Where have the Giants made significant upgrades, and which areas of their roster
Following one of the most disappointing seasons in the franchise’s history, where the New York Giants finished 3-14, endured a 10-game losing streak, and cycled through four quarterbacks along with numerous injuries, general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll understood they had to come up with a convincing plan to secure their positions for at least another year.
Their challenge of convincing Giants ownership to let them continue leading the team began with demonstrating they could rejuvenate a roster filled with raw and inexperienced talent at the end of the 2024 season.
The first step would be to tap into the free agent market, which had not been very kind to Schoen and his team the previous year.
During the offseason, the Giants let several key players from the early years of the regime leave, including notable departures like running back Saquon Barkley, featured on *Hard Knocks*, and safety Xavier McKinney.
Additionally, many of the players they signed did not have a meaningful impact and are now back on the market, leaving the Giants’ roster with significant gaps that need to be addressed before next season.
Schoen had a solid draft to partially address these shortcomings and provide the team with some promising young talent, but now he needs to pair them with proven veterans to fill the biggest holes and give the Giants a shot at competing in 2025.
More importantly, this will help secure both his and Daboll’s positions as they continue to execute their plan, which still has the support of owner John Mara.
With the most important wave of free agency now behind the league, the Giants have made a strong effort to acquire the right pieces to aid their cause in what could be a make-or-break season.
While they still lack a clear answer at quarterback, they are working to surround whoever takes on that role with more reliable talent than they had last year.
Among their signings, these are arguably the best free agent moves the Giants have made as they prepare for the NFL Draft in Green Bay.
1. Paulson Adebo, CB
The Giants’ acquisition of former New Orleans Saints cornerback Paulson Adebo may have been their first external signing after the free agency negotiating window opened on March 10th, but it was arguably their best move, aside from landing an elusive veteran quarterback.
By bringing Adebo from New Orleans to East Rutherford, the Giants secured a ballhawk who could step up and compete for the No. 1 cornerback role next season. This was a major need for the team following a dismal 2024 season, where the cornerback group ranked 27th in PFF coverage grade and struggled with a core of young, unproven players.
In last year’s draft, Joe Schoen appears to have found a future standout in slot cornerback Dru Phillips, a third-round pick who impressed early on, finishing with the sixth-best coverage numbers among rookie cornerbacks. While Phillips has solidified the slot corner spot, other positions in the Giants’ secondary are still up for grabs.
The Giants expect Adebo to secure one of the outside cornerback spots come summer and to partner with either Deonte Banks or Cor’Dale Flott, both of whom he outperformed in an injury-shortened season.
In the seven games he played last season before suffering a broken femur, Adebo recorded 52 total tackles (43 solo), three interceptions, and 10 pass deflections across 262 coverage snaps.
His ability to track the ball and break up plays makes him a valuable addition to Shane Bowen’s defense, and if he stays healthy, he still has significant room to grow.
Despite his injury last fall, Adebo played in 35 games over the past three seasons with the Saints, emerging as their No. 2 corner behind veteran Marshon Lattimore, who was traded mid-season. Even with the injury, Adebo allowed the second-lowest opponent reception percentage (59.6%) among defenders with at least 283 coverage snaps and gave up just one touchdown while maintaining a low missed tackle rate of 8.1%.
Now, Adebo has the opportunity to become the top corner in New York’s secondary, where he will likely face tougher receivers on the Giants’ schedule. Earning $18 million per year, he is expected to strengthen the secondary, provided he remains healthy and adapts to the Giants’ zone-oriented defensive scheme. Of course, his excellent press-man coverage skills will still be valuable when the team needs to shut down top-tier pass catchers.
2. Jevon Holland, S
The Giants’ effort to improve their defensive secondary wasn’t fully addressed with the signing of Paulson Adebo on the first day of the legal negotiating window. A few days later, they also added one of the top available safeties, Jevon Holland, to strengthen leadership in that unit.
Much like Adebo, the move was essential as the Giants were unlikely to bring back impending free agent Jason Pinnock, whose 2024 season was disappointing. The team also discovered a promising rookie in second-round pick Tyler Nubin, who was one of their top performers on defense last season. However, injuries limited his campaign, and the Giants lacked the depth to effectively replace him.
Additionally, the Giants lost key leadership when safety Xavier McKinney, a captain and one of the team’s top contributors with nine interceptions and 27 pass deflections in four seasons, left for Green Bay after securing a more lucrative contract. This left the Giants’ safety group thin and vulnerable.
With Holland coming to New York from Miami, where he spent his first four NFL seasons, the Giants are hoping to remedy their past mistakes at the safety position and meet their defensive needs.
