The New York Giants are off to a strong start in John Harbaugh's first offseason, but the loss of Wan'Dale Robinson stings. Instead of keeping a homegrown WR2 who can complement Malik Nabers as a security blanket for Jaxson Dart, Robinson made sure to cash in on the free agent market.
The 25-year-old was expected to become one of the highest-paid receivers in free agency, and boy did he get paid. He signed a four-year deal worth up to $78 million with the Tennessee Titans, where not only will he be Cam Ward's new WR1, but he'll also reunite with former Giants head coach Brian Daboll.
Reuniting with Daboll makes sense, since that was the coach who drafted him, but the rest of his reasoning for such a change fell flat. While addressing the media for the first time as a Titan, Robinson revealed that his free agency decision came down to the Titans and returning to Big Blue.
""I'm from Kentucky and it's closer to home for me and it’s a place I just felt like was kind of a perfect fit for me it was just kind of a new staff, new everything, obviously Dabes [Brian Daboll] was an added bonus but thought about going back to New York and there was some other teams on the table but ultimately it was between Tennessee or New York.""Wan'Dale Robinson
He also noted that because of his Kentucky roots (he's from there and completed his college career in Lexington), playing closer to home made sense for a Titans' team in the midst of a major coaching staff overhaul. But he clearly forgot about the entire new staff Harbaugh has hired with the Giants.
Wan'Dale Robinson chose following Brian Daboll to Tennessee over returning to the Giants
I understand the kinship he has with Daboll, but given the number of ex-Giants they signed, I'm not sure how special the 2022 second-round pick truly is. At least with a new staff, he is joining an OC he is familiar with and knows exactly how to best utilize his skillset in a young, improving Titans offense.
In all likelihood, Daboll will use Wan'Dale more creatively than he did in New York, utilizing him both as an outside receiver and in the slot. For the G-Men, he would have been relegated to the slot role, especially if Joe Schoen still managed to sign the field-stretching receivers brought in to replace him.
He had a breakout year in 2025, so I can understand the thought process behind chasing a bag (and more targets) from the Titans. Their WR room is horrible, so he knows it'll force Daboll to open up the playbook to get him involved, whereas the Giants are ushering in a brand new offensive identity around being big and physical.
Even still, the team he left is more built to compete immediately. In 2025, Tennessee was home to one of the least talented rosters in the NFL, but the one building block they do have is a franchise QB in Ward. Even still, calling him better than Dart at this point in his career would be a wrong assessment.
The Giants are probably better off not paying him that money, especially since he hasn't been great outside of 2025, but knowing it came down to them and another team stings, especially when that team is worse, but instead, choosing to roll the dice by hitching his wagon to Dabes is a bad decision. At least we can prepare to laugh for when this blows up in his face.