This Giants Player Named Among Top Trade Candidates by Pro Football Focus

With the New York Giants' hiring of John Harbaugh as the franchise's next head coach, the next area of focus is evaluating all players and the glaring needs on the team's roster.

The Giants might be paying closer attention to the impending free-agent market and the 20 names in their locker room who will enter the open frenzy in March.

Still, they could also be forced to reconsider their partnership with some committed players in their ranks to make their offseason roadmap progress as they need it to.

Entering the preparation period for free agency and the draft, New York is at one of the unhealthiest salary cap predicaments around the NFL, with Over the Cap projecting the team's current 2026 allowance at about $1.8 million while being about $8.3 million in the red in effective cap space.

Of course, that is the frightening number before Harbaugh and general manager Joe Schoen sit down and figure out some contract restructures and other moves that will help them free up the additional capital to be active in the broad signing landscape that will unravel over the next few months.

Still, something has to give if the Giants want to be competitive buyers and supply their new leader with a roster chock-full of good talent. Pro Football Focus seems to have a potential solution to their goals--trading cornerback Deonte Banks, whom they listed among 15 top trade candidates ahead of the 2026 offseason.

"The Giants have gained a sudden impetus of optimism after hiring John Harbaugh as their head coach," PFF analyst Bradley Locker said.

"Harbaugh and incumbent general manager Joe Schoen will be tasked with upgrading remaining liabilities on the roster, with cornerback certainly an area of need."

"When New York picked Banks in the 2023 first round, pundits expected that they had landed a lockdown cornerback; instead, he’s been the inverse.

Among cornerbacks to play 2,000 or more snaps over the last three seasons, Banks owns the worst overall PFF grade (43.8) with the third-highest passer rating when targeted (110.9)."

Would Giants CB Deonte Banks Have Any Trade Value?

Dec 28, 2025; Paradise, Nevada, USA; New York Giants cornerback Deonte Banks (2) returns a punt for a touchdown in the second half against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Locker's idea to move Deonte Banks might be, as he coined it, "shrewd", but unfortunately, it feels like more of a pipe dream given how the 2023 first-round pick's journey in East Rutherford has unraveled.

Banks certainly created some good feelings for his potential during his rookie campaign, where he held a starting job in the secondary and flashed some abilities of a stingy perimeter cornerback that restricted opposing receivers to the lowest catch rate of 57.6% in the Giants' unit and batted away another team-high 10 pass attempts.

The early promise has since steadily declined over the next couple of seasons, as the 24-year-old has shown signs of immaturity that have carried over into his on-field performance.

Banks has been picked on in coverage by elite pass catchers, and the trend reached its worst this season, where he allowed receivers to complete the catch on a career-high 81.3% of targets against him for four touchdowns and the worst passer rating when targeted of 149.7.

The same concerns about growth and effort have arisen from his tendency to draw penalties as well. Banks was the second-most penalized player in the Giants' secondary, drawing 7 yellow flags, and has accumulated 21 total penalties over his first three years, which have consistently hurt the team in big spots.

Not only is Banks' trajectory something the Giants can't continue to let impact their push for success on the gridiron, but it also puts a massive dent in any trade value the cornerback might command if he were to be shopped by the team this offseason.

Banks is entering the final year of his rookie contract in 2026, and the Giants must decide by May 1st whether they will exercise his fifth-year option to retain his services at a cheap rate for another season.

Knowing this, it's unlikely an outside suitor will want to ship off a couple of draft picks for a guy who has an expiring deal, who could be signed on their own terms if desirable.

The Giants' secondary is also extremely thin after a miserable season for the position group, which finished 18th in the league in coverage grade and felt the brunt of the injury bug, taking out its biggest contributors.

With few capable options signed to the roster for next fall and little cap space to work with, it might make sense for the Giants to hold onto Banks for at least the 2026 season and see if he can prove himself worthy of a new deal in the following offseason.

Banks made a respectable turnaround in the final weeks of this season to perhaps put himself on a positive track heading into his fourth season. He allowed just seven receptions for less than 42 yards in the last four games while playing a starting workload in the absence of Cor'Dale Flott, who was on injured reserve with a knee injury.

He also started to discover a new role as a return specialist for the Giants' special teams department, including his 95-yard kickoff return against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 17 that showed the type of wheels he could have in open space.

Even that improved return down the stretch isn't enough to satisfy Locker's case for seeking a new home for Banks via an offseason trade. All the Giants can do is hope he proves them wrong next season and cements himself once again as part of the defensive mix on the journey back to relevance.

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Would Giants CB Deonte Banks Have Any Trade Value?

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