A second-round pick in the 2021 draft, Holland finished third on the Dolphins in 2024 with 62 tackles (42 solo), one sack, one forced fumble, and four pass deflections. His aggressive playstyle is well-suited for the Giants’ defense, which thrives on players playing with intensity during critical moments.
While Holland’s tackling needs improvement—highlighted by a career-high 17.1% missed tackle rate—he excels at making big plays all over the field, far outpacing the subpar coverage efforts from Pinnock and Nubin. Holland also earned high praise from some Giants players who actively campaigned for him to join the team, showing their confidence in his ability to bolster the back end of their defense.
While the Giants might have slightly overpaid for Holland, especially considering they didn’t offer McKinney a similar deal last offseason, his acquisition was still a significant one. Many teams had him high on their free-agent wish lists, and Schoen and his team strengthened the secondary with another key addition.
3. Darius Slayton, WR
In the aftermath of one of the most disappointing seasons in the franchise’s century-long history, where the New York Giants went 3-14, lost 10 consecutive contests, and shuffled through four different quarterbacks and countless nagging injuries, general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll knew they needed to craft up a very convincing plan if they wanted to spare their jobs for at least one more year.
The duo’s challenge of enticing Giants ownership to let them maintain control of the wheel in East Rutherford would start with showing them they could revitalize the talent-ridden-roster left behind with mostly raw and inexperienced pieces at the end of the 2024 season.
Their first well to tap into would be the free agent market, a segment of the offseason that wasn’t very friendly to Schoen and company last spring.
The Giants’ front office let several of their biggest pieces from the first two years of the regime walk out of the building, notably the departures of running back Saquon Barkley, captured on Hard Knocks, and safety Xavier McKinney.
Meanwhile, many of the players they brought into the team never panned out in any impactful way and are now back on the open market. This leaves the Giants’ locker room with a ton of holes at key positions that must be filled with depth for the next campaign.
Schoen had a fairly nice draft to partly cure his shortcomings and supply the roster with a few promising bucks last year, but now he must partner them with proven veterans to meet the biggest needs and give the Giants a chance to compete in 2025.
More importantly, spare him and Daboll’s seats for the next phases of their plan, which still has John Mara bought in.
With the most important wave of the free agent buying spree behind the league, the Giants have done a fairly solid job of finding the right puzzle pieces to help the cause in a male-or-break season.
They are still without an answer to their biggest question mark at the quarterback position. Still, they are managing to surround whoever fills that role with respectable talent than what had previously failed them last season.
Among those signings, these are arguably the best free agent moves by the Giants as they inch closer to the NFL Daft in Green Bay.
1. Paulson Adebo, CB
Sep 8, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints cornerback Paulson Adebo (29) heads to the locker room after the game against the Carolina Panthers at Caesars Superdome. / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images
The Giants’ partnership with former New Orleans Saints cornerback Paulson Adebo may have been their first external move after the free agency negotiating window opened on March 10th. Still, it was the best move they could have made besides recruiting the evasive veteran quarterback.
With Adebo moving from the Bayou to East Rutherford to join the Giants’ secondary, the team managed to find a ballhawk who can contend to assume the role of the No. 1 corner next season.
This was a significant need after the position group’s atrocious season in 2024, which included ranking 27th in PFF coverage grade behind a core of young and untested players.
In last year’s draft, Joe Schoen seems to have found a future stud in slot cornerback Dru Phillips, a rare third-round selection who excelled early and held the sixth-best coverage numbers among rookie cornerbacks.
Besides his stronghold on the slot corner hole, the rest of the Giants secondary could be up for grabs in terms of starting jos.
The Giants expect Adebo to win one of those perimeter spots at the end of the summer and play alongside either Deonte Banks or Cor’Dale Flott, both of whom he still outperformed in an injury-limited campaign.
In seven games played last season before he was sidelined with a broken femur, Adebo tallied 52 total tackles (43 solo), three interceptions, and 10 pass deflections in 262 coverage snaps.
His eye for tracking the football in one-on-one matchups and breaking up plays with abundance makes him an extremely valuable asset to Shane Bowen’s defense, and he will still have room for growth if he stays healthy.
Outside of his injury this past fall, Adebo has appeared in 35 games in the past three seasons for New Orleans and ascended into their No. 2 cornerback behind the veteran Marshon Lattimore, who was traded to Washington in the middle of the year.
Even with his ailment, he still produced the second-lowest opponent reception percentage for defenders with at least 283 coverage snaps at 59.6% and allowed just one touchdown with a low missed tackle rate of 8.1%.
