New Data Reveals the NY Giants Are Among the NFL's Worst at Retaining Elite Drafted Talent

The NFL Pro Bowl voting process has long been a lightning rod of controversy among those who use it as a measuring stick for how good a team actually is. That’s undoubtedly because the player selections are split three ways among the fans, the players themselves, and the coaches.

Still, having multiple Pro Bowlers coming from the same team is usually a source of pride, and it’s also something that the New York Giants just haven’t been very good at achieving when it comes to their draft picks.

This proves the data provided by Tony Holzman-Escareno, a senior researcher for NFL.com. Holzman-Escareno compiled a list of Pro Bowl players drafted by each team that are still with the team that drafted them.

To no surprise, the Giants were toward the bottom of the pile, tied with the Titans, Steelers, Jets, Saints, Patriots, Vikings, Raiders, Panthers, and Cardinals with just two current Pro Bowlers drafted by that team.

Only the Bears and Dolphins (one each) and Packers (zero) had a lower count at the time the post was made.

Holzman-Escareno’s post was made on April 17, by the way, one day before the Giants traded away defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence, their first-round pick in 2019, to the Cincinnati Bengals.

New York Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers was the last Giants draft pick to earn a Pro Bowl nod who is still with the team. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Since that trade, the Giants have just one player they drafted who made the Pro Bowl at least once, receiver Malik Nabers, who did so in his rookie season.

Ouch!

Again, many people don’t put much stock in the Pro Bowl, instead looking at All-Pro honors as a better indicator of how impactful a team actually was.

But the bad news for Big Blue is that they haven’t had much luck with their drafted players snagging All-Pro honors (either first-team or second-team) either.

Only left tackle Andrew Thomas, drafted fourth overall back in 2020, has earned All-Pro honors, coming in 2022 when he was named second-team.

Lawrence, had he not forced his way out of the Giants, would have been the other Giants draft pick to earn All-Pro honors, and the only one to do so twice, in 2022 and 2023, both second-team nods, and the only Giants draft pick to earn All-Pro and Pro Bowl recognition.

What could have been...

Expanding the research even further, several former Giants draft picks have earned Pro Bowl and/or All-Pro nods, many of those with other teams.

Safety Xavier McKinney, a Giants second-round pick in 2020 who is now with the Green Bay Packers, earned his first Pro Bowl in 2024 and has twice been named to All-Pro, in 2024 (first team) and last year (2025).

Running back Saquon Barkley, the Giants’ first-round pick in 2019, has three Pro Bowls and one first-team All-Pro nod to his name, one Pro Bowl berth, and the All-Pro nod coming in 2024 as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles.

And safety Julian Love, a fourth-round pick in 2019, earned his first and, to date, only Pro Bowl berth in 2023 as a member of the Seattle Seahawks.

No team is going to have Pro Bowlers and/or All-Pros every single season, but just imagine how different the Giants’ fortunes might have been had they managed to retain all the talent they spent months scouting and years developing after drafting them that ultimately walked out the door.

Let’s hope that with John Harbaugh now firmly entrenched as head coach, that trend starts to reverse itself.

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