Joe Schoen can’t please people even when he signs a market-leading free agent like Miami Dolphins safety Jevon Holland. That’s still not enough to cut the New York Giants’ general manager some slack, not when Holland’s acquisition shines a spotlight on some suspect free agency moves from 2024.
Holland’s pending arrival on a “3-year, $45.3M deal” was confirmed by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport on Tuesday, March 11. It should be time to celebrate a so-called “splash” move by the Giants that adds a big-play threat to a burgeoning defense, but people still have questions.
Among them, Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post queried why “let a homegrown safety walk out the door for $16.75M per year and Xavier McKinney immediately became a First Team All-Pro. And he signed a safety for $15.1M per year who had hand surgery in 2024 and double MCL sprains in 2023.”
Those same sentiments were expressed by SNY.tv’s Connor Hughes. He made the same argument about Schoen letting Xavier McKinney walk a year ago: What I can’t make sense of is Joe Schoen giving $15m APY to a safety a year after letting Xavier McKinney walk? His entire philosophy his first three years was that Giants wouldn’t play premium to non-premium positions. This a total 180.”
Although both Hughes and Dunleavy also acknowledged the obvious talent boost the Giants got from adding Holland, this deal has worrying echoes of two other moves Schoen has made during 2025 NFL free agency.
Jevon Holland Rights a Wrong for Giants, Joe Schoen
Seeing McKinney join the Green Bay Packers, snatch eight interceptions and go to the playoffs left a bad taste for the Giants. Not quite as bitter as watching Schoen let Saquon Barkley leave town, only for the Pro Bowl running back to join the rival Philadelphia Eagles, rush for over 2,000 yards and win a Super Bowl, but sour nonetheless.
Adding Holland this year at least makes up for one of those follies. The 25-year-old “was regarded by some as the top safety on the market,” according to SNY.tv’s Giants Videos.
Holland earned that status thanks to a flair for the spectacular and impressive versatility. The latter quality is best summed up by the “snaps played by position in his career-best 2023 season: – 211 in the box – 121 at slot corner – 362 at free safety,” per Empire Sports Media’s Anthony Rivardo.
Putting Holland on the back end with impressive 2024 NFL draft second-round pick Tyler Nubin will turn safety into a position of strength for the Giants. It’s a fine theory, but this move doesn’t dispel doubts about how Schoen is approaching rebuilding a team that went 3-11 last season.
Joe Schoen Making Questionable Moves
Schoen’s every move being second-guessed is the inevitable by-product of his having overseen just nine wins in two years. It’s also easy to question the decisions he’s been making in this free-agency period in light of previous events.
Bringing wide receiver Darius Slayton back into the fold retained the services of a reliable and popular veteran, but the money handed out also helped reignite the Barkley debate.
As Dunleavy put it, the Giants “would’ve kept Saquon Barkley for the 3 year, $36M contract that they gave to Darius Slayton (if the GTD is > $23M). Yes, the salary cap is about 7% bigger now. The RB/WR market correlation was out of whack for too long.”
Schoen’s personnel decisions look erratic, but he’s also taking risks with durability. Risks like signing a best-in-class cornerback who’s dealt with multiple injuries. The Holland deal has similarities with that move because of the safety’s own injury history.
Spending money to get better was something the Giants couldn’t avoid after 2024’s disaster. Schoen’s early moves have added talent, but they are also prompting broader questions about a muddled overall strategy.
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