This past offseason, the New York Giants made plenty of big moves. Whether through the draft or free agency, general manager Joe Schoen added pieces to this team as if his life depended on it (and honestly, it did).
One of those big moves was signing free-agent cornerback Paulson Adebo to a three-year, $54 million contract.
With that came the expectation that Adebo would be the No. 1 shutdown corner Big Blue has been searching for since whiffing on Deonte Banks. However, the Giants organization and fans need to start coming to grips with the fact that he may not be that guy.
It's been 12 weeks into Adebo's career in New York, and he's only seen the field in seven of them. When he was available, he wasn't exactly living up to the paycheck that had been given to him. In those seven games, opposing quarterbacks are completing 63 percent of passes when thrown in his direction and have a passer rating of 92.8.
Paulson Adebo's 2025 dropoff is one of the most noticeable holes in the Giants' defense
If those numbers don't mean anything to you, that's understandable, but here's some perspective. In 2023, opposing quarterbacks completed only 55 percent of passes thrown his way, with a passer rating of 62.7.
In 2024, the completion percentage was 60 percent, resulting in a rating of 71.9. His 2025, especially in comparison to his previous seasons, is what experts would call: not good.
Now, you could be reading this thinking, "it's only his first year," or "cut him some slack, he's been injured." The thing with Adebo is he's not a rookie. This is his fifth season in the NFL, and he has shown he can play some good football. It just hasn't been there for him on the field this year.
The injuries are another part of this. Missing five games so far doesn't seem to be a fluke. He missed four games in 2022, two games in 2023, and 10 games in 2024. Adebo is an injury-prone cornerback who isn't producing when he is on the field. Heck, he even tweaked his knee in warmups before the game against the Green Bay Packers and then missed the next game against the Detroit Lions.
Unfortunately for Schoen, outside of the few successes, like trading for and extending Brian Burns and drafting Jaxson Dart and Cam Skattebo, a lot of his moves haven't turned to gold. Adebo is the latest example.
The Giants need to understand they may not have gotten their money's worth with Adebo and go after a cornerback early in the 2026 draft. If they don't, the decision could hurt them for years to come.