Barely a year and a half ago, the New York Giants thought highly enough of defensive lineman Chauncey Golston to guarantee him $12 million.
Who?
In all seriousness, Golston has legitimately become a forgotten man in Giants land. There was more attention paid to Mets infielder Zack Short pitching in a blowout than to an NFL player who received a three-year deal during the 2025 offseason.
Obviously, that’s not all on Golston given how busy and chaotic the Giants’ offseason became, though things might be about to change. Amid a mixed camp for Darius Alexander, The Athletic’s Dan Duggan reported that Golston could “emerge as an option” to play defensive end.
What could Chauncey Golston bring to the New York Giants in 2026?
A 2022 third-round pick from Iowa, Golston pulled the good old "contract year" trick. The 6-foot-5, 277-pound pass-rusher had 3.5 sacks over his first 47 games, but shot that up to 5.5 in his final season with the Cowboys. It wasn’t quite what Trey Hendrickson did for the 2020 Saints, but it got the job done and netted him a nice payday.
If the Giants expected immediate results from Golston, they likely came away extremely disappointed. He recorded 20 tackles, including five for a loss, and a sack in 10 games. Luckily, the defense was so bad overall — and had the Dexter Lawrence-Carl Banks feud at one point — that no one really noticed.
Golston had two tackles, one of which went for a loss, and two quarterback hits in last Saturday's loss to the Vikings. He was the only player on either team with multiple quarterback hits.
Although he primarily played edge rusher last year, Golston saw plenty of defensive line action in Dallas. That prior experience could be especially helpful as Arvell Reese moves from the edge to inside linebacker. Now is not the time for two potential major contributors to be learning entirely new positions.
On that note, it’s interesting that there have been no reports of the Giants potentially moving Kayvon Thibodeaux to defensive end. All signs currently point to him making the Week 1 roster rather than being traded, so why not try to experiment? We know how talented and athletic Thibodeaux is, and John Harbaugh could use an imposing defensive end.
Could Golston fill that role? Sure, but will he? The possibility of him only playing at a career-best level because he was in a walk year is concerning. They can afford (pun not intended) to miss on the signing after guaranteeing $12 million to a defensive lineman. It’s not like they guaranteed him $30 million with a no-trade clause.
Hey, it’s the NFL. We’ve seen stranger things happen. Just ask the Browns about the Deshaun Watson contract.
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