Why Ar'Darius Washington Is a Perfect Fit for Dennard Wilson's Defense

The New York Giants' safeties were underwhelming in 2025 despite the significant investment in Jevon Holland as a big-name free agent and Tyler Nubin in his second year as a second-round pick.

Dane Belton was probably the most consistent performer at safety last year, not the best, but most consistent. He’s now with the crosstown Jets after leaving in free agency.

Jason Pinnock returned to the Giants this offseason after a brief stay away with the San Francisco 49ers, and the Giants also brought in Ar’Darius Washington, who spent the first years of his pro career under head coach John Harbaugh when both were with the Baltimore Ravens.

As far as starters, it seems like the Giants are content with running it back with Holland and Nubin, but the depth is almost completely new aside from the returning Raheem Layne and Beau Brade.

There should be intense competition for depth in the room to earn playing time with a new defensive system coming into place and little schematic familiarity on the roster.

Ar’Darius Washington, S

Height: 5-8
Weight: 180
EXP: 5 Years
School: TCU
How Acquired: FA-’26

2025 in Review

The 2025 season was likely the most challenging year of Washington’s career, but it’s also one of the most impressive years he’s had, just not on the field.

In May 2025, Washington suffered a torn Achilles that most immediately thought would end his year, but he would actually come back to make his season debut in Baltimore’s week 15 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Through the end of the season, Washington would appear in four games and register seven combined tackles, one sack, one tackle for loss, and one forced fumble.

On his limited reps before his injury last season, Washington spent most of his time playing in the nickel and was used effectively as a pass-rusher, picking up three pressures on just six blitz attempts.

While Washington played a few snaps on special teams, he isn’t the type of player who is consistently used in that phase as a small player who also isn’t a plus-athlete.

Contract/Cap Info

This spring, the Giants signed Washington to a one-year contract worth $3,000,000 with $1,500,000 guaranteed at signing.

If the Giants were to want to cut ties with Washington this summer, they would incur a dead cap penalty of $1,500,000 and create $1,117,647 in cap savings.

The likelihood that Washington gets cut is slim due to the minimal cap space created by the move and the dead cap hit.

Many general managers seem to operate under the mindset that if a move creates less cap savings than a dead cap hit, they struggle to justify the decision.

With Washington being on a one-year deal, there are also no long-term implications for the Giants to make a move with him.

On top of the financial implications, it’s tough to see a world where many of the former Ravens who signed with the Giants this offseason get cut.

2026 Preview

How Washington contributes to the Giants in 2026 will depend on his health, now that he’s over a year removed from his torn Achilles, so he should be fully ready to go once again.

It will also come down to how he picks up the defense compared to the rest of the room. There should be a strong sense of familiarity with Washington and defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson, as Wilson was the Ravens' defensive backs coach in 2023, with Washington playing under him.

While he’s entering year six in the NFL, Washington is still relatively inexperienced in terms of on-field experience due to time spent on the practice squad and time missed with injuries, including significant absences in 2023 and 2025.

The biggest obstacle to Washington finding his way onto the field will be his availability, or lack thereof.

On film, when available, he’s a high-level contributor who can play any coverage from multiple spots of the secondary, and his one year of being fully healthy in 2024 was a strong season.

According to Kevin Oestreicher of Locked On Ravens, “Washington plays winning football and finds a way to consistently fly around to create timely momentum plays. He’s struggled with injuries, but when he’s on the field, he can be a major difference maker.”

The question that needs to be answered is about Washington’s ability to stay on the field, not about his ability to play on the field.

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