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The New York Giants have made several front office changes since Joe Schoen took over as general manager but perhaps none more significant than the one apparently made in silence this week.
Without a press release and no fanfare to speak of, the Giants changed Chris Mara’s title from “senior vice president of player personnel” to “senior personnel consultant.” Additionally, Mara was also entirely removed from the player personnel section of the team’s website.
Mara is now listed under the team’s “ownership” section below John Mara, Steve Tisch and Jonathan Tisch. Meanwhile, Tim McDonnell, the team’s director of player personnel, now tops the “player personnel” section.
Heard Chris Mara had become less hands-on in recent years. Honestly surprised that his actual title changed. This offseason has definitely been the Giants’ biggest shakeup in a long time https://t.co/96NXPjxZ8b
— Dan Duggan (@DDuggan21) June 30, 2022
Both Chris Mara and Tim McDonnell became the center of attention prior to Schoen’s hiring with some alleging nepotism within the organization. John Mara offered an impassioned defense of both.
“That perception has been created by you [the media] and others and the reality is that in terms of my brother, my brother spends most of his time doing evaluation of college players. His grades go into our system and he participates in the draft,” a testy John Mara told reporters in January.
“Chris is a very skilled evaluator, but he does not have any authority here other than the fact that I will go to him on occasion and ask him about players.”
Despite those statements, Chris Mara was heavily involved in the team’s GM search. He sat in on most interviews or joined them via Zoom call.
“I’ve said this repeatedly, for whatever reason you guys keep asking me about it, it’s the general manager and the head coach that are the most important people in this building in terms of making personnel decisions,” John Mara added. “Chris is in those [GM] interviews because he’s part of ownership and I value his opinion; I value his skills and I want him in there. At the end of the day, I’ll listen to him, but it will be Steve Tisch and myself who make the final decision.”
After being hired as GM, Schoen sat down with the team’s entire front office to discuss future plans and future roles. Some, like Kevin Abrams, were reassigned. Others, like Chris Pettit, were sent packing.
Chris Mara will stick around albeit in a decreased role.
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