Contract-Year Reckoning: 5 Giants Playing for Their Futures Paydays

The 2026 season represents a turning point for the New York Giants as head coach John Harbaugh takes the helm. And on his first Giants roster are several players who are facing a crossroads in this, the final year of their contracts.

Typically, players entering a contract year leave it all on the field as they seek their next big play day. And these five Giants players, who project to have sizable roles on the 2026 team, have the most to gain (or lose) in the year ahead.

Kayvon Thibodeaux's Next Contract Hinges on a Bounce-Back Year

Most of the conversations surrounding Thibodeaux this offseason have been about his status as a trade candidate. But if the Giants do elect to keep the fifth-year defender around, he'll be fighting for every dollar of his next contract.

Spotrac currently estimates Thibodeaux's market value at $21 million per year. However, he is not only coming off a down year (just 11 pressures in 2025), but he’s also been unable to stay healthy in each of the last two seasons, making him a risk until proven otherwise.

Add to that the presence of Abdul Carter, who finished last season in Thibodeaux’s place after he went on IR with a shoulder issue, and potential future plans to expand rookie Arvell Reese’s role, and it’s hard to fathom Thibodeaux getting his payday from the Giants.

That said, the other 31 teams around the league will have interest, but only if Thibodeaux, who is an underrated run stopper, completely balls out and resembles the player he was in his second season when he recorded 11.5 sacks, tying him for ninth in the league that season.

John Michael Schmitz Must Prove He Fits Harbaugh's Vision

New York Giants center John Michael Schmitz Jr. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Schmitz, who is entering his fourth season, is a second-round pick who has been passable as a starter since joining the Giants. He has progressed each year since coming to New York and has worked himself up to an estimated market value of $12.4 million per year, based on a three-year, $37.344 million contract, which would make him the seventh-highest-paid center in football.

Last year, he allowed just 14 pressures in 2025, a career low, and half of what he allowed in 2024. But out of 26 qualifying centers who played a minimum of 780 snaps last year, Schmitz graded out 26th overall, and 18th both in run blocking and pass protection.

The real question, though, is whether Schmitz fits Harbaugh’s vision for the offensive line in the future. Schmitz is widely regarded as a technician rather than a pure mauler, and the Giants' offensive line is gravitating toward the latter identity.

The 2027 free-agent crop of centers is expected to be rich with talent, to the point where maybe the Giants devote the money to a guy who is more of a mauler, though Schmitz still has a chance to show his new head coach that he’s not a liability in any facet of the game despite being a technician.

Micah McFadden Needs a Bigger Role to Cash In

Jun 3, 2026; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants linebacker Micah McFadden (41) participates in drills during organized team activities at Quest Diagnostics Training Center. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

McFadden was given a one-year deal this offseason after the final season of his rookie contract ended early due to an injury in Week 1, which will pay him $3.75 million in 2026.

Once on the rise, McFadden will take a back seat to new projected starters Tremaine Edmunds and Arvell Reese. But that doesn’t mean that McFadden won’t be able to cash in if he delivers in his projected role as a key reserve and special teamer.

McFadden won’t log 100+ tackles this year unless he sees an increase in his play-time on defense, but if he shows he’s healthy, cuts down on the missed tackles (15.6% career rate), and delivers more in coverage, McFadden will put himself in a good position to get a nice new contract somewhere.

Evan Neal Gets One More Shot to Save His Career

Harbaugh and the Giants have given Evan Neal, the team’s 2022 first-round pick, a mulligan to pull his career back from the jaws of defeat. Neal, who is destined to play guard moving forward, can do just that if he somehow snags a starting role on the offensive line and plays like the mauler his size suggests he can be.

New York has Francis Mauigoa, this year’s first-round pick, slotted in as the starting right guard, so Neal's chance would be at left guard, the spot currently held by incumbent Jon Runyan. Runyan, like Schmitz, isn’t a mauler, whereas Neal’s college tape suggests he can be a people mover.

Neal, however, hasn’t shown it thus far, having received just 44 snaps at guard last year before the coaches moved him to the inactive list. But Harbaugh, earlier in the offseason, spoke of having been impressed with Neal’s college tape, so it’s up to offensive line coach Mike Bloomgren to try to get that college mauler out of Neal.

Teams have shown themselves willing to pay for quality interior offensive linemen. If the Giants can help Neal become that, he’ll be set to cash in.

Deonte Banks Must Clean Up His Consistency Issue

Cornerback Deonte Banks | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The Giants declined Banks' fifth-year option, but they haven't given up on the former first-round pick just yet. He's set to compete with Greg Newsome II and rookie Colton Hood for the team's second starting outside cornerback spot.

Banks has all the talent and physical tools one could want for a starting boundary cornerback. Where he has come up short, though, is in consistency and discipline.

Banks has led Giants defenders in penalties over the last three years and allowed a passer rating of 149.7 when targeted in 2025. Solid cornerbacks are at a premium every year in free agency, and Banks needs to show he can be at least solid in his play.

With Banks appearing to be more comfortable in Dennard Wilson’s new and more aggressive scheme that has hints of what Wink Martindale ran in Banks’s rookie season, the former Maryland Terp can cash in if he plays up to the level the Giants thought they were going to get when they drafted him in the first round back in 2023.

Contract years have a way of clarifying things quickly, and that’s good for both the players and the team if it falls into place. For these five players, who have millions on the line, the upcoming summer will help set the stage for the direction their trajectories take.

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