The One Roster-building Lesson Giants Could Learn from Baltimore

New York Giantshead coach John Harbaugh has brought with him to East Rutherford a number of staff members from the Baltimore Ravens to help him reshape Big Blue’s misfortunes.

In addition, though, to the people who, over the years, helped Harbaugh achieve a 193-124 overall record that included a Super Bowl championship, it will be interesting to see if Harbaugh brings with him some of the roster-building philosophies that have made the Ravens so competitive year in and year out.

One such philosophy has been a decreased reliance on free agency. According to a new study by Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap, from 2020 to 2025, the Ravens have been among the top teams that have leaned more on the draft than on free agency to build competitive rosters.

The data looks at the number of free agents signed by all 32 NFL teams, provided the contract cannot be a one-year veteran minimum deal. Fitzgerald’s data shows that the Ravens have brought in just 11 free agents at an average of $6.759 million per player, the second-fewest in the league.

The Giants, meanwhile, have ranked tenth overall in the league, having brought in 33 free agents. They have averaged $7.451 million per player, sixth in the league behind Atlanta, Indianapolis, the Rams, Kansas City, and Green Bay.

What This Data Reveals

Free agency was initially designed to help teams fill in the roster blanks the draft did not.

Although the draft comes after the bulk of free agency, the Giants' reliance on bringing in veterans stems from a lack of consistency in drafting, particularly in the premium rounds.

After missing on offensive tackle Ereck Flowers, the Giants had to overspend on veteran Nate Solder, bidding against themselves out of desperation for a left tackle.

Missing on a first-round pick and then moving on led to a $4 million dead money hit from Solder’s void year, contributing to $65.669 million in 2022 dead money—the league’s eighth highest total.

Others who ended up costing the Giants big-time dead money that year included cornerback James Bradberry ($11.727 million), defensive back Logan Ryan ($12.65 million), and inside linebacker Blake Martinez ($7.5 million)- all of whom were signed to fill holes left by failed draft picks.

While no general manager is ever going to hit on 100% of his draft picks, posting a better record at a minimum in the first three rounds would be a good way to avoid getting stuck in a vicious spending cycle, where the choice of extending young talent or having to overspend on aging talent becomes clearer.

As of 2025’s end, Giants picks in rounds one to three from 2020–2025 have yielded just 10 starters, five backups, and five no longer with the team.

Of their eight first-round picks since 2020, three–Kadarius Toney, Evan Neal, and Deonte Banks–have failed to latch on as key contributors, with Neal likely to soon join Toney as an ex-Giant.

BeBetter drafting and development can correct this, but meaningful change will likely take more than one offseason.

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