INDIANAPOLIS — When asked if he was ready for the process of building back better the New York Giants, new general manager Joe Schoen didn't hesitate.

"Absolutely," Schoen said. "Absolutely."

His experience with the Buffalo Bills, where Schoen spent the past five years, should help. Brandon Beane was hired as the Bills' GM in 2017, bringing on Schoen to serve as his majordomo, to help revive a franchise that hadn't won double-digit games or won the division since the 1990s. (The Bills now have done both, each of the past two years.)

There are other surface similarities between those Bills, including a good draft-pick till, some hope on the roster and yet a confounding quarterback situation.

To be fair, the Giants have fallen faster — and harder — than that Bills team had, and it's Schoen's job to clean up what was left for him. The reality of the Giants is they have the worst record (tied with the Jets) in the NFL since 2017 at 22-59, the salary-cap situation requires major surgery and there are two top-six overall draft picks on the roster whose futures with the team remain opaque.

Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley.

Both have had their moments in the NFL. Neither have had enough. The clock is ticking faster on Barkley, who is set to enter his fifth-year option season, but the Jones dilemma is just as, if not more, important.

First, on Barkley: Schoen didn't mention him by name — neither did new head coach Brian Daboll — but did say that they're not hanging up on any trade calls.

"We’re still working through that," Schoen said, "but I’m open to everything."

Schoen then volunteered that he's also open to "player for player" deals or even "a couple players." Those words are open to interpretation, but Schoen did say the Giants wouldn't necessarily be "open for business on the entire roster."

He added: "If anybody’s going to call, and they’re interested in any of our players, I’ll certainly listen. Again, we’re in a situation where unfortunately we have to get under the salary cap."

The Giants are "not in very good salary cap health," Schoen said, and that's no joke. They are effectively about $25 million over the cap with 55 players on the roster, and their eight biggest cap hits are non-quarterbacks.

The reason Schoen has this job is because of the prior regime's poor drafting, flawed financial allocation and little long-term vision. If he follows his mentor Beane's vision, the Giants could be open for business. In Beane's first draft, the Bills traded up twice to get Josh Allen and once more to get Tremaine Edmunds in Round 1. Later, they traded for Stefon Diggs. The Bills suddenly feature one of the NFL's best rosters.

Moving Barkley makes sense. He is a good talent who was too rich at the No. 2 overall draft pick in 2018. On top of that, injuries the past three years following his Rookie of the Year season have lowered Barkley's return on investment.

But there should and likely will be teams (perhaps even Schoen's former club?) that would consider taking on Barkley's $7.2 million contract for this season with the hope that he returns to the rookie-year form that saw him score 15 touchdowns and lead the league in yards from scrimmage.

Trading Barkley always felt like a high possibility this offseason for a Giants franchise that has been wading in the muck for years. It feels even more likely after Schoen did nothing to quell the possibility.

2 top-seven picks, but will they use one on a quarterback?

Normally, a team that (a) wasn't sold on its quarterback and (b) had two top-10 overall draft picks wouldn't have to stretch the imagination on how to solve the issue.

The Giants own the fifth and seventh overall picks. Sixteen quarterbacks have been drafted in the top seven overall selections since the 2015 draft. It would be a no-brainer: You draft another one.

But this isn't your typical draft. Although one or more quarterbacks could land in the top 10 overall, it's not a QB class that appears to have decision-makers lathered up.

Many other teams' general managers felt that way about Jones when he came out in 2019. The Giants took him far higher (No. 6 overall) than possibly any other team would have considered. Through three uneven seasons, Jones remains a major question mark.

Schoen said the Giants are "still working through all that" with the decision on whether to pick up Jones' fifth-year option this spring. Later, Schoen referred to it as "a $22 million question" — the amount of money the Giants would need to guarantee for Jones' 2023 contract.

"We have until May 2 to make that decision," Schoen said, "so we’re going to be patient and go through the process."

Asked about Jones, Schoen was impressed to see him at the facility at 5:30 the other morning, at a time when many players, coaches and staff are out of town or taking their families on vacation.

"I’ve been really impressed with the kid," Schoen said. "He was drafted [sixth overall] for a reason, and I’m looking forward to working with him."

If the Giants stick with Jones this year, how does it affect their draft plans for 2022?

Well, with two top-seven picks, it can allow the Giants to reel in two building blocks — perhaps one on defense and one to patch an offensive line that Schoen noted currently has "five healthy players" on the roster.

But like with the draft's quarterbacks, this year's top 10 offers far less oomph and star power compared to last year's draft. That also could make trading into the 2023 draft tougher — who wants to trade up that high for anything less than blue-chip prospects?

Still, Schoen is confident the Giants can use Nos. 5 and 7 — either standing pat and picking players there or using them in a trade — to make major improvement to their roster.

"I’m confident in the players that [will be] there," Schoen said. "Where we are, five and seven, in terms of just the first round, [our goal is] finding seven players that we really like that fit position specifics, critical factors and the type of football makeup and the type of character we want to build in our building. Then I’ll sleep good at night."

Schoen even seemed to prepare for the possibility of taking a prospect that high that he might like more than others. (Sound familiar?)

"If it’s too high to take a guy or whatever it is, that’s fine," Schoen said. "What I care about is what the people think in the building, and we’ll do our due diligence and make sure regardless whether it’s a deep draft or not, we’ll find somebody that we like and will be able to contribute for us."

Will it be a quarterback? Schoen said the Giants are there to evaluate the position, "as you should every year." If the Giants like what they see at the position, it certainly makes the Jones decision in May a whole lot easier.