Ranking Giants’ Top Free-agency Moves: Most to Least Impactful

A fun part of the free agency period in the NFL is getting to react in real time to the sudden moves a team like the New York Giants makes and assigning grades that indicate how strong an addition they are to their organization.

Once the dust settles on the initial frenzy, it’s just one part of a longer, multifaceted offseason for each franchise. The real story then becomes what decisions—personnel or player-wise—will hold the best long-term value and help one team push towards sustained success.

The Giants, who bore another round of losing blows in their latest 4-13 season, started the offseason with plenty of room and enough promising pieces to go upward. They still needed to add a few more players and find the right leader to carry them back towards a fulfilling destiny.

While they’ve made massive strides already in some of those areas, the prelude to the draft next month presents the perfect opportunity to rank which of the Giants’ top offseason moves so far will be considered most to least impactful in moving the needle during the 2026 season and beyond.

Hiring of John Harbaugh as Head Coach

New York Giants introductory press conference for head coach John Harbaugh — General Manager Joe Schoen and new Giants head coach John Harbaugh hold a NY Giants helmet during a press conference welcoming Harbaugh at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center in East Rutherford on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2025. | Julian Leshay Guadalupe/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It was almost too easy to nominate this move as the most impactful for the Giants through the first couple of months of the offseason.

The Giants’ quest for a successor to ex-head coach Brian Daboll, who was dismissed from the helm after Week 10 this season, actually began before their dismal campaign reached its miserable conclusion.

They were giving a fair evaluation to offensive coordinator turned interim head coach, Mike Kafka, down the final six games of their slate, but it was going to be an uphill battle for Kafka, who only stole two victories in his first foray into being an NFL head coach.

In reality, the Giants were always monitoring the situation of John Harbaugh, who was let go by the Ravens after 18 seasons as head coach, and they knew from the moment he became a free agent that he was the No. 1 person they had to hire.

The Giants pulled out all stops to convince Harbaugh, who holds a career record of 193-124, including 13-11 and a Super Bowl title in the postseason, to move to East Rutherford and stamp his name into the next page of the long, historic lineage of the franchise, which he had always openly admired.

Now that he has taken up the role as head coach, the Giants are truly positioned to put an end to their brutal stretch of mediocrity and begin climbing back towards the relevance they haven’t had since their last run to the Super Bowl in 2011.

Harbaugh was drawn in by the inherent promise of rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart, whom he’ll get to further develop into a stronger pocket passer and elite dual-threat player, but believes in the talent that was in the room when he arrived.

The players appear to be bought in as well, given they’ve seen how the Harbaugh system and culture can elevate a franchise to the promised land.

What’s left has been bringing in some pieces that can help raise standards throughout the organization and improve their performance on the field, and there is little doubt the Giants are headed for more success with their new leader.

TE Isaiah Likely

New York Giants tight end Isaiah Likely — Tight end Isaiah Likely (80) runs with the ball after making a catch as Chicago Bears safety Jaquan Brisker (9) attempts a tackle in the second quarter at M&T Bank Stadium. | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

The Giants' first major move of the free agency window was arguably their most flashy because Isaiah Likely will bring a unique factor to the offense that wasn’t there during the 2025 season.

That is a tight end who brings a ton of versatility and can create explosive plays with just a little bit of space between him and the nearest defender. He had likely been building up his talents as a vertical threat since he was drafted to the NFL in 2022, but couldn’t get enough reps being the backup in the Ravens’ offensive system.

It was a time for a change of scenery, where he would no longer be in the shadow of an established veteran like Mark Andrews, and New York was his place, given the easy move to maintain the connection to his head coach in Harbaugh.

The Giants saw some valiant efforts from their own 2024 fourth-round pick, Theo Johnson, who finished as the team’s No. 3 receiver with 45 catches for 528 yards and a team-high five receiving touchdowns.

Johnson was not able to be as much of a dangerous player after the catch or stretch his routes beyond 10 yards downfield. He was also a victim of the drops, with seven that led the team, and was a huge problem for the Giants’ ability to extend drives and score in the red zone.

The Giants were even weak in the depth of their main receiving corps at the onset of free agency, given Malik Nabers missed most of 2025 with an ACL tear, and Wan’Dale Robinson was expected to earn a lucrative contract after his first-ever 1,000-yard season that carried the Giants' aerial attack.

Likely, who has tallied 1,568 receiving yards, 15 touchdowns, and an average of 11.6 yards per catch in four seasons, could become a nice cure-all to these woes that handicapped the Giants' passing game from reaching its full potential.

He will offer Jaxson Dart another weapon to throw downfield, and who can get open in extended play action plays when Dart is scrambling around looking for positive yardage. He excels at hauling in the football amongst traffic and high-pointing it to ensure it doesn’t land in harm’s way.

Imagine the Giants' trip of Nabers, who should be back healthy at some point next season, Darnell Mooney (more on him later), and Likely, who, with the right scheme, are going to make them a highly explosive unit that defenses won’t look forward to facing.

ILB Tremaine Edmunds

New York Giants linebacker Tremaine Edmunds — Linebacker Tremaine Edmunds (49) poses for a television camera with safety Kevin Byard III (31) after recovering a fumble against the Green Bay Packers during the third quarter at Soldier Field. | Mike Dinovo-Imagn Images

Very few positions on the Giants’ roster were in worse shape after the 2025 season ended than the inside linebackers room, which was suddenly looking at the possibility of both Week 1 starters being out at the start of free agency.

