At this time last year, the New York Giants were getting power-ranked into football oblivion. Mike Clay had the roster sitting dead last—32 out of 32—and as much as it annoyed fans, it wasn’t exactly wrong. The team was patched together with bargain bin depth and a quarterback room that looked cooked by Halloween. The 3-14 finish was brutal but hardly surprising.
Now fast forward to May 2025, and suddenly this Giants roster isn’t so easy to mock. The books got cleaned up. Free agency brought some real contributors. The draft made one thing obvious: the front office came in swinging. The Giants revamped the defense and brought in a whole new quarterback room, and for once, the energy around the team actually lines up with the talent on the roster.
As Jordan Raanan laid out in a recent ESPN piece, six of the Giants’ position groups are already considered better than a year ago, and not one has gotten worse. You don’t need binoculars to see it. You just need to remember what the 2024 roster looked like—and how quickly things unraveled.
Every way the Giants improved their roster heading into 2025
The defense is where this thing actually starts to feel like a football team again. Brian Burns, who was acquired last year, has settled in as the headliner up front, and now he’s got help. A lot of it.
Rookie pass rusher Abdul Carter was the No. 3 overall pick and already looks like the kind of player who tilts the line of scrimmage. Chauncey Golston adds another pass-rushing layer, while Darius Alexander and Roy Robertson-Harris bulk up a defensive interior that couldn’t hold a lead or a gap to save its life last season.
The back end got the same level of attention. Jevon Holland was one of the better safety additions in all of free agency. Paulson Adebo brings stability at corner, which should help Deonte Banks settle into a less chaotic role. Even the linebacker group, which didn’t change much, should benefit just from having fewer breakdowns in front and behind them.
Offensively, it’s less flashy but still meaningful. The quarterback room went from “we’re stuck” to “we’ve got options.” Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston bring experience. Jaxson Dart brings upside. Devin Singletary and Tyrone Tracy Jr. return in the backfield, while fourth-rounder Cam Skattebo adds the kind of physicality this group has missed (headbutts included). The line is basically the same, but deeper. And as much as everyone wants a receiver overhaul, the top three wideouts from 2024 are still here—with a real shot to shine if the QB play holds up.
General Manager Joe Schoen isn’t popping champagne over a projected 6.6 wins, but he did admit the obvious: “Until we go out and do it, it doesn’t matter. It’s just on paper now.”
That’s fine. Let it be on paper for now. Because last year’s paper looked like a slow-motion collapse. This one looks like a team with a spine, a pass rush, and a quarterback plan that feels intentional. For the first time in a while, there’s some real reason to believe. While the wins might not come in droves, don’t let anyone pretend this is the same team as years past... it’s not even close.