Shane Bowen expected to stay with Giants despite link to Patriots’ Mike Vrabel

Expect Shane Bowen to be back with the Giants in 2025 for a second season as the defensive coordinator.

Sure, the less-than-shocking news Sunday that Mike Vrabel was hired as the Patriots head coach sparked speculation that Bowen could be headed to New England, considering Bowen made the calls on defense for four years when Vrabel was the Titans head coach.

The belief, according to sources, is that Bowen wants to remain with the Giants and that Vrabel is thinking of going in a different direction as he assembles his new coaching staff.

Vrabel in this hiring cycle met with the Bears, Jets and Patriots. In those interviews, he discussed and revealed his wish list of coordinators. It is believed Bowen’s name did not come up, which likely indicates Vrabel is not pining for a reunion.

Now that Vrabel officially has the job, he could, of course, ask the Giants for permission to speak with Bowen. The Giants could block the interview, if requested, for what would be a lateral move.

The plan at this point is to move forward with Bowen, even though his unit did not distinguish itself amid a 3-14 season — although Bowen’s defense certainly performed better than the offense directed by head coach Brian Daboll.

Daboll wants Bowen to return.

It looks as if the Giants will be losing someone to the Patriots, though, as Ryan Cowden, the executive advisor to general manager Joe Schoen, is expected to join Vrabel’s front office in New England. Cowden and Vrabel worked together in Tennessee.

Some observers thought Bowen’s job security came into question the day after the season ended, when co-owner John Mara, after announcing Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen would be back for a fourth year, sounded exasperated with the showing of the defense.

“Quite frankly, I didn’t think our defense played very well this year at all,’’ Mara said. “I know that when you have an offense that performs like that, you’re putting more pressure on your defense. But we need to make improvements there. I’m tired of watching teams go up and down the field on us. So, I think that has to be addressed.’’

Mara did not mean to make what sounded like an ominous threat or to insinuate Bowen was on the hot seat. Players who grew accustomed to Wink Martindale’s blitz-happy style and man coverage on the back end in 2022 and 2023 needed to make major adjustments to Bowen’s less aggressive scheme. There is a desire to build on that, rather than start from scratch with a new coordinator.

In Bowen’s first season, the Giants were 21st in the NFL in scoring defense, allowing 24.4 points a game. They were eighth in pass defense, (210.6 yards per game) and 27th in run defense (136.2 yards per game). The Giants finished tied for eighth in the league in sacks, with 45, falling from the top of the heap after injuries to Dexter Lawrence, Azeez Ojulari and Kayvon Thibodeaux.

Vrabel and Bowen certainly have history together. When Vrabel was the defensive line coach at Ohio State in 2012, Bowen was a graduate assistant coach.

When Vrabel was the linebackers coach and defensive coordinator with the Texans, Bowen was a defensive assistant. When Vrabel in 2018 became the Titans head coach, he brought in Bowen as outside linebackers coach. Vrabel after two years handed the defensive play-calling to Bowen and for their final three years in Nashville, Bowen served as Vrabel’s defensive coordinator.

The feeling inside the Giants facility is that Bowen, 38, wants to return and is not looking for a way out the door.

Bowen does not bring much “my defense’’ ego to his position. Rather than demand to bring in his own guys when he arrived to the Giants, he opted to retain most of Martindale’s defensive staff, including Jerome Henderson, Andre Patterson, John Egorugwu and Mike Treier.

“I think we’ve got a really good group,’’ Bowen said late in the season. “I lean on those guys a lot.

“We’ve grown as a staff as it went. I feel like I’ve gotten more comfortable with them. They’ve gotten more comfortable with me. Just expectations, accountability and all those types of things, setting the standard of what we want to do in the office, on the field. So, it’s been good. It has. We’ve got a good group of guys and it’s been enjoyable. Obviously, we wish we would have played a little bit better at times and got some different results, but I really like the guys that are here.’’

It appears as if Bowen will return to lead that group.