Giants Not Expected to Use Franchise Tag in 2025

There are no “must-have” pending Giants free agents that warrant a costly tag.

Giants WR Darius Slayton will lead the team's pending UFA class this year, but he's unlikely to draw the franchise tag. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The annual NFL franchise tag window opens on February 18, but according to Pro Football Focus, the New York Giants don't expect to use the option to retain any of their pending dozen-plus unrestricted free agents.

“The Giants' cap priorities lie in finding their franchise quarterback, whether that be via trade (Kirk Cousins), free agency (Sam Darnold) or the draft (Cam Ward or Shedeur Sanders). 

That will likely require a significant cap investment, making a tag cost probative. Luckily, none of the Giants' impending free agents warrant a franchise tag,” said PFF analyst Mason Cameron.

Despite the Giants having an estimated $43,380,069 in cap space, they are unlikely to devote any of that money to pending UFAs such as receiver Darius Slayton, edge Azeez Ojulari, or safety Jason Pinnock, the three pending UFAs who, under much different circumstances might consider consideration for a tag.

Instead, the Giants need not only to devote financial resources toward finding a veteran quarterback. This expense won’t come cheaply, regardless of who they land.

The Giants might also look to spend some of that cap space on a veteran shutdown cornerback. The pending free agent class at that position is shaping up to be extremely thin. Again, competition for top pending UFAs like Byron Murphy and D.J. Reed is expected to be intense.

Then, there is consideration for replacing Slayton, their WR2. This year’s draft class isn’t as deep as recent years, but perhaps the Giants decide to finally give Jalin Hyatt, who is entering his third season, a chance at filling that WR2 role that he competed for last summer only to lose to Slayton, who would cost $25.693 to tag.

Luckily for the Giants, the edge rusher class is deep enough that they might have a chance at a third pass rusher to complement Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux. The safety class is also reasonably stocked should the Giants wish to add to a group that includes Tyler Nubin and Dane Belton.

The Giants probably won’t re-sign many of their dozen-plus or so pending free agents, hoping that some of those players may catch on elsewhere, and the formula tilts in the Giants’ favor to where they land comp picks to use in 2026. 

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