EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Given a guarantee that they will have the opportunity to improve the Giants' fortunes, Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll set out to do exactly that. But in separate news conferences this afternoon, they offered scant detail how they plan to do it.

Daboll, the Giants' head coach, was told this morning by team president John Mara that he will return for a fourth season. He will partner with Schoen, the general manager who hired him, to resurrect a Giants team that is 18-32-1, plus 1-1 in the postseason, in three seasons under Schoen and Daboll, and finished 3-14 this year. The Giants will select third in the first round of the NFL Draft.

"Obviously, the three wins are not good enough," Schoen said. "But that is what we will spend the next four months doing, between the draft and free agency, upgrading the roster the best we can. We are looking at the organization top to bottom, trying to figure out what's best moving forward throughout the entire football operation."

Schoen was asked, "who does this fall on?"

"First and foremost, myself," he said. "We're not good enough. We didn't play well enough. 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. So, I look inward, first and foremost."

Daboll's job security was the subject of much outside speculation over the last six weeks of the season. But Mara deemed the continuity of keeping his G.M. and coach together was better than creating upheaval by re-filling one or both jobs.

"I am thankful for the opportunity," said Daboll, who joined Schoen in a meeting with Mara Friday afternoon that lasted several hours. "We have a lot of work to do. Obviously, 3-14 is not good enough.

"I make no excuses. It was not good enough. I think the guys battled and stuck together. But obviously a lot of improvements we need to make."

Daboll stuck to several themes that he repeated in multiple answers; three wins or the "results" were "not good enough." He didn't do a "good enough job" or must do a "better job." He has "a lot of work" to do. Some variation of "we have a lot of things to improve on."

One of them, according to Mara, is the team's defense. Mara pointedly said this morning, "I didn't think our defense played very well this year at all" and "I'm tired of watching teams go up and down the field on us."

Those comments might suggest that the job security of first-year defensive coordinator Shane Bowen might be in question.

"I wouldn't take it as that," Daboll said. "You're not happy with anything when you win three games."

It's rare for an NFL coaching staff to have no offseason changes, but Daboll hasn't yet taken that step.

"I haven't made any staff changes," he said. "I'll just say everything wasn't good enough. When you only win three games, there's a lot of things that need to be improved. Again, it's only the day after the last game. So, we'll get started on that process."

Asked if he's considering changes, Daboll said, "We just got done with meeting with the players. I'll sit down with all the coaches, and we'll make the best decisions we can for the football team."

Daboll confirmed what Mara revealed at his news conference this morning, that the coach might relinquishing play-calling duties.

"I brought that up to him in the meeting," Daboll said. "Again, there's no decision that's been made. We'll sit back and take a look at everything and do what we need to do. … I'm not saying I'm giving it up or not giving it up."

Is he thinking about it?

"We won three games," Daboll said. "So, I'm going to consider every option to try to be better."

Daboll will meet with his coaches in the next few days.

"I got a lot of confidence in the guys," he said. "We'll sit down. We'll talk about a lot of different things, and we'll make the decisions we think we need to make."

The top priority for Schoen and Daboll this offseason is to find a franchise quarterback. The Giants released Daniel Jones in November and Drew Lock will be a free agent.

"It's the most important position in football," Schoen said. "You look at the roster right now, Tommy (DeVito) is the only quarterback on the roster. So, that's definitely important to any team in the NFL's success. That's something we'll definitely be looking at."

What skills or characteristics are the Giants seeking in their next quarterback?

"I don't want to get into specifics on that," Schoen said. "But we've done a lot of work on the college guys. John (Mara) mentioned earlier that we'll look at free agency. We can also look throughout the draft, potential trade opportunities. We'll look at any avenue we can to upgrade the position. We've talked before, in these situations, the film is one part of the equation. But, from a draft standpoint, you really got to get around these kids. I think it's an important part of our process that we try to get around these kids every year, so when they are free agents or a trade opportunity presents itself, you've spent an ample amount of time with these guys on who they are as people and their ability to learn and process information."

Daboll said he will begin watching tape of the draft-eligible quarterbacks, "soon."

Mara this morning spoke of his lack of patience. And Schoen insists he will not mortgage the Giants' long-term future to put together a better team this year.

"I've got a tremendous amount of respect for the Mara family and the Tisch family," Schoen said. "I would never do that. 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. We have a plan in place that we believe in and we're going to stick with that. Again, I've got a tremendous amount of respect for ownership and what they believe in. We have really good communication with them. They understand where we are and where we're trying to go. There will be no Hail Mary's."

How about a 2025 playoff berth? Will that be mandatory for the general manager and head coach to remain in place in 2026?

"Again, we've got to continue to build it the right way," Schoen said. "If we have a really good roster and you get close and… I think John said it to you guys earlier, it's about progress. We're at three wins. We didn't make progress in the direction we wanted to this year and it's not good enough. It starts with me, and I understand that. But, to have an ultimatum, 'You make the playoffs or you don't,' that changes things. But, that's not it. John (believes in the people in the building and Steve (Tisch) and they're giving us the ability to build it the right way."

*The Giants made their first offseason transactions today, signing five players to reserve/future contracts: defensive tackles Casey Rogers and Ross Blacklock, centers Jimmy Morrissey and Bryan Hudson, kicker Jude McAtamney.

All five players ended the season on the Giants' practice squad. In 2004, Rogers played in two games and McAtamney one (he kicked one field goal and one extra point against Washington on Nov. 3). Morrissey was on the practice squad from Aug. 28 to Dec. 10, when he was designated practice squad/injured. The latter date was when Blacklock joined the practice squad. Hudson was signed to the practice squad on Nov. 6.