether it was when we were in Buffalo or what we've done here, we've continued to do it each year.
Again, reflecting on the seasons that some of the quarterbacks that we liked or didn't like have had, again, I believe in that. We'll continue that process, the way we've done it in the past.
Again, you can't manufacture these things. So if you draft one and you don't believe in who that player is, just to say you did it -- I mean, you've got to believe in who the player is and that they can be an eventual franchise quarterback, whatever it may be.
Again, we're going through that process now to see whether there's going to be one there at 3 or in the second round or the third round, wherever it may be. We're in the infancy stages of the process now.
Q. Joe, it was shown here at the Combine last year when you had that first conversation with the Patriots on if you're interested in trading, call us, talk to us kind of thing. Do you plan on talking to the Titans in a similar fashion?
JOE SCHOEN: I'll talk to all 31 general managers or whoever the head of the personnel department is, if they don't have a general manager here.
It's not just trades for the Draft. It's any cap casualties they may have, any trade candidates. Sometimes those conversations may come up like, hey, what are you thinking in the Draft? If you guys were open to moving back, I'd be willing to talk with you, or the other way, like, hey, if you guys want to come up to 3 at some point, give me a call, we may be open to that.
I have a good relationship with most of those guys around the league, and a lot of those conversations will happen this week, like you saw last year.
Q. (No microphone)?
JOE SCHOEN: No, I haven't gotten any calls on that. I think I know what I would tell them.
Q. Joe, in your introductory press conference, you said that you'd build a roster that can win today and peak for tomorrow. Entering year 4 as the Giants GM, where do you think you are in that process?
JOE SCHOEN: We've got to be better. We've got to be better. We were a three-win team. Where we're at financially from a salary cap, health standpoint, we're in good shape. We have premium draft capital, so not suffocating. We have the resources to improve the roster.
Again, we made some decisions after that first year when we won, and that didn't work out. Again, we're where we are. Again, I feel like we have the resources to improve the roster. That's what's exciting about this time of year.
Q. Are you opposed to scouting for a quarterback (no microphone)?
JOE SCHOEN: I've been through it before. You do it every year. It's not just because you have a quarterback -- when I was in Buffalo, we had Josh Allen. We still scouted the quarterback. You're going to scout every position.
Again, you're going to treat it, if you have an opportunity to get one at a certain point in the Draft, you've got to do it. Again, it's a more thorough process because of the uniqueness of what's asked of the position. So we're always going to do work on those guys.
Q. As a GM, what do you think when you hear some of the quarterbacks aren't working out?
JOE SCHOEN: I'm okay with that. Played quarterback in high school and college, also played receiver. I have a son that's a quarterback. To me, you've never thrown at these receivers before. Like the local guys, like you guys know Wan'Dale. He's quick and fast and really good in the slot. Then you may get a bigger receiver that's a 4.6 guy that's not a good route runner.
If they throw, that's great. I'm never going to downgrade them for not throwing. If they don't have a great throwing session, I'm not going to downgrade them for that either because they've never thrown at these guys. It's timing, it's anticipation, the type of routes that guys run, their ability to run certain routes.
I think it's important as a quarterback when you're throwing to these guys, so if a guy decides he doesn't want to throw and he wants to throw at his Pro Day, I'm okay with that. My staff's done a lot of work on the quarterbacks. We've seen all these guys throw multiple times, whether it's practice, games.
That's up to the individuals, their decision, and how they feel about that, and I'm okay with that.
Q. Are you opposed to moving up in the Draft?
JOE SCHOEN: No, we're open to everything, move up, move back. Again, it's an exciting time of year. We're starting to put that together now, put the puzzle together. We're going to look at all options to improve the roster going into 2025.
Q. You said your son's a quarterback. What are the three most important traits you want him to display?
JOE SCHOEN: We just had this conversation. Completions and winner. I want a winner. I want a guy that can win and complete passes. That's the most important thing.
