Favorite and Least Favorite Moves Named for Giants

When it comes to the New York Giants' first phase of roster reconstruction via free agency, there have been both avid supporters and bold skeptics leaving their two cents about the franchise's moves over the past two weeks.

The Giants had to enter the offseason with a careful approach, given their salary cap predicament was not the healthiest across the league and they knew certain in-house free agents were going to command significant money on the open market.

From our perspective, the Giants' results prior to the NFL Draft next month have been fairly positive despite the aforementioned challenges and it will be exciting to see what young talent GM Joe Schoen and head coach John Harbaugh envision and select to be the newest impact contributors to the team.

Before that weekend arrives, Pro Football Focus analyst Zoltan Buday recently joined the discussion of New York's moves in his list of the favorite and least favorite free agent deals for all 32 organizations.

Buday's first choice for the Giants was not much of a surprise, but the second player he critiqued definitely caught our attention.

Giants Got a Great Deal for a Very Important Player

New York Giants offensive tackle Jermaine Eluemunor — Jun 18, 2025; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants OL Jermaine Eluemunor (72) speaks at a press conference during minicamp at Quest Diagnostics Training Center. | John Jones-Imagn Images

The analyst's positive pick for Big Blue was their re-signing of starting right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor who was able to turn a lot of heads around the league in advance of a contract year.

"Eluemunor put together the best season of his career with the Giants in 2025," Buday wrote. "
He gave up pressure on just 3.3% of pass plays, which led all right tackles."

"The Giants were able to sign him to a three-year contract worth $39 million, which makes him just the 13th-highest-paid right tackle in the league."

As soon as the Giants knew they weren't going to be reuniting with Wan'Dale Robinson or Cor'Dale Floot, both of whom departed for bigger paydays in Tennessee, they made it a top priority to make sure they secured a new deal Eluemunor who was a critical piece to their honest offensive success this past season.

With his partner in crime in Andrew Thomas manning the blindside, the Giants' two premier tackles allowed just five sacks and 32 total pressures and held top five positions in pressure rate allowed.

The entire starting five stayed intact and seemed to finally gel together, resulting in the third-best pass blocking efficiency and 15 total sacks allowed.

Eluemunor certainly earned himself offers from competing teams, but he made it clear his desire to stay in East Rutherford and that likely helped in the Giants' ability to renew their partnership at a team-friendly price.

Even at age 32, the Giants believe they still have more seasons of elite pass protection in Eluemunor's game. More importantly, his return helps maintain consistency at one of the most important spots along the offensive line which was a concern for the group had he left the team.

Was the Giants-Tremaine Edmunds Contract an Overpay?

New York Giants inside linebacker Tremaine Edmunds — Oct 19, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bears middle linebacker Tremaine Edmunds (49) reacts after sacking New Orleans Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler (not pictured) during the second half at Soldier Field. | David Banks-Imagn Images

In the reverse of his mindset on the Eluemunor deal, Buday begs to question whether the Giants stretched themselves a little too far in their agreement with former Bears linebacker Tremaine Edmunds.

"While Edmunds enjoyed a breakout 2022 season with the Bills in a contract year (81.9 PFF overall grade), he failed to replicate that throughout his time in Chicago," Buday noted.

"His best season came in his last year with the Bears, but even then, he ranked just 35th with a 66.0 PFF overall grade and 48th with a 52.9 PFF coverage grade. It was slightly surprising that the Giants made him the 11th-highest-paid linebacker in the NFL."

The Giants pursuit of Edmunds got hot as soon as they released veteran Bobby Okereke to free some extra cap savings and Edmunds was released by the Bears prior to the start of free agency.

His coverage numbers could use some serious cleaning up after he gave up 51 receptions on 64 targets (79.7%) for 475 yards, three touchdowns and 232 yards after the catch which led Chicago's linebacker room in 2025.

When compared to the production that the Giants got from Okereke and company last season, the tradeoff was pretty similar in that realm.

The bigger priority for the Giants, outside of a cheaper cap number, was to solve their horrendous run defense which was only worsened on Okereke's watch (career-high 13.0% missed tackle rate across 433 snaps).

Edmunds will definitely serve as an upgrade in the trenches, having posted a PFF run defense grade above 70.3 in four of the last five seasons while missing less than 11 tackles and making at least 34 stops. He has been the same tackling machine over the years with just more recent consistency.

In addition, Edmunds has been more impactful in the turnover department, forcing four interceptions in two of the past three campaigns. He takes advantage of opportunities when they come in his direction whereas the Giants didn't achieve the same success with 15 turnovers as a team.

Add to those feats his ability to get after the passer at a faster rate than the aging Okereke, and it's hard to argue the Giants might not have another bargain contract on their hands with Edmunds, who is scheduled to make just $5.56 million in 2026, the fifth highest cap charge among the team's linebackers.

As is the case with any defense in the NFL, the Giants will need better performance from more than just one player to earn the results they want this upcoming season. It all can't fall on Edmunds' shoulders to clog up the rushing lanes, but he was a nice new piece to help contribute to that mission.

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