5 Players Who Shouldn’t Return to Giants in 2026

The Giants have a ton of important roster decisions to make this offseason, and these few players should be considered for the chopping block.

Nov 16, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants running back Devin Singletary (26) celebrates with wide receiver Jalin Hyatt (13) after scoring a touchdown during the first quarter against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium. | Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

The end of each NFL season is often a difficult time, especially for the 16 organizations whose postseason hopes are long in the rearview mirror and instead get an early start on the offseason. 

For starters, it usually brings about a period of change within the team, sometimes minor adjustments to certain staff or positions, and other times large-scale blowups after a campaign that went nowhere except right off the rails. 

When it comes to the player element, that change could mean a slew of impending free agents set to test the open market, some of whom won’t end up returning to their current franchise.

However, there could also be a slew of players sent packing before their contracts are up, whether for financial reasons or simply for lackluster production that leads their team to part ways. 

The New York Giants are no different in that regard. As the offseason opens up and tough choices have to be made for the benefit of the organization, there could be a handful of names in the locker room who have seen their last days as members of Big Blue and should be looking for employment in another city in the near future.

WR Jalin Hyatt

Oct 20, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants wide receiver Jalin Hyatt (13) walks off the field after an injury during the second half against the Philadelphia Eagles at MetLife Stadium. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

This seems like the most obvious choice for a Giants player who has simply overstayed his welcome among the fanbase in East Rutherford in wide receiver Jalin Hyatt. 

Hyatt came to the Giants as a third-round pick in 2023 with a lot of upside as a productive vertical threat at the college level, catching 108 passes in three years with the Tennessee Volunteers, including the nation’s best 67 for 1,267 yards and 15 touchdowns that earned him the Biltnekoff award as a senior in 2022. 

The Giants selected Hyatt with the hope that those intangibles would translate directly to the NFL level and help elevate the offense into a more explosive unit alongside Malik Nabers and Darius Slayton. Sadly, his resume has barely scratched the surface of that potential. 

For the second straight year, Hyatt was almost a complete non-factor in the Giants’ passing offense, playing in just eight games and notching five receptions on 14 targets for 35 yards, which were the worst stats for a skilled player with that many games under their belt. 

In his three total seasons with New York, Hyatt has only recorded 36 catches for 470 yards and has yet to record his first touchdown at the professional level.

His lone score came in the preseason against the New England Patriots, but the stat was not official, leaving him with a goose egg in the most important category for a volatile receiving threat.

Putting all the blame on Hyatt’s shoulders for what has been a disappointing tenure with the Giants’ franchise is tough because he’s had to overcome other factors, including a pretty crowded receiver room when the team was at full strength coming into the season. 

Moreover, there was inconsistent quarterback play in his first two seasons, and there was often miscommunication between his routes and the intended direction of those targets.

Hyatt was not bad at getting open and averaged the best average distance of target this season at 20.0 yards, meaning he was often overthrown or into double coverage, with some of those turning into turnovers on the other end. 

Still, the Giants could also share some blame for not doing enough to involve Hyatt in the offensive game plan, especially down the stretch, when injuries tested their receiving depth. It just felt like there wasn’t an interest in utilizing his talents to their full extent, which signals a good chance for the two sides to part ways. 

What better way for Hyatt to get his career back on the right track than finding a new city to play in where his skill set is needed and he can start rebuilding his confidence as a playmaker?

CB Deonte Banks

New York Giants cornerback Deonte Banks (2) gestures before a play begins during a week 9 game between New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025. | Julian Leshay Guadalupe/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It can sometimes be a controversial take to suggest that an NFL team should cut ties with a player whom they spent a very valuable piece of draft capital on and has only been around for a few seasons. Still, Giants cornerback Deonte Banks has shown enough to fit that distinction. 

The Giants selected Banks at the top of that same 2023 draft class to become a franchise cornerstone in one of their perimeter cornerback spots. Instead, his ability to excel as a coverage man and defend against elite pass catchers has consistently worsened with each season. 

As a rookie, Banks was an instant starter in a Wink Martindale defensive system that featured a lot of exotic blitzes and wasn’t very favorable to deep coverage personnel who often had to make an impact in difficult one-on-one matchups. 

Having to step into that role early saw the Maryland product struggle, as he was targeted heavily by opposing offenses and allowed receptions on 53 of his 92 targets for 644 yards and four touchdowns, while forcing the only two interceptions of his NFL career. 

After the Giants moved on from Martindale and brought in Shane Bowen as the new defensive coordinator, there was the thought that it might make things easier for Banks and his fellow corners, given that Bowen’s system showed more quarters coverage in the deep field to provide additional support on the back end. 

However, the individual results did not shift back in the other direction for Banks. He has seen his tackling output drop by half over the next two seasons, while allowing an opponent reception rate as high as 81.3%, 10 more touchdowns, and being among the team leaders in yards allowed after contact. 

More often than not, Banks has looked beyond confused about what he should be doing to take responsibility for his reps, leading to huge chunk plays for the opposition, with a bottom-half-graded coverage unit in two of his three seasons in East Rutherford. 

The biggest cherry on top has been his inability to show progress in the fundamentals of being a strong cornerback in the big leagues, such as getting his head turned back to the football and cutting off the pass without getting too physical with the receiver. It’s led to Bank being one of the most heavily penalized defenders on the Giants with 21 flags in three seasons. 

Seeing that Banks has been regressing each year, they went with Cor’Dale Floot on the outside, adding free agent Paulson Adebo after a competitive position battle in training camp. Injuries would force Banks back into the equation, but without the improved results that should be there for a player with a couple of years under his belt. 

Looking back on his selection, it’s fair to argue that Banks might have been one of the worst draft selections made by general manager Joe Schoen, and that is evidence enough to let him go and search for a better answer to bolster the team’s depth in the defensive secondary that was porous again in 2025.

K Graham Gano

Sep 14, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Dallas Cowboys place kicker Brandon Aubrey (17) with New York Giants place kicker Graham Gano (9) after the game at AT&T Stadium. | Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

While it is hard to find a more reliable kicker in the prime of his career than Graham Gano, the Giants have to come to grips with the reality that Father Time might be catching up with the veteran player. 

Sure, we are talking about one of the most consistent legs in the NFL over his 16-year run at the highest level. Gano was once an ironman who rarely missed games and even had a five-year window in which he converted at least 87.5% of his field goal attempts, including 156 kicks from beyond 40 yards. 

After earning a three-year extension from the franchise before the start of the 2023 season, the Giants have witnessed a massive decline in both of those areas.

In the past three seasons, Gano has been constantly sidelined by lower-body injuries that have capped the most active appearances in that span at 10 games in the 2024 campaign. 

The impact of said ailments also took a toll on his production and the team’s confidence in running out the field goal unit behind him.

Gano hit a career-low 64.7% from the field in the first season after signing the new contract and improved only to 81.8% in 2024, with three missed attempts. 

This fall, the 38-year-old dealt with groin and neck injuries that limited him to under six games for the first time since his 2009 rookie season with the Washington Redskins and saw him miss another field goal in a close game with the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 3 that was within his usual range of 45 yards. 

To be honest, more of the blame can be placed on the regime’s shoulders for just entrusting the kicker position to Gano, knowing that he is a liability to get hurt at the worst times.

Two of his recent injuries occurred during pregame warmups, after a week when the Giants knew he was dealing with some discomfort leading into gameday. 

Just after that game against the Chiefs, the Giants neglected to bring a second option into their Week 4 contests against the Chargers, where Gano reaggravated his groin and was forced to sit out the entirety of the afternoon with punter Jamie Gillan as the only man left to handle both duties. 

Nor were their backup plans for Gano any better between Jude McAtamney and Younghoe Koo, who each had their own individual mishaps that either cost the Giants wins or painted an uglier picture of the fragility of their special teams operation. 

The one positive at the tail end of the season was the arrival of rookie Ben Sauls, who was elevated from the practice squad and hit all eight of his field goal attempts and seven extra points to help the Giants win two of their final games against the Raiders and Cowboys. 

If the Giants like Sauls’ efforts, they could return him for cheap and let Gano loose to finish off his career elsewhere. The risk of injury just isn’t worth the investment in a close to 40-year-old kicker, and the team can’t let that mishap burn them again.

RB Devin Singletary

Dec 14, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants running back Devin Singletary (26) runs with the ball against the Washington Commanders during the second quarter at MetLife Stadium. | Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

When the Giants lost rookie running back Cam Skattebo to a season-ending ankle injury in the middle of the season, it left a big hole that Devin Singletary would need to fill alongside Tyrone Tracy Jr. to keep that side of the offense afloat. 

It’s safe to say that he and Tracy didn’t do too shabby a job at that mission. While Tracy eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark in total scrimmage yards for the second time in as many years, his veteran teammate was able to dish out another 437 yards that matched his 2024 output and tied for the second-most touchdowns on the team with five. 

Singletary was a critical component of the rushing attack down the stretch of the season, when the Giants had to rely on that element a lot against tougher passing defenses.

His numbers might not jump off the page, but he was able to give six games of at least 45 yards and scored three of his touchdowns in the final five weeks of the season. 

In addition, he was a solid addition to the roster back in 2024, when the Giants needed an experienced face to lead their running backs after Saquon Barkley departed for Philadelphia in free agency, and the connection was there with the Daboll-Schoen regime from their Buffalo days. 

The Giants have all three players under contract for the 2026 season. Still, it might make sense for the team to consider shifting away from Singletary as the important work of improving the roster unfolds over the next several months. 

The Giants will likely have Skattebo back and ready to participate in the organization’s spring activities after recovering from his ankle injury, and seem to have found a solid long-term No. 2 man in Tracy. Injuries can always reappear, but the price they are paying for Singletary to essentially be the third option in that equation might be too steep for just some familiar face in the building. 

Singletary is scheduled to have a $6.5 million cap hit in 2026, which would be the 12th-highest on the Giants’ 53-man roster. His base salary would be $5 million, and he had a workout bonus of $250,000, per Spotrac. 

Releasing him before June 1st would save them $5,250,000 toward their limited cap space, which is currently the third-lowest in the league at around $11.007 million before any contract restructures or roster changes occur.

OT James Hudson III

Jul 24, 2025; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers (1) celebrates with offensive tackle James Hudson III (55) during training camp at Quest Diagnostics Training Center. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

After years of trying to turn the group from a glaring weakness into a competitive unit of blockers, the Giants' offensive line finally made an impressive leap, becoming a strength that helped raise the level of play from quarterback Jaxson Dart and the young playmakers around him this season.

Their starting five, headlined by All-Pro left tackle Andrew Thomas, remained healthy for the majority of the season, providing that positive protection. Still, the Giants had to rely on their depth to fill his role before he officially returned from Lisfranc rehab in Week 3.

One of those players who tried to hold down the blindside was fellow offensive tackle James Hudson III, whom the Giants signed in free agency for his experience playing in multiple spots along the offensive front during his tenure with the Cleveland Browns from 2021 to 2024.

Hudson wasn’t the most elite pass blocker, but the amount of experience was seemingly enough for the team to trust him with a spot on the roster. That trust would quickly be forgotten just two weeks into the season when the veteran linemen had arguably his worst outing as a professional player. 

Hudson saw snaps in just three games for New York. Still, the Week 2 contest against the Cowboys was when he had his negative moment in the spotlight as he drew four penalties on the Giants’ opening drive that completely blew up the possession and forced them to dig deeper into the reserve as Hudson couldn’t keep his cool on the gridiron. 

Beyond his overaggressive mishaps, Hudson soon found himself replaced in the order by rookie swing tackle Marcus Mbow, who played well enough in certain points of the season, like the final two weeks in the absence of Andrew Thomas, to earn the vote of confidence from his coaches and teammates. 

The only other action Hudson saw was the season finale against the same Cowboys team, where he was one snap down the stretch of the second half with the Giants already in victory. It’s clear that the team otherwise didn’t trust him to be impactful, and that alone is justification to move on and seek a replacement. 

The Giants most likely will bring back Jermaine Eluemunor to remain the second starter with a healthy Thomas next season. Mbow figures to continue developing into a future starting option down the road, and it’s possible the Giants address the position once more in the upcoming draft. 

The need for reinforcements is one of the biggest needs on the Giants’ offseason to-do list this spring, but salvaging a risky player like Hudson isn’t something that’s going to benefit the results on the field, and he should be cut to create some extra cap space.  

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