He likes to throw these go balls and deep balls all the time. Just take the games, take positives, take completions and win games. That's what I tell him.
Q. What is his cap?
JOE SCHOEN: Yeah, NIL is on the horizon (laughter).
Q. What did he say last night?
JOE SCHOEN: He sent me some clips this morning, that's when he said that, Pat.
Like last year, he knows where that came from. That wasn't all his idea.
Q. What you joke about obviously, does that apply to what you're looking for in a quarterback now? I know you talk a lot about the off-field stuff, but has the position evolved to where you value different qualities in the quarterback roster you have?
JOE SCHOEN: It's complicated because the quarterback position -- again, I tell my son this. I've seen a bunch of people have great Pro Days. They get out there, they rip it, they're 6'4", they can throw the ball, like oh, my gosh. You see it on NFL Network, look at the throw this guy made. It's on air.
It's not processing information. It's not getting guys lined up. It's not leading. It's, hey, you lose two in a row, who's the guy that's going to come in the locker room and rally the troops? Who's the first one in? Who's the last one to leave? Who's going to elevate everyone around him? I think the quarterback can elevate the entire team.
I can't just say I want a guy -- yeah, winning's important, all of that's important, but there's a lot that goes into the quarterback position. This time of year is when we can find that out.
We've seen the film evaluation. We've seen how these guys perform under pressure. We've seen how they do on third down, how they do on fourth down, in money situations. We need to figure out who they are as people. It's a unique media market. Everyone knows that that's standing here.
It's can they handle the pressure? Can they handle adversity? Can they handle people talking negatively about them over an extended period of time? Hopefully not an extended period of time, if we take them, but that's the reality of this situation.
How can they handle all those things? That's what we need to try to find out this time of year.
Q. Where are you with your interest in bringing back Darius Slayton primarily?
JOE SCHOEN: We'll have those conversations this week. GVR -- the four starters, Daniel is obviously on Minnesota's roster now. GVR, J-Pin, and Slayton are the three opening day starters that their contracts are up. So we'll have those conversations this week.
Again, we're still waiting on the salary cap. We have a little bit of a range on what that's going to be, so we're starting to put all that together now.
Q. Joe, would you rather benefit from the Draft pick for a the rookie deal so your veteran is more like stock average, or would you be willing to spend top money on a contract for an elite quarterback, an elite veteran, whether or not you draft him?
JOE SCHOEN: Whoever gives us the best chance to win right now. Where we are again, as of today, I don't know if one of those guys are going to be there or if there's one in this draft. We're still going through the process.
In theory, yeah, you take the rookie quarterback, they're on the rookie deal for five years. Where we are salary cap-wise, you can build around them. You've got to make sure one of those guys are going to be there or they're even in the Draft.
Having a vet in place -- I've told you guys this before, where when you go into Draft day, you could go play a game. Is your team going to be as good as you want it to be? No, but you've still got the Draft. So prevent some of the Draft for need and being able to take the best player available.
I think we need to look at all those options, and in terms of which one's perfect right now, we're still working through that because of where we're picking. Again, we'll have a plan in place to address it.
Q. How would you compare Shedeur and Cam Ward?
JOE SCHOEN: I'm not going to get into comparing the guys. We've done a lot of work on those two. I know a lot of people are talking about those two, but there's other quarterbacks throughout the Draft. Excited to get around those guys as well.
Q. (No microphone)?
JOE SCHOEN: About Cam's game?
Q. (No microphone)?
JOE SCHOEN: Haven't been around Cam. That's something we'll have to get around. I've seen him play a couple times.
I was at the Cal game, and they dug themselves a little bit of hole. Some of it was they were in a hole because of him, but he also was able to get them out of it, and they won the game because of him.
Those are traits that you look for. The gotta-have-it moments, whether it's Virginia Tech, that Cal game to bring a team back. When everybody in the building knows you're going to throw it, that you can throw it.
There's several quarterbacks in this draft that are like that, not just Cam. Excited to get around the prospects this week and throughout the spring.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports