The New York Giants just earned an A-plus offseason grade from NFL.com’s Matt Okada, and the case is genuinely hard to argue against – John Harbaugh is in East Rutherford, Arvell Reese and Francis Mauigoa are locked into starting roles, and Joe Schoen finally looks like the GM the front office always believed he could become.
None of this means the Giants are a finished product. Harbaugh’s scheme still needs a full training camp to install, and several key pieces are unproven in new environments.
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The Giants Entered 2026 With Too Many Holes to Coast Through Another Quiet Offseason
Three years of uneven progress under Brian Daboll left Big Blue with a roster that underachieved at nearly every level of the field. The 2025 campaign was a breaking point – a disappointing finish that opened the door for ownership to authorize a genuine reset rather than another patch job.
The offensive line was a liability, the tight end room produced nothing, and the pass rush had become overly dependent on Dexter Lawrence, who had grown disgruntled.
Schoen entered the offseason needing to fix scheme fit, add legitimate starting-caliber talent in the top ten picks, and do it while operating with roughly $4.0 million in remaining cap space.
That is a near-impossible tightrope. Schoen and Harbaugh walked it anyway. Full stop.
Flipping Dexter Lawrence Into Francis Mauigoa Was the Move of the Offseason
On April 19, the Giants shipped Lawrence to Cincinnati for the No. 10 overall pick, then used that pick on offensive tackle Francis Mauigoa. The move effectively converted a high-priced, disgruntled nose tackle into a cost-controlled cornerstone lineman.
- Dexter Lawrence trade – sent to Cincinnati for No. 10 overall pick
- Francis Mauigoa – drafted No. 10 overall, OT, expected Day 1 starter
- Arvell Reese – drafted No. 5 overall, LB, expected Day 1 starter
- Colton Hood – drafted No. 37 overall, CB, fills void left by released Cor’Dale Flott
- Malachi Fields – drafted No. 74 overall, WR, adds developmental speed
NFL.com’s Gennaro Filice ranked the Giants’ draft class second among all 32 teams.
That is not a fluky evaluation – Reese and Mauigoa both profile as immediate contributors, and Hood addresses a cornerback room that lost Cor’Dale Flott without a clear replacement already on the roster.
Schoen essentially manufactured two top-ten picks from a disgruntled veteran situation. That is elite roster management. Full stop.
Harbaugh Raided Baltimore – and the Giants Are Better for It
The moment John Harbaugh was hired, the free agency blueprint was obvious, and Schoen executed it cleanly.
The Giants signed four former Ravens players headlined by tight end Isaiah Likely on a three-year, $40 million deal – a significant investment in a player Okada called a breakout candidate at the position.
Linebacker Tremaine Edmunds arrived on a three-year, $36 million deal, with cornerback Greg Newsome II and defensive tackles DJ Reader and Shelby Harris rounding out the Ravens pipeline.
Beyond the Baltimore contingent, the Giants added receiver Darnell Mooney on a one-year deal worth up to $10 million and Calvin Austin III on a one-year contract worth up to $4.5 million, giving Harbaugh proven speed options at receiver.
Re-signing RT Jermaine Eluemunor on a three-year deal and locking in punter Jordan Stout on a three-year, $12.3 million contract – making him the league’s highest-paid punter – signals an organization sweating every phase of the game.
The organizational structure shift that brought in Dawn Aponte as senior vice president of football operations freed Schoen to focus on evaluation, and the results speak directly to that arrangement working.
The One Genuine Asterisk: The Ex-Ravens Gamble Has to Actually Translate
The Athletic’s breakdown of this offseason flagged a real concern: the defensive line beyond DJ Reader and Shelby Harris remains thin in terms of proven depth.
ESPN’s free agency analysis graded the approach a B+ – praising Edmunds and Likely while raising a direct question about whether former Ravens contributors can replicate their production in a new environment without the full system around them.
GMenHQ labeled the offseason ‘chaotic’ while identifying Harbaugh, Reese, and Mauigoa as clear winners – and that tension is real.
The scheme install is everything here. Harbaugh’s offense is tight-end-centric and predicated on execution discipline, and it takes time to install properly at the NFL level.
If Likely, Edmunds, and Newsome need half a season to find their footing, the early schedule could punish an otherwise well-constructed roster.
The next hard checkpoint is fully padded training camp, where Reese and Mauigoa’s integration into starting roles and Likely’s usage in the new offensive system will begin to answer those questions directly.
Betting the Giants in 2026 – What the Offseason Means for the Lines
Okada explicitly named the Giants one of his favorite sleeper teams for 2026, and the futures market has not fully caught up to what this roster overhaul means. A team installing a proven Super Bowl-caliber coach with two top-ten rookies entering starting roles and a restructured receiving hierarchy carries real win-total upside.
The NFC East winner market and the Giants’ win-total over/under both deserve a second look for bettors who follow offseason construction closely. Bettors tracking the Giants’ 2026 futures should compare lines across books now, before training camp buzz moves the number. As this site’s coverage of the Jets’ 2026 draft class during OTA and spring practices documents, early returns on top draft picks can move futures lines quickly once the preseason slate begins.
The Verdict: Schoen Delivered, Harbaugh Has the Roster – Now Prove It
The A-plus grade from NFL.com’s Matt Okada is earned on paper, and Schoen’s contract extension through the end of the decade reflects an organization that believes the rebuild is finally pointed in the right direction.
The Giants improved at offensive line, linebacker, tight end, cornerback, and receiver in a single offseason while operating under severe cap constraints.
Joe Schoen’s contract extension confirmed this week signals that ownership agrees the foundation is real.
The next hard checkpoint is the preseason slate, where Harbaugh’s scheme install, Reese and Mauigoa’s readiness, and Likely’s role in the offense will clarify exactly how quickly this rebuilt roster translates to wins.
Keep an eye out on NYSD for further updates on the Giants and their 2026 roster as the preseason unfolds.
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