New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen was at a loss recently to explain why the defense he poured resources into hasn’t improved.
The defense has actually gotten worse. The Giants ranked 21st in points allowed and 24th in yards allowed last season, compared to 30th in points allowed and 31st in yards allowed this season.
Schoen acknowledged at his recent bye-week news conference that he has to do a better job assembling the personnel, while also pointing a finger at coaching, noting, “We’ve got to do a better job of execution. We’ve got to do a better job of finishing games.”
There will be a new coach hired after the season, tasked with getting the players “rowing in the same direction.” As for Schoen, here’s an examination of the defensive talent he has assembled for the future and what areas are lacking (with players listed by the final year of their contracts):
Defensive line
2026: Roy Robertson-Harris
2027: Dexter Lawrence
2028: Darius Alexander
The defensive line mirrors the offensive line, with one high-level player in Lawrence — although his play hasn’t been on par with left tackle Andrew Thomas’ this season — and not much else. There has to be some concern about Lawrence’s downturn this year, especially since he was seeking a raise in the summer based on the exploding defensive tackle market. Lawrence’s meager production reduces his leverage, but the 28-year-old still could be looking for a pay bump. That could be a tricky situation to navigate.
Alexander is the defensive equivalent of rookie offensive tackle Marcus Mbow. There have been flashes of potential from Alexander during his rookie year, but he hasn’t shown enough to be relied upon as a key piece in his second season.
Robertson-Harris came as advertised, the definition of a replacement-level player. The Giants can cut the 32-year-old in the offseason to create $3.1 million in cap savings while eating $2.4 million in dead money.
The Giants need to get serious about upgrading the interior defensive line around Lawrence if they plan to stop having one of the worst run defenses in the league annually.
Outside linebacker
2026: Kayvon Thibodeaux
2027: Chauncey Golston
2028: Brian Burns, Abdul Carter
Aside from quarterback with Jaxson Dart, this is the position that will be most alluring to prospective coaches. This group hasn’t reached its potential this season, aside from Burns’ 13-sack outburst, but there is top-end talent with potential to form a dominant unit.
Burns is just 27 years old, and his contract looks like a bargain two years into the deal. His $28.2 million average annual salary is almost $20 million less than the top of the exploding edge rusher market.
Thibodeaux is signed through 2026 on his $14.8 million fifth-year option. He hasn’t done anything this season to warrant an extension, but that doesn’t mean he won’t push for one. The Giants can afford to take this year-to-year since Thibodeaux’s asking price figures to be high. They’ll have the franchise tag available if necessary after next season.
Carter needs to mature on and off the field. On the field, he needs to develop more counters since he can’t simply overwhelm NFL tackles with his speed. Off the field, he simply needs to become a professional. Despite a rocky rookie season, Carter is only 22, and advanced metrics suggest the sacks will come.
Golston has brought nothing in the first year of a three-year, $18 million contract, with injuries sidelining him for seven games. But the 27-year-old still should provide serviceable depth in the future.
Inside linebacker
2026: Bobby Okereke, Chris Board
2027: Darius Muasau
The Giants have to consider starting from scratch at this position. They can create $9 million in cap savings with $5.5 million in dead money by cutting Okereke this offseason.
The silver lining to the Lisfranc injury that has sidelined Micah McFadden since the opener is that it should make him cheap to re-sign. McFadden is a limited player, but he has value as the team’s second or third inside linebacker.
The Giants are going to need to invest in free agency or the draft to add a top-level linebacker this offseason.
Cornerback
2026: Deonte Banks, Korie Black, Rico Payton, Jarrick Bernard-Converse
2027: Paulson Adebo, Dru Phillips, TJ Moore
Schoen mentioned having “some pieces” in the secondary without singling anyone out. That’s understandable because the return on his major investments at cornerback has been disappointing.
The Giants signed Paulson Adebo to a three-year, $54 million contract in the offseason, which was the going rate for the top cornerbacks on the market. The hope was the 26-year-old would develop into a No. 1 corner. That hasn’t happened, although a five-game absence due to a knee injury has marred his season. Adebo was known as a ballhawk with the Saints, but he’s yet to record an interception in New York.
