5 NY Giants who must prove they can’t be replaced after this season

3. TE Daniel Bellinger

When Darren Waller retired, the immediate thought process was that Daniel Bellinger would return to his role as the team’s starting tight end, which he held during his rookie season with New York. However, since Bellinger’s eye injury during his rookie year, he hasn’t exactly looked like the star in making many thought he could be when he came into the league.

Instead, the San Diego State product has been relegated to a backup role, due to various reasons, including some untimely penalties throughout the season in 2023. With freshly-minted Giants tight end Theo Johnson on the team now, after New York drafted him in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft out of Penn State, the time is now for Bellinger to take control of the starting tight end job and not let it go. Instead, he was nowhere to be seen for OTAs and Brian Daboll said the team was taking things easy on him at minicamp.

The Giants took a chance on Waller while they had Bellinger in-house last offseason, and then they went and drafted Johnson this offseason. It hasn’t exactly been a vote of confidence, and the writing could be on the wall for the tight end. If the Penn State product outperforms him in 2024, the Giants could look to cut bait with Bellinger after the season.