The Giants elected to cut ties with veteran Bobby Okereke after three seasons, using his $9 million in cap savings to expand their available cap space for better-value deals that would fill their needs.

Then, it took some time before the organization thought it wise to recommit to Micah McFadden, the former fifth-round pick, signing to a one-year deal in what figures to be a “prove it” season after McFadden missed almost the entire season with a foot injury.

Before that deal was finalized, the Giants moved to bring in former Bears middle linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, a younger player who had been much more efficient over his last three seasons in Chicago.

Edmunds, who played in 155 total games for the Bears, finished with his straight season of at least 110 tackles to go along with one sack and five forced turnovers. He was also stout against the run with the second-best run defense grade on the Bears' defense and just four missed tackles.

That difference in production was what the Giants had been missing from the position, despite Okereke and McFadden being Ironmen in the tackling department. They still couldn’t mask some deficiencies on the ground and were highly picked upon in coverage.

The Giants also got Edmunds on a team-friendly deal, as they did most of their free agent additions, which gives them the room to build further on the future depth of their key defensive positions in the draft next month, where they are expected to search for more secondary and defensive front help.

Edmunds has improved across nearly every important statistical category as his NFL career has progressed from Buffalo to East Rutherford. The hope is that the Giants will have him around for a long time, as he is in his prime and helped the Chicago defense flip the script more often last season, leading to their success on offense.

RT Jermaine Eluemunor

New York Giants offensive tackle Jermaine Eluemunor — Jan 5, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Giants guard Jermaine Eluemunor (72) in the tunnel against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

The Giants didn’t walk into the offseason with the greatest salary cap situation, meaning it was inevitable that they were going to lose at least a few of their notable in-house free agents. That became the case with players like Wan’Dale Robinson and Cor’Dale Flott, who took their talents off to the Tennessee Titans, who were on a spending spree.

With those two key faces gone, it became a key priority for the franchise to retain starting right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor, who had completely turned around his pro career and become one of the league’s best pass blockers in his first two years in blue.

Eluemunor, along with fellow tackle Andrew Thomas on the left side, was critical in protecting Jaxson Dart and allowing him the time to flourish as a dual-threat passer without taking the same beatings that previous Giants gunslingers were well acquainted with.

The 31-year-old tackle posted his best pass blocking grade (76.7) in 638 snaps, allowing four sacks, three hits, and 19 total pressures. The final number was his lowest over the past four seasons and showed the massive growth Eluemunor was having behind ex-offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo.

Despite being a top 25 player in his position with that resume, Eluemunor’s market value was not insanely high, and the Giants took advantage of that. His return ensures that the offensive line will remain intact on the edges and allows Dart to operate at his best out of the pocket.

Eluemunor believes highly in himself and that he can be the best tackle in the league if he keeps his strong production going. The Giants certainly do, and there is now a stronger connection with Harbaugh, who was with Baltimore when they drafted Eluemunor in the fifth round of the 2017 draft.

Eluemunor brings heart and pride to everything he does, and that could easily spread to the other young pieces that are coming up the depth chart. The Giants want the offensive line to remain a strength like it was in 2025, and this move was a good start to continuity.

SWR Darnell Mooney

New York Giants wide receiver Darnell Mooney — Dec 21, 2025; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Darnell Mooney (1) against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

As soon as Wan’Dale Robinson was leaving for the Tennessee Titans, one of the free agent receivers that felt like a very solid fit for the Giants' offense was Darnell Mooney.

After the Giants recruited Isaiah Likely and added a speedy pass catcher in Calvin Austin III, it felt like the Giants weren’t going to make another splash at the position until a potential first-round pick in the draft.

On the heels of the first wave of free agency, Mooney was still available, and GM Joe Schoen made another one of his surprise moves to bring the explosive slot receiver to East Rutherford on a very cheap deal that can rise up to $10 with performance incentives.

Mooney’s total deal, which carries a base salary of $3 million for the 2026 season, was one of the best pulls of the free agent frenzy for a pass catcher who was deemed to be near the top tier of players in the position group.

Mooney, 28, is another versatile weapon for Jaxson Dart to rely on next fall. He can line up at both the perimeter and the slot and run an expanded route tree while using his agility in open space to rack up a lot of yards after the catch.

The Giants have themselves another receiver who has proven he can be a high-volume target for any quarterback (he has one 100+-target season with both the Bears and Falcons). His speed also makes him a nice weapon to have for motion plays and sweep handoffs, so long as the upfield blocking falls into place.

Mooney has caught 309 passes for 4,028 yards and 17 touchdowns in his six NFL seasons. He instantly strengthens the Giants’ depth at receiver and figures to slide right into Robinson’s empty spot and serve as a quick passing threat for the offense.

Before free agency, the Giants' receiver room did not have much promise outside of a hopeful return from Malik Nabers to the form he had in his 2024 rookie campaign.

They now have multiple improved pieces that will elevate Dart’s throwing abilities and put some more fear into opposing defenses, who will know that the Giants can truly win games through the air.

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