The Easiest Personnel Decision Giants Will Have This Offseason

The Giants have to decide on Deonte Banks's option year. It should be a no-brainer.

Oct 26, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Giants cornerback Deonte Banks (2) against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

With the 2025 season complete and the offseason officially here for the New York Giants, free agency is just one of the initial mile markers on the horizon, and the Giants have a ton of decisions to be made regarding their current personnel.

Before they get to deliberating which of their 20 players who are about to become unrestricted free agents they want to keep in East Rutherford for the long-term future, another one of their own has a different contract situation that needs to be ironed out soon.

That player would be cornerback Deonte Banks, who just wrapped up his third season with the Giants since being drafted No. 24 overall, and is one of 32 players from the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft class whose teams must decide whether to exercise the fifth-year option on their rookie contract by May 1.

The decision should be one of the easiest that general manager Joe Schoen makes this offseason. 

Should the Giants Exercise Deonte Banks’ Fifth-Year Option? 

From a financial standpoint, the Giants' handing Deonte Banks his fifth-year option doesn’t seem like it would be a huge burden to their salary cap for the 2027 season. 

According to Over the Cap, Banks is set to earn $4.32 million in the final year of his traditional rookie contract, which is the usual cheap price for a novice player. If the Giants were to accept the option, that number would jump up to $11.65 million for the following campaign, and that would become one of the top eight cap charges on the roster. 

The thing about Banks is that he has the talent to be a serviceable cornerback in this league. 

The problem with him lies in his confidence and effort, which have been a problem ever since the Giants moved off of Wink Martindale’s heavy-man coverage scheme and to their current scheme, which features more zone-heavy coverage.   

In 2025, Banks found himself in a competition for the starting cornerback role with Cor’Dale Flott, who clearly outplayed him.  

A few games into the season, the rotation that had been in place had ceased, with Banks only coming in on defense in limited situations or when there was an injury to Flott or Paulson Adebo.  

When it was all said and done, Banks appeared in just 44% of the defensive snaps, but seemed to find new life on special teams as a kickoff returner. Banks finished the 2025 campaign having played 39% of his snaps on special teams, a career high.

New York Giants cornerback Deonte Banks (2) defends Los Angeles Chargers cornerback Benjamin St-Juste (24) during a game at MetLife Stadium, Sep 28, 2025, East Rutherford, NJ, USA. | Yannick Peterhans / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In his first season in New York, the Giants saw some flashes of the ballhawk ability that Banks displayed in college, which enticed general manager Joe Schoen to move up one spot on the draft board to select him. Banks limited receivers to a 57.6% reception percentage despite being the most targeted player in the secondary and led the team with 10 forced incompletions. 

The statistics in coverage have been nothing short of disappointing since then, with Banks struggling to defend opposing pass catchers without giving up extra yardage (469 career yards after the catch allowed) or picking up repetitive penalties for which he finished second on the Giants with seven infractions.

In 2025, Banks allowed catches on 26 of his 32 targets (81.3%) and a team-high four touchdowns. His efforts in the run game were sour, with an 11.8% missed-tackle rate. 

That said, Banks did have a few moments as a return specialist for Michael Ghobrial’s crew, including his 95-yard kickoff return against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 17.  

All that said, it’s hard to justify the Giants exercising Banks’s option year in what should be the easiest decision the team has had to make regarding a first-round pick's option year since last offseason, when they declined to exercise offensive lineman Evan Neal’s fifth-year option.

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