Giants Move Up in ‘Bold’ Round 3 Trade to Land Jaxson Dart a ‘Power Forward’ WR

When it seemed the New York Giants wouldn’t find a quality rookie wide receiver early in the 2026 NFL Draft, they made a bold move, selecting Notre Dame's Malachi Fields in the top half of round 3 on Friday night.

After returning to the defense at the start of Day 2 and selecting Tennessee cornerback Colton Hood to boost the talent in their depleted secondary, the Giants jolted back up the board in the next round by trading their 105th, 145th, and a 2027 fourth-round pick to the Cleveland Browns for pick No. 74 slot to snag Fields for the receiving corps.

Fields, whom general manager Joe Schoen likened to a "power forward" during his press conference with head coach John Harbaugh after the choice was made, becomes the expected addition to the Giants' position group that wasn't as big of a priority in the first round as some analysts were projecting.

Standing at an admirable 6-foot-4 and 218 pounds, Fields is exactly the type of pass catcher that many were hoping the franchise would find in this year's draft: a big-bodied perimeter guy to line up across from Malik Nabers and open up the vertical capacities of the Giants offense under offensive coordinator Matt Nagy.

"Certainly a different body type than we currently have," Schoen said about Fields.

"Adding him was something that we talked about doing, and we weren't going to force it unless the value was at the right spot...just the catch radius and athleticism that he displayed were attractive. It was almost like building a basketball team, and now you've got your power forward."

PLAYMAKER pic.twitter.com/DzZ9LAFjb4
— New York Giants (@Giants) April 25, 2026

A New Favorite Target for QB Jaxson Dart?

Moving up to steal Fields became a momentous opportunity for the Giants, albeit a pricy one, as they now hold no picks until the sixth round begins late Saturday afternoon due to the compensation they had to give up to the Browns to complete the trade.

Yet, it was one bold move they had to make after their receiving corps remained one of their biggest needs entering day 2 of the draft and was largely a disappointment during the 2025 season. Malik Nabers was lost to injury far too soon and left quarterback Jaxson Dart scrambling for a new reliable weapon.

Under Harbaugh, the Giants have been gravitating away from the smaller, shifty targets the Giants' previous coaching staff relied on, and have been looking to gain the size and play strength advatnage with taller prospects who are more likely to win on contested catches.

Shockingly, he found that answer in his slot target, Wan'Dale Robinson, but the former second-round pick who led the Giants with 92 catches on 140 targets for 1,014 yards and five touchdowns is now a member of the Tennessee Titans.

The other receivers finished with less than 600 yards of production and scored three touchdowns the rest of the way.

Even with Nabers, opposing teams often started game-planning around him and slowing down his incredible athletic abilities on display in 2024. They needed another perimeter receiver, which made that more difficult, and Fields became the player they keyed on.

In five collegiate seasons (four with Virginia and one with Notre Dame), Fields tallied an average catch of 15.1 yards that helped him produce 2,486 yards and 16 touchdowns, including three consecutive years with five appearances in the endzone.

Fields can really stretch into the vertical realm with his size and solid route running, as he averaged 14.1 yards per target and 1.94 yards per route run. With the ball in his hands, he rarely muffs it (10 career drops) and can adequately use that size to shed defenders and make something extra happen down the sideline (768 yards after the catch).

The 22-year-old had to move to the Fighting Irish in order to really see his game take off, but it was a change that worked as Fields finished with his second-highest receiving grade (76.2) while catching 58.1% of his targets (47.8 of them being contested catches) for 630 yards and earning a passer rating of 113.0 when targeted, the second-best mark of his career.

If Nabers’ surgically repaired knee isn't good to go for Week 1, Fields will provide the Giants with a viable replacement option that Dart, who has shown a strong arm and willingness to let it rip, will certainly look to early and often. It wouldn't be a total shock to see him ascend into the WR2 this summer if he has an astounding showing in camp.

The bigger question is whether he might stir up the order in the Giants' arsenal by becoming one of Dart's favorite options when it comes time for a big play, something he wasn't able to take advantage of without Nabers for most of his NFL debut.

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