The New York Football Giants experienced some early-season highs—notably crushing the Eagles 34-17 in a Week 6 primetime masterclass—but injuries to alpha WR Malik Nabers and emerging stud rookie RB Cam Skattebo hurt the offense's overall upside, and the defense simply never lived up to the caliber that was expected given the plethora of talent available across the defensive line.

• 2025: 4-13 (-58 point differential, preseason win total: 5.5)
• Points per game: 22.4 (17th)
• EPA per pass: +0.1 (12th)
• EPA per rush: -0.04 (12th)
• Points per game against: 25.8 (26th)
• EPA per pass against: +0.09 (19th)
• EPA per rush against: +0.11 (32nd)

The good news: Rising second-year QB Jaxson Dart flashed in a major way as a rookie, and the front office has the No. 5 and 37 overall picks to add high-end talent in the 2026 NFL Draft. Dart will be under the tutelage of a new coaching staff in HC John Harbaugh, OC Matt Nagy and QB Coach Brian Callahan. Remember that Lamar Jackson rose to two-time MVP prominence under Harbaugh. The bad news: The team has no third-round pick and minimal cap space to improve a roster that has plenty of holes worth addressing on both sides of the football.

What do the New York Giants Need to Address in the 2026 Offseason?

Need 1: Offensive line

LT Andrew Thomas is a stud, but he's played in just 29 of a potential 51 games over the past three seasons due to injury. This has resulted in New York consistently struggling to protect the quarterback.

• 2025: 37.5% pressure rate (21st)
• 2024: 38.4% (28th)
• 2023: 42.5% (31st)
• 2022: 43.4% (32nd)

Now, last year's unit actually wasn't too shabby at full health, but running things back will still require some attention to free agent RT Jermaine Eluemunor and RG Greg Van Roten. Overall, this is the league's 10th-cheapest unit entering 2026—it's probably a good idea to do everything possible to limit the amount of hits on Dart in the pocket considering the young signal-caller's lack of risk aversion on the move.

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Need 2: Secondary

The main problem for the 2025 Giants on defense was their performance against the run, but this front seven is currently the league's most-expensive group entering 2026, so it's more likely that resources are poured into a secondary that struggled mightily to slow down the top dogs from opposing passing attacks in 2025. Overall, the Giants ranked among the league's bottom-10 defenses in passer rating and yards allowed to opposing wide receivers last season.

Cornerback Cor'Dale Flott and safety Dane Belton are both hitting free agency, which could be a problem considering they were the only secondary members that PFF ranked inside their top-50 options at each position. It'd make sense if an improved scheme helps unleash what still looks like a lethal pass rush … on paper. But either way it's probably about time the Giants look to get a true difference-maker in their back-end.

Need 3: Wide receiver

Obviously Nabers is everything a team wants in an alpha No. 1 WR—best wishes on a full recovery on his ACL surgery— but things are a bit murky elsewhere:

• Wan'Dale Robinson is hitting free agency fresh off gaining a career-high 1,014 yards.
• Darius Slayton got #paid last offseason, but then proceeded to have more drops (6) than big plays of 25-plus yards (4).

The relatively lackluster free agent wide receiver class could feasibly lead to Robinson getting more money than the Giants are comfortable matching. This could persuade the team to go back to the well early in the draft—Ohio State WR Carnell Tate has been a common match for the G-Men at pick No. 5 in early mock drafts.

Either way, this squad boasts the league's 10th-cheapest group of pass catchers as a whole when including tight ends ahead of 2026, so adding more resources in an effort to get the most out of Dart is encouraged.

Honorable mention

Linebacker and interior defensive line should also probably be addressed given the defense's brutal performance against the run last season, although the Giants already find themselves with above-average payrolls for both positions entering 2026. This is actually THE most expensive defense by a wide margin ahead of next season, so getting more out of the group might have to come from individual improvement and better coaching.

If I were GM …

I'd do everything possible to surround Jaxson Dart with high-end playmakers to truly find out if he's the long-term answer under center. Nothing is worse than wasting a year of a rookie contract and having to conclude, "Well, he didn't REALLY have that much help." Whether it's spending up for a top free agent like Alec Pierce or Rashid Shaheed, or using the No. 5 overall pick on someone like Ohio State WR Carnell Tate or Arizona State WR Jordyn Tyson: Adding a second beastly wide receiver to complement Nabers should give the Giants a very good idea by the end of next season if Dart is truly their quarterback of the future.

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