There's no need to sugarcoat things. It's no secret that New York Giants were just flat-out bad in 2025, to say the least, though they were particularly woeful against the run.
Virtually every stat will tell you the same story. The Giants were one of, if not the, worst defenses in the NFL when it came to limiting teams on the ground. Opposing running backs couldn't wait to face them, which is an indictment of veteran defensive tackle Rakeem "Nacho" Nunez-Roches and the group up front.
Nunez-Roches is set to become an unrestricted free agent on March 11. He turns 33 in July and is coming off a campaign in which ankle, toe and foot injuries limited him to just nine games. Given his combination of age and apparent wear and tear, plus the Giants' shortcomings playing the run, it's easy to see New York moving on.
Signs point toward Rakeem Nunez-Roches' time with the New York Giants ending come free agency
This isn't exactly unfamiliar territory for the Nunez-Roches and the Giants. He was on the roster bubble this past summer, but his status as a respected locker room leader ostensibly bought him some more time. Nevertheless, the Super Bowl LV champion likely won't be back in 2026.
The writing appears to be on the wall for Nunez-Roches. He logged his lowest defensive snap share rate (40 percent) since joining the Giants in March 2023. Uncoincidentally, this came after New York spent their third-round pick on fellow interior lineman Darius Alexander last year.
Alexander showed flashes while seeing an expanded role down the stretch of what was an uneven performance as a rookie. The Giants owe it to themselves to continue seeing what they have in him. However, they should also explore adding another nose tackle to upgrade from Nunez-Roches and better complement two-time All-Pro Dexter Lawrence.
No one allowed more yards per carry than the Giants (5.3), and only the Cincinnati Bengals surrendered more rushing yards per contest (145.3). New York also gave up the most yards before contact per running back attempt (1.9). Of course, a rotational piece who missed time like Nunez-Roches isn't the root of the problem, yet he didn't help matters.
Among 134 qualified interior defenders, Nunez-Roches ranked 84th in Pro Football Focus' run-defense grade (48.9). He recorded three tackles for loss and his highest missed tackle percentage (8.0) since 2021. Not great, Bob!
Moreover, the Giants were dead last in Pro Football Reference's expected points contributed by rushing defense. For those unfamiliar with the metric, it "estimates the expected number of points given a combination of down, distance and yard line." In other words, something must change.