Cut day is right around the corner.
The New York Giants put a bow on their first preseason under head coach John Harbaugh with Friday night’s 23-6 obliteration of the Jets, giving us one final look at several players fighting for their football lives. Some made the most of it. Others... well, I'll get to them in a minute.
More importantly, the preseason is officially over (yay!). That means we finally have all the information we’re going to get before Harbaugh and general manager Joe Schoen trim their 90-man offseason roster down to 53.
There are some brutal decisions coming up. Does Odell Beckham Jr. complete his return to East Rutherford? Does Tyrone Tracy Jr. survive all of the recent nonsensical trade and roster-cut speculation? And which surprise player crashes the party when the dust finally settles?
Enough questions. I’ve seen enough. Here’s my final crack at predicting the New York Giants’ initial 53-man roster for the 2026 season.
Final New York Giants 53-man roster prediction for the 2026 season
Specialists - Dominic Zvada (PK), Jordan Stout (P), Ben Mann (LS)
Harbaugh has fully embraced an “out with the old, and in with the new” motto entering 2026. Out are 39-year-old Graham Gano, 29-year-old Jamie Gillan, and 36-year-old Casey Kreiter from last year, and in are 22-year-old Dominic Zvada, 28-year-old Jordan Stout, and 24-year-old Ben Mann.
Big Blue needed to overhaul its special teams unit after years of neglecting it and trying to put Band-Aid fixes on it. Stout is coming off an All-Pro punting season in Baltimore, while I project the G-Men to roll with two undrafted rookies in Zvada and Mann.
Zvada has been locked in a heated kicking battle with Ben Sauls throughout the offseason, but his potential and raw leg power ultimately win out. The Michigan Man finished the offseason making 81 of his 90 attempts, including all three of his field goals in the preseason finale, highlighted by a 53-yarder.
Harby told the media after the game that he won the battle. Welcome to the team, Zvada-matic.
Defensive line (5) - DJ Reader, Shelby Harris, Darius Alexander, Leki Fotu, Bobby Jamison-Travis (or player to be named later)
The top four shouldn’t surprise anyone, and it’ll ultimately be up to the coaching staff if it wants to carry a fifth defensive lineman or not, which puts the spotlight on Jamison-Travis, the 6-foot-3, 330-pound rookie out of Auburn.
Did he show enough in the preseason to warrant a spot? Well, he made the list, didn’t he?
There’s a chance that the Giants swing a trade for an upgrade along the line or wait for another team to cut an upgrade during its own roster cuts, which would jeopardize BJT’s status. The rookie had a sack on Bailey Zappe in the preseason finale, but there’s a chance he makes the roster Sunday and is then replaced once the rest of the cuts happen around the league.
This is arguably the weakest position group on the entire roster, so I’d imagine Harbaugh and Co. are going to make a pretty big effort to bring in someone else to shore up the line. Alexander not-so-sneaky had a terrible preseason. Could he be a potential cut? Crazier things have happened.
Edge rusher (4) - Brian Burns, Abdul Carter, Kayvon Thibodeaux, Chauncey Golston
Nothing to see here.
Trace Ford and Caleb Murphy are somewhere close-ish behind Golston, but see the next section’s analysis below on what’s holding them back from making the roster.
Linebacker (5) - Tremaine Edmunds, Arvell Reese, Micah McFadden, Jack Kelly, Zaire Barnes
The top four linebackers are locked in. It’ll ultimately come down to whether or not Zaire Barnes can outperform Darius Muasau, Murphy, and Ford. Muasau is his direct competitor as an off-ball linebacker, with Murphy and Ford operating as pass rushers.
No one made a stronger case against Big Blue’s little brother for the 53-man roster than Ford. The 2025 undrafted free agent finished the game with a sack and two more tackles for loss -- he was everywhere.
Even still, with Barnes offering more special teams ability than Ford, he’ll have the slight edge. He also had an interception off Cade Klubnik early in the second quarter, which certainly didn’t hurt his case for one of the last roster spots.
Safety (5) - Jevón Holland, Tyler Nubin, Ar'Darius Washington, Jason Pinnock, Elijah Campbell
Not much to get into here. Holland and Nubin will be the starters entering Week 1, with Pinnock and Washington firmly on Nubin’s heels. The third-year safety feels like the more obvious candidate to lose his starting spot than Holland.
As for the fifth spot, the G-Men signed Campbell earlier this offseason to a one-year deal as a special teams ace... which is how he ends up catching on to the 53-man roster. Harbaugh is a third-phase fanatic, so the 31-year-old, seven-year utility player gets the nod.
Cornerback (6) - Paulson Adebo, Deonte Banks, Greg Newsome II, Colton Hood, Dru Phillips, Korie Black
I’ll leave the depth chart assignments to Harby, but I can take a stab at who he’ll have to decide between. Adebo, Banks, Newsome, and Hood are seemingly all fighting for the two outside corner slots. Phillips has the slot/nickel corner locked down (with Washington a willing and able substitute from the safety spot), which likely leaves one opening for another corner.
It looks like that’ll be a battle between Art Green and Korie Black. Both got shaken up in the finale, and if Black’s injury isn’t too serious, the final spot is going to go to the 24-year-old.
