Dane Belton was never a marquee player across his four seasons with the New York Giants, but we all know the saying: You don't ever truly appreciate what you have until it's gone. And the Giants are watching him thrive elsewhere after he left the NFC but stayed in New York in free agency.
Belton signed a one-year, $4 million deal with the New York Jets in free agency, and he’s enjoyed a breakout of sorts with Gang Green. Rather than operating as the third safety behind Tyler Nubin and Jevon Holland, he's second in the pecking order behind Minkah Fitzpatrick and ahead of Andre Cisco.
So at least with the Jets, he's a full-time starter, which explains why he left. And while he didn't have to move houses, the change of scenery has benefited Belton. He's taken advantage of an expanded role, which is starting to make Giants fans wonder whether letting this guy walk in free agency was the right move.
Dane Belton looks like a man reborn away from the New York Giants
The former fourth-round pick was always a good tackler who knew how to handle ball carriers in space, but he was never much of a ball hawk or turnover machine. And it's been his prowess as a tackler that's helped him stand out among a Jets defense that doesn't have much to be excited about.
Take Pro Football Focus for what you will, but the 25-year-old is grading off the charts this season. Through four weeks, he's 11th in defensive grade, 17th in coverage grade, 15th in pass rush grade, and seventh in run defense grade--where he especially broke out in Week 4 against the Bears.
For starters, Belton amassed a season-high 10 tackles and a pressure in the 23-12 Jets loss, but he also recorded five stops. Those stops put him up to nine for the season, and given that he amassed just 16 stops for Big Blue in 2025, he's already more than halfway to last year's total in one month.
Moreover, his 87.7 PFF grade on Sunday ranked third among all safeties, while he and Minkah each played 93 snaps at safety in the game. That was the most on the day.
The question with Belton is: where was this with the Giants? He occasionally made some nice plays as a tackler or some nice run stops, but never as frequently as he has for the other team that plays at MetLife Stadium. Maybe all he really needed was a bigger role and more opportunities to show what he could do.
It's hard to be mad all things considered, because if John Harbaugh wanted to match the $4 million offer for Iowa product to keep him, he could've. Besides. Holland is playing out of his mind, and had he stayed, he would have been buried on the depth chart--and Harbs wanted to bring in Ar'Darius Washington anyhow.
Even still, it's hard to look at what Dane Belton is doing with the Jets and not think about what could've been.
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