Is LB Zaire Barnes is a "Skin-of-His-Teeth" Roster Project for John Harbaugh's Giants?

The New York Giants' linebacker room was abysmal for much of the 2025 season, but under the John Harbaugh regime, there have already been quite a few changes to upgrade the room.

At the top of the room, the most dramatic changes were made as the Giants released veteran Bobby Okereke after three seasons with the team.

The Giants made an early splash in free agency by signing Tremaine Edmunds from the Chicago Bears, who actually has been in the NFL for one more year than Okereke, but is a year younger.

During the 2026 NFL Draft, the team drafted BYU linebacker Jack Kelly, who will look to compete for a role from day one.

Most of the retention in the room was young depth that could still be coached up to be more respectable, with players like Zaire Barnes, Darius Muasau, and Micah McFadden, who missed basically all of 2026 with an injury.

As the Giants have a new coaching staff, all of these players will look to separate themselves from one another, and just about every job should be up for grabs outside of Edmunds’, who will clearly be LB1 in East Rutherford.

Zaire Barnes, LB

Height: 6-1
Weight: 232
EXP: 4 Years
School: Western Michigan
How Acquired: FA-’25

2025 in Review

Oct 9, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants linebacker Zaire Barnes and safety Beau Brade (34) celebrate after a kickoff against the Philadelphia Eagles during the fourth quarter of the game at MetLife Stadium. | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Barnes started 2025 with the New York Jets, where he remained through the preseason, only to be released during final roster cutdowns in late August.

The Giants did get an extensive look at Barnes during the preseason when he was with the Jets, as the teams had joint practices and their preseason game, where Barnes had nine total tackles in the finale against the Giants.

After his release by the Jets, Barnes would sign with the Giants as a member of their practice squad. He would remain on the practice squad until October, when he was elevated to the active roster.

Over the following month, Barnes would bounce back and forth between the practice squad and the active roster before being signed to the active roster full-time.

Barnes played in 11 games in 2025, primarily on special teams, and would register 29 total tackles, two tackles for a loss, and one sack.

On his very limited defensive film last year, Barnes was decent at best but was relatively unimpressive most of the time.

If 2025 was an indicator of what’s to come, I don’t have high expectations for Barnes to ever become a significant defensive contributor. Still, he could continue to play a depth role.

Contract/Cap Info

This spring, the Giants signed Barnes to a one-year contract worth $1,175,000 total with $250,000 guaranteed at signing.

That leaves the Giants with plenty of freedom to cut ties with Barnes via trade or cut this summer while taking on minimal risk - with just that $250,000 in dead cap money while creating another $925,000 in cap space.

Barnes is currently the third-lowest-paid Giants linebacker this year and also has the third-least guaranteed money.

Positional contract figures matter when it comes time for final roster cutdowns. If two players are close in terms of how the team values them, but one creates more space, that player could be at a disadvantage.

2026 Preview

Barnes has been in the NFL since 2023 and has mostly played special teams, with some defensive depth reps sprinkled in.

Under Harbaugh, a special teams coordinator before becoming a head coach, the expectation should be that there’s more of an emphasis on having a better special teams unit immediately.

That should give Barnes a leg up on some of the competition to carve out a role as a special teams player, arguably more valued than ever under the constantly changing special teams rules.

Linebackers have gained more value because of the dynamic kickoff rule, but also because opposing offenses are using more two- and three-tight end sets to create mismatches.

Unfortunately, I don’t believe that Barnes is the type of linebacker who can answer the question of how to defend multiple-tight-end personnel groupings, as he lacks the athleticism to consistently keep up with flex tight ends and the size to limit stronger tight ends.

Barnes will need to prove that he’s capable of contributing more than he has to this point defensively in order to truly secure a roster spot for himself, but he’s someone I view as a “skin of his teeth” roster addition right now.

Right now, I view Cam Jones, Jack Kelly, and Darius Muasau as the primary competition for Barnes’ roster spot in 2026.

If Barnes impresses enough over those three, who all project as special teams contributors if they’re on the roster this year, then the Giants could get more creative with practice squad designations to make everything fit together.

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