The 248th selection of the 2025 Draft had a solid enough preseason to get him the nod over Green, who will likely be claimed by another team or come back to the practice squad.
Quarterback (2) - Jaxson Dart, Jameis Winston
Duh.
I won’t spend too much time on this section. It was only going to be Dart and Famous Jameis as the QBs. I expect New York to put a developmental/backup backup QB on the practice squad in case both guys go down (either Brandon Allen or Jake Haener), but yeah... pretty much the biggest no-brainer of the exercise.
Running back (4) - Cam Skattebo, Tyrone Tracy Jr., Najee Harris, Devin Singletary
Does Tyrone Tracy Jr. survive being traded or cut over the next 36 hours? I obviously think so. However, where there’s smoke, there’s usually fire, and there has never been more smoke around TTJ’s status in North Jersey than right now.
Moving on from the 26-year-old would be a premature overcorrection to a couple of preseason mistakes that happen to running backs all the time. He missed a block that sent Jaxson Dart to the blue medical tent -- who turned out to be just fine -- and mishandled a handoff, resulting in a turnover.
Without his quickness/elusiveness/shiftiness, New York’s backfield becomes one of the slowest and least agile in the league -- we can’t have that.
An injury scare against Gang Green felt like the worst-case scenario was happening in real time, but he was checked and cleared for a concussion and ultimately had the best game of his preseason.
As for the rest of the group, I do expect Harris and Singletary to both make the roster, seeing how Harbs is all about the ground game and establishing a bully-ball philosophy. In order to keep the legs fresh, he’ll need an arsenal, so four backs it is.
Fullback (1) - Patrick Ricard
Expecting to see Grant Finley here? Jokes.
After signing a market-setting deal for a fullback (two years, $7.63 million) in free agency earlier in the offseason, it could only be Patrick “Pancake Pat” Ricard.
Wide receiver (6) - Malik Nabers, Darius Slayton, Malachi Fields, Darnell Mooney, Braxton Berrios, Odell Beckham Jr.
Calvin Austin III’s season-ending ACL injury really took the wind out of the wide receiver room’s sails. He was flashing electric playmaking all offseason, making it impossible not to feel like he was going to be something special this season. Unfortunately, the football gods had other plans.
It’s not all bad news on that front, though. Austin’s absence clears a roster spot for the prodigal son to officially return home. That’s right: Odell Beckham Jr., who has been in a spicy roster battle all offseason, becomes the biggest winner from the fallout.
The 33-year-old couldn’t have been more on the bubble if he tried, but after a strong finish to training camp and proving he can still get open in the preseason, the sixth and final roster spot is all his. I will riot if he doesn’t make the roster, but that’s more of a personal thing I’m working through.
As for the rest of the room, nothing else should shake out. Berrios had quite the offseason, but struggled mightily against the Jets. 2025 undrafted free agent Dalen Cambre made a strong impression in the finale, which could result in Berrios being replaced, but I think Harbaugh will opt for experience.
Please get your goodbyes ready for Jalin Hyatt, who, after three years, will be looking for employment elsewhere.
Tight end (3) - Isaiah Likely, Theo Johnson, Chris Manhertz
Likely and Johnson are mortal locks for the 53-man, and Manhertz is close. However, Thomas Fidone II could make the decision a lot harder.
Manhertz has been with Big Blue for the past two years, doing the dirty work that the receiving tight ends don’t do.
He’s essentially a 10th offensive lineman who will be used almost exclusively as a blocker. I wanted to put Fidone on the roster, but it was either four RBs or four TEs, and the thought here is that Harbs values the run game more than the aerial attack, so carrying another back gives him a bit more value than a fourth tight end would.
Offensive line (9) - Andrew Thomas, Jon Runyan, John Michael Schmitz, Francis Mauigoa, Jermaine Eluemunor, Marcus Mbow, J.C. Davis, Lucas Patrick, Aaron Stinnie
It’s truly amazing how the Giants have gone from a team that couldn’t field a competent offensive line if it were staring them in the face to trading depth pieces away for draft picks, but welcome to the Harbaugh era.
Daniel Faalele and Joshua Ezeudu are with the Jaguars and Chiefs, respectively, and with them gone, it makes the final roster prediction picture a lot clearer.
Four out of last year’s five starters return, with rookie right guard Francis Mauigoa taking over for Greg Van Roten. Mbow returns as a backup utility guy after flashing a lot of promise as a rookie last year. Meanwhile, Davis’ stellar preseason all but confirmed he’ll be a big player in New York’s future plans and will easily solidify the backup swing tackle spot.
Two other notes on the OL group:
- One: the sneaky-interesting backup center battle is won by Patrick. He beats out Bryan Hudson after a solid preseason showing and career experience. I’d expect Hudson to be sent to the P-squad as the ultimate failsafe for Patrick and Michael Schmitz, as they both have struggled with injuries in the past.
- Two: Evan Neal’s time with the G-Men is officially over. He will not beat out Patrick or Stinnie for the backup interior spot, ending the failed experiment once and for all and moving on from one of the most disappointing draft picks in Giants history.
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