Banks’ sophomore slump in 2024 wasn’t an aberration. His third season has been even worse, with Banks not playing a defensive snap in the Giants’ 33-15 loss to the Patriots in Week 13. The Giants may want to give Banks one last shot with a new coaching staff, but moving on from an unproductive player with repeated effort lapses would help to change the team’s culture.
Phillips has regressed in his second season. The slot corner’s physicality is appreciated on a defense that lacks hard hitters, but his weaknesses in coverage have been exposed this season. He’s the type of player Schoen typically wouldn’t try to upgrade, but the Giants need to bring in competition for his spot.
The Giants’ best corner this season has been Cor’Dale Flott. Like wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson, Flott is having his best season as he hits free agency. Flott’s first three seasons were uneven, but foresight could have resulted in a team-friendly extension last offseason. Instead, the Giants will need to get into a bidding war if they want to retain the promising 24-year-old.
Safety
2026: Beau Brade, Anthony Johnson
2027: Jevon Holland, Tyler Nubin
Similar to cornerback, the Giants made big investments at safety, and the returns have been underwhelming. Schoen signed Holland to a three-year, $45 million contract a year after letting Xavier McKinney walk in free agency to sign a four-year, $67.3 million contract with the Packers. Holland has been a major downgrade from McKinney, who has blossomed into one of the top safeties in the league for Green Bay.
Billed as a ballhawk after recording 13 career interceptions at Minnesota, Nubin’s lack of ball production in his first two seasons has been stunning. The 2024 second-round pick has only been effective in the box, which significantly limits his impact.
Holland and Nubin are signed for the next two years, but the Giants can’t go into next season believing they’re set at safety.
Special teams
2026: K Graham Gano
2027: P Jamie Gillan
The Giants are overdue to cut ties with Gano, which would result in $4.5 million in cap savings and $1.3 million in dead money. Starting over entirely with the specialists should be on the table.
Gillan has had a poor season after signing a three-year, $9 million contract that made him the seventh-highest paid punter in the league. The Giants would create $1.2 million in cap savings while eating $2.1 million in dead money by dumping the 28-year-old in the offseason. Even 35-year-old long snapper Casey Kreiter hasn’t been the model of consistency he was in past seasons.
Special teams are often an overlooked aspect of the game, but that can’t be the case for the Giants, considering how costly the phase has been in recent seasons.
The Giants’ offensive nucleus is more promising, headlined by quarterback Jaxson Dart, wide receiver Malik Nabers and left tackle Andrew Thomas. The picture is cloudier on defense after such a disappointing season, especially since the premier pieces in the front seven have been healthy.
There needs to be upgrades in the trenches alongside Lawrence. Using a third-round selection on Alexander this year was the first time Schoen used a pick on the first two days of the draft on a defensive tackle.
The elephant in the room is Lawrence’s future. He just turned 28 and is only a year removed from being the best interior defensive lineman in the league. Trading Lawrence for a haul — the Jets got a first-round pick, a second-round pick and a player for a lesser defensive tackle in Quinnen Williams — has to at least be explored, especially if there’s a new GM.
Assuming Lawrence remains in New York, the Giants will have the same pieces in the front four that generated so much excitement entering this season. Burns is established as a top-tier edge rusher, while Carter’s physical tools give him the potential for a breakout second season. Thibodeaux hasn’t lived up to his billing as the No. 5 pick in the 2022 draft, but having him as a defense’s fourth-best edge rusher is a luxury.
The secondary remains a weakness, which is unsettling considering Schoen has invested $100 million in free agency plus a handful of picks in the first three rounds of the draft to bolster that group. Adebo and Holland are fine, but they’re shining examples of players getting overpaid in free agency.
Phillips and Nubin are young enough to believe they could still develop — Flott is an example of how defensive backs can bloom late. But blindly counting on those youngsters to be better next season is a recipe for failure. Flott is in line for a big payday, which could come from the Giants considering how thin they are at corner.
Looking at the overall roster, there are undeniably some “pieces.” But it’s also impossible to ignore that the Giants are 2-11 (and 5-25 since the start of last season). Teams with an abundance of talent don’t lose that many games.
The Giants have key players on both sides of the ball set to hit free agency, plus more spots that need to be upgraded. It will take premium investments to strengthen a roster that has too many holes this deep into Schoen’s tenure.