Giants 2026 UFA Primer: Did Dane Belton Prove His Worth?

Dane Belton produced a breakout season in his fourth year with the Giants. Did that earn him a new contract?

Jan 4, 2026; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants safety Dane Belton (24) looks on before the game against the Dallas Cowboys at MetLife Stadium. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

The New York Giants will have 19 unrestricted free agents this offseason. Which ones will be back? Which ones won't? We'll run through the list and give our thoughts on each.

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Dane Belton, SAF

• Height: 6-1
• Weight: 190 lbs.
• Age: 25
• NFL Exp.: 4 Seasons
• College: Iowa

Among the players who just finished the 2025 season for the New York Giants, it's hard to find many examples of a guy who has been an image of consistent improvement over the course of his short tenure as safety Dane Belton.

Belton was drafted by the Giants in the fourth round (114th overall) of the 2022 NFL Draft, the first class assembled by general manager Joe Schoen. 

Since then, he has blossomed into a high-volume contributor to both the defensive secondary and the special teams department, at levels that might entice the organization to keep him in East Rutherford for the future. 

It certainly started slow for Belton in his rookie season, as the Giants’ position group was flooded with three veteran safeties in the All-Pro Xavier McKinney, Jordan Love, and Jason Pinnock, who were taking up most of the snaps. 

Belton played in a reserve role, recording 295 snaps across 15 games (5 starts) and tallying 31 tackles (24 solo), 2 interceptions, 2 fumble recoveries, and 3 pass deflections. 

The Giants were likely impressed by the youngster’s performance in such a limited amount of reps that Belton’s workload began to increase in his next two seasons, including some heavier snaps for special teams, where he joined both the coverage and return teams for both kickoffs and punts. 

In that span, the 25-year-old’s impact presence on the field grew to a combined 34 games (8 starts) and produced 89 total tackles (50 solo) with two sacks, three interceptions, two forced fumbles, and eight pass deflections. Belton’s third phase reps jumped to 342 and 347 snaps, respectively, and he added another eight tackles there. 

As experienced faces in the Giants’ deep secondary began to depart the franchise in free agency. The Giants have had to call upon Belton to carry a larger load in both of those units, and the fourth-year player has answered the bell as an important contract decision looms this offseason. 

The Giants invested heavily in their defense last spring, and the return on investment was mixed. With a bunch more defenders set to become free agents in March, they must decide whether it’s worth prioritizing Belton among the names they retain for the 2026 campaign.

2025 Recap 

Although the Giants entered the season with veteran Jevon Holland, who they signed in free agency, and second-year man Tyler Nubin flanking the starting safety spots, the typical injury bug nipped at the two of them, forcing Belton into the equation more than he had seen in his first three years in blue. 

With Holland and Nubin missing a combined seven games, Belton saw the most starting action of his career (9 games) while being one of the 10 Giants defenders that appeared in all 17 games of the 2025 slate. 

In that workload. Belton outperformed many of those same teammates, finishing second on the defensive leaderboard behind inside linebacker Bobby Okereke with 120 total tackles (60 solo), a career-high two sacks, one interception, three force fumbles, and five pass deflections. 

Aug 4, 2025; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants running back Devin Singletary (26) is tackled by safety Dane Belton (24) during training camp at Quest Diagnostics Training Center. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Belton tallied three different outings with 10+ tackles in Week 7 against Denver, Week 9 against San Francisco, and Week 18 against Dallas. His most memorable play came in the Broncos game, when he flew out of the back of the endzone to make a hard tackle on receiver Cortland Sutton that prevented a walk-in touchdown.  

He also saw his largest defensive impact working all four units on special teams, with the majority of his 310 snaps coming on kickoff coverage and field goal blocking. Belton produced 16 more tackles and was a factor in helping the Giants’ group improve their ability to pin opponents deeper into their own territory down the stretch of the season.

Belton’s efforts outweighed any of his single seasons at college with the Hawkeyes, a testament to how taking the time to come to the NFL, learn behind the veterans, and use preparation time can pay off in the long run when a player finally gets his chance to shine in the spotlight. 

Why the Giants Should Re-Sign Him

When the Giants drafted Belton three years ago, they couldn’t have expected him to become such a highly involved player as a Day 3 prospect, given the fact that they already had multiple proven pieces manning the secondary. 

For a team that has had to repeatedly fall back on the old saying, “next man up”, due to the annual injuries that toll the roster, Belton was bound to hear his name called to assume a major role in the defense eventually. The safety had no better way to stake his claim as a true-blue player than to show off and produce his best stats as a pro this season.

Beyond his work in coverage, which could still use some improvement, Belton was also excellent at helping the Giants slow down the run game that had been plaguing them for most of the season. He finished fourth on the team with a 70.7 run defense grade, making 31 total tackles with only three missed tackles, seven stops, and one forced fumble. 

Regaining Belton could provide the Giants' defense with a specialist who can come in and fortify the back end to help prevent opponents from gaining large chunks of yardage on the ground. The Giants were the worst team in the league in average yards per carry allowed, giving up 5.3 yards per carry, which was almost an NFL record. 

Why the Giants Shouldn’t Re-Sign Him

The biggest factor inhibiting the Giants from re-signing Belton to a new contract is the state of their cap space heading into the 2026 season.  

The Giants are set to have some significant cap hits come from the defensive side of the ball. They already have one safety in Jevon Holland, who is under contract next season for an $18.6 million cap charge, which joins cornerback Paulson Adebo ($24.3 million) as two of the biggest numbers on the franchise’s books. 

As the Giants look ahead to the draft, this year’s class is chock-full of safety prospects whom the front office could select and sign to a cheap rookie contract. One name that could be on some people’s radars is Ohio State’s Caleb Downs, who would flash many of the same traits as Belton without the burden of a veteran price tag.  

Keep or Move On??

The fate of Dane Belton could be a tough one for the Giants to discern as they make a bevy of important roster decisions in the coming months. 

Belton’s market value is projected to be around $6.2 million, and he could command a two-year deal that would make him the 26th highest-paid safety in the league, according to Spotrac. 

With eight of the ten biggest cap charges on the Giants' roster coming on the defensive end, Joe Schoen might be hard-pressed to want to toss a collective $13.4 million towards a player who could become a reserve option if the team goes for a premier safety in the upcoming draft. 

That said, there is something to be said about showing appreciation towards a player and rewarding him for stepping up and being a key producer for the defense, albeit in what was largely another lost season for New York. 

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