Free agency has come and gone this offseason, and the Giants made several moves to improve their roster for year one of the John Harbaugh era.
When you think about the Giants' biggest moves this offseason, people will think about the draft, selecting Arvell Reese and Francis Mauigoa in the top 10, plus key signings like Isaiah Likely, the return of Jermaine Eluemunor, veteran DJ Reader replacing Dexter Lawrence, and fan favorite receiver Odell Beckham Jr. coming home to New York.
One area that doesn’t get enough love is special teams, and Big Blue fans know the challenges the team has faced at kicker over the last few seasons. Luckily, Harbaugh and the G-Men may have found the answer, and it’s not the player many fans anticipated.
Dominic Zvada may be the Giants' biggest surprise player in 2026
ESPN recently published an article on the biggest surprise players on all 32 NFL teams. For the Giants, they listed undrafted free agent kicker Dominic Zvada out of Michigan as the surprise name, and he could beat out Ben Sauls for the starting kicker job if his strong start continues into training camp.
Giants reporter Jordan Raanan wrote that Zvada became the frontrunner over Sauls this spring during minicamp and practices open to the media, during which they watched him go 13-for-13 on field goal attempts.
Zvada entered minicamp as essentially the No. 3 kicker on the depth chart behind veteran Jason Sanders, who has since been released to make room for recent signings and has since been picked up by the Jets, and Sauls. The 22-year-old was a First Team All-American and Big 10 Kicker of the Year in 2024, and that success is now putting him in a position to win the job.
The starting kicker job is obviously wide open after Graham Gano was waived earlier this offseason with a failed physical designation. Gano had suffered several injuries in the six seasons he was with the G-Men, and it really impacted New York’s special teams unit last year, which used five different kickers during the 2025 season before settling on Sauls at the end of the season.
Now, the Giants’ special teams will get a fresh look with a new kicker to start the 2026 campaign, and Big Blue fans should look forward to Zvada emerging as the starter and being a surprise player.
We all saw how much of an impact a kicker like Tyler Loop had on the Ravens and Harbaugh. Let’s hope Zvada can play a similar role and help turn things around in New York, too.
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