The number a player wears on the front and back of their jersey is almost as significant as anything else in sports. When players receive their number, they wear it with pride, and fans will often associate that number with them for life.
When you see a New York Giants jersey with No. 10, you think of Eli Manning. When a player has a Hall of Fame-caliber career and the team retires their number, it becomes one of the greatest honors in sports. Some players don’t want anyone else wearing their number for the franchise they helped build.
Giants first-round pick Abdul Carter is one of the most exciting additions this offseason. He’s joining a front seven that already features Dexter Lawrence II, Brian Burns, and Kayvon Thibodeaux—a pass-rushing unit that will keep opposing quarterbacks and offensive lines up at night.
The franchise has always been known for its dominant defensive lines—from Carl Banks and Lawrence Taylor to Michael Strahan, Justin Tuck, and Jason Pierre-Paul. This current group could end up being one of the best in the NFL.
After the Giants selected Carter, he wasted no time asking Lawrence Taylor for permission to wear his retired No. 56. LT politely declined, telling the rookie edge rusher to pick another number—a move that still has fans wondering what Carter will wear.
Carter wore No. 11 at Penn State, leading to speculation that he could stick with it in New York. Unfortunately for him, No. 11 was retired by the Giants in honor of Phil Simms, the quarterback who brought two Super Bowl titles to the franchise.
However, in a recent interview with FanDuel TV, Simms said he wouldn’t be opposed to the team unretiring his number if a player asked to wear it.
Could Abdul Carter wear No. 11 for the New York Giants in 2025?
After seeing the interview, Carter quote-tweeted the clip on X, saying it would be an honor to wear No. 11 and tagged the Giants legend.
At this time, Carter has not officially asked Simms for permission—but now that he’s received the green light, he might be making that call soon.
Simms also said he’d be open to rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart wearing No. 11. Dart wore No. 2 at Ole Miss, but that jersey is currently taken by defensive back Deonte Banks, who already gave up No. 3 earlier this offseason for quarterback Russell Wilson.
There’s precedent for this kind of gesture. Tennessee Titans legend Warren Moon gave Cam Ward his blessing to wear his retired No. 1 and even hand-delivered the jersey at Ward’s introductory press conference.
It wouldn’t be far-fetched to see Carter or Dart do the same with Simms.
Currently, neither of the Giants’ first-round picks has a jersey number. It’ll be interesting to see what they end up wearing in 2025—and if they reach out to any Big Blue legends to ask for permission. Just last year, Malik Nabers famously requested to wear No. 1 and got the blessing of the late Ray Flaherty’s family.