The 2024 Pro Bowl roster is here and for the New York Giants, it’s another painful reminder of how far the franchise has fallen. Dexter Lawrence earned his third straight Pro Bowl nod, cementing his place as one of the NFL’s elite interior linemen.
But beyond Lawrence? Crickets. Rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers and linebacker Brian Burns were named alternates, but the absence of meaningful representation from a 3-13 team is hardly shocking.
Here are the 2025 Pro Bowl Games rosters, led by nine #Ravens, seven #Lions and six #Eagles. pic.twitter.com/4tAzTfZTEM
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 2, 2025
What’s harder to swallow is who did make the cut: former Giants stars Saquon Barkley and Xavier McKinney. Barkley, now on the Philadelphia Eagles, was named the NFC’s starting running back after a historic season.
McKinney, thriving with the Green Bay Packers, is the NFC’s starting free safety with seven interceptions, the second-most in the league. Their Pro Bowl selections are a glaring indictment of Joe Schoen’s inability to retain top talent and Brian Daboll’s failure to develop the pieces still in New York.
Letting go of franchise players is bad enough. Watching them thrive elsewhere while the Giants struggle to cobble together anything resembling a competitive roster? That’s a brutal look for a front office that was supposed to usher in stability and success.
Giants’ loss of Barkley and McKinney is a win for everyone else
To be fair, rookies Tyrone Tracy Jr. and Tyler Nubin have done an admirable job stepping into the massive voids left by Barkley and McKinney, respectively. Tracy has shown flashes of brilliance as a versatile weapon, and Nubin’s instincts in the secondary have been promising. But let’s be honest—neither comes close to the Pro Bowl-level impact of the players they replaced.
Barkley’s numbers alone tell the story. The Eagles running back racked up 2,005 rushing yards and came within 101 yards of breaking Eric Dickerson’s all-time single-season rushing record. Let that sink in. The Giants let a generational talent walk out the door, only to watch him dominate in division-rival green. That’s not just a misstep; it’s a franchise-altering blunder.
Meanwhile, McKinney has been the centerpiece of the Packers’ secondary. His seven interceptions rank second in the NFL this season, and his ability to create turnovers has been a game-changer for Green Bay’s defense. In a year where the Giants desperately needed stability in their secondary, losing McKinney is a glaring black mark on Schoen’s record.
Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll are running out of excuses
Yes, the Giants had to navigate a difficult cap situation and inherited a flawed roster. But every GM and head coach faces those challenges. The good ones find ways to make it work. Instead, Schoen has actively stripped the roster of elite talent while failing to replace it with game-changers.
His decision to let Barkley and McKinney walk may have been calculated gambles, but they’ve aged like milk in the sun.
Daboll, meanwhile, has done little to maximize the talent still on the roster. Dexter Lawrence is as dominant as ever, and Malik Nabers is off to a stellar rookie campaign, but that’s where the bright spots end. A head coach is supposed to elevate his team, and Daboll has done the opposite.
This Pro Bowl roster is more than just a reflection of the Giants’ struggles. It’s a testament to the franchise’s mismanagement at every level. When your former stars are thriving elsewhere and your current roster is scraping the bottom of the standings, it’s not just a bad season—it’s a systemic failure.
The Giants need to take a hard look in the mirror this offseason. Whether Schoen and Daboll are part of the solution or just more of the problem remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: this Pro Bowl roster is the loudest alarm bell yet that change is desperately needed.