He now has the chance to earn a promotion to the top dog in New York’s corps and will likely be tested against tougher receiving targets on the Giants schedule. Adebo is being paid the big bucks at $18 million per year to strengthen the secondary and should if he keeps his act clean.
And if he can adjust to playing in a more zone-oriented defensive system that Bowen and the Giants have implemented. That isn’t to say his premier press man skills won’t come in handy when they need to stop the top pass catcher from taking over the game.
2. Jevon Holland, S
Oct 27, 2024; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Miami Dolphins safety Jevon Holland (8) enters the field before the game against the Arizona Cardinals at Hard Rock Stadium. / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
The Giants’ quest to upgrade their defensive secondary was not fully quenched by the signing of Paulson Adebo on the opening day of the legal negotiating window. A few days later, they also secured one of the best available safeties in Jevon Holland to beef up the leadership in that position group.
Like Adebo, the move was sorely necessary as the Giants weren’t expected to retain impending free agent Jason Pinnock, whose 2024 season was highly disappointing for Big Blue.
The Giants were able to discover another promising rookie in their second-round pick, Tyler Nubin. He was one of the biggest producers on the defensive side of the ball last season, but injuries also cut short his year, and the depth was nonexistent to replace him.
New York also lost a huge leadership factor during the 2024 offseason when Xavier McKinney, a captain and top-three producer with nine interceptions and 27 pass deflections in four seasons, dipped for Green Bay for a more lucrative contract. This left the safeties room as one of the most porous in football.
With Holland moving up from Miami, where he spent his first four years in the NFL, the Giants can hopefully resurrect some of their previous mishaps in the safety position and satisfy those aforementioned needs.
The Dolphins’ 2021 second-round pick finished third on the squad with 62 tackles (42 solos), one sack, one forced fumble, and four pass deflections last year.
Holland’s aggressive mindset, which is perfect for the Giants’ defense, which needs its players to play with a little bit of an edge in big moments.
He isn’t afraid to clamp down on the football and make the important tackles in the run game, although his numbers need to improve a little bit from the career-high 17.1% missed tackle rate he had.
Still, Holland knows how to make the big plays from all different parts of the field and immensely outperformed the lackluster coverage efforts that the Giants received from Pinnock and Nubin. He was even a player who some Giants players highly recruited to come there, meaning they love what he can do for the back end of their defense.
The Giants might have overpaid a little for Holland’s services, especially after they didn’t want to devote a similar offer to McKinney last offseason, and a few of his fellow free agent signees earned less per year with equal or better all-around production.
All faults can be forgiven, though, as Schoen and company fortified their secondary with another transaction that was high on many teams’ free agent big boards.
3. Darius Slayton, WR
Dec 29, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants wide receiver Darius Slayton (86) celebrates after scoring a touchdown reception during the first half against the Indianapolis Colts at MetLife Stadium. / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
Placing the re-signing of wide receiver Darius Slayton in the third slot of these rankings is debatable based on the Giant’s pressing needs.
However, the reunion was simply a pleasant surprise for one of the in-house transactions in free agency, and the team should be happy he is back for a seventh season.
At the start of the offseason, the feeling in the room was that Slayton had played his final game as a member of the Giants. The two sides couldn’t agree on a new contract before the 2024 season, and the former fifth-round pick had been vocal about his weariness with all the losing in East Rutherford.
However, the Giants and Slayton must have had a change of heart and agreed to a new contract at the start of free agency, a three-year pact worth $36 million.
The annual value of the deal was actually better for the Giants, too, as Spotrac projected Slayton to command around $15 million per year before the market opened.
Slayton’s potential departure was about to create a sneaky need for a WR2 in the Giants’ receiving corps, which would have pulled their attention away from candidates at other key positions. Instead, New York retains one of its most consistent passing targets in the last half-decade and an important veteran voice for the team culture.
Slayton has 92 games under his belt and has hauled in at least 46 passes for 740+ yards and two touchdowns in four seasons.
Even with the arrival of rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers and the immense attention he garnered in the Giants offense, Slayton still collected 71 targets, the third best in the position, and turned it into 574 yards and two touchdowns in 16 games.
What was more commendable from the reunion was the fact that the Giants seemingly learned their lesson about keeping beloved players in their building.
It’s hard to build a winning culture if you don’t have the right voices to bring the best out of the team on the field, and Slayton is one of those underrated players who has done it in his unique way since getting drafted and surpassing expectations as a fifth-round flier.
Now, the Giants will support whichever prospect takes over their offensive huddle with two receiving weapons capable of making plays all over the field.
In Slayton’s case, that is stretching the field and opening up opportunities for his teammates to touch the ball and shred the defense concerned about taking away the long shot.
4. James Hudson III, OT
