The rest of this season — and all of next offseason — is all about how the Giants can best support quarterback Jaxson Dart.
We know Dart’s top wide receiver, Malik Nabers, will return next season after catching just two passes from him this year before tearing his ACL. They got only 25 snaps on the game field together.
We also know that the Giants’ other outside receivers — Darius Slayton and Jalin Hyatt — are not legitimate long-term solutions, even though Slayton’s unimpressive-so-far contract means he’ll return in 2026.
Bottom line: The Giants, who did nothing at the trade deadline, need to give Dart more help in 2026, even with Nabers and running back Cam Skattebo returning from their devastating injuries.
Forget whether general manager Joe Schoen and coach Brian Daboll will continue in their roles past this season. Helping Dart will be a priority for whoever fills those seats in 2026.
Will the Giants draft a receiver? Remember, they’ll probably pick high in Rounds 1 and 2 — and then they don’t have a third-round selection, because of this year’s trade-up move for Dart.
Presuming the Giants go big at receiver in 2026 — to supplement Nabers and boost Dart — their GM must determine whether he wants to use a high first-round pick on that position, two years after Nabers went No. 6 overall.
If so, that could mean the Giants winding up with Arizona State’s Jordyn Tyson or USC’s Makai Lemon, who are currently Pro Football Focus’ top two receiver prospects for the 2026 draft (and the Nos. 5 and 10 overall prospects in PFF’s rankings).
If not, might the Giants address receiver before the draft — by spending big on George Pickens in free agency?
Pickens — now thriving in Dallas after opening his career with three uneven years in Pittsburgh — will be the big fish in next year’s receiver free agent group. So he will not come cheap.
But as we have mentioned, the Giants can give themselves almost $50 million in total salary cap space by making enough logical cuts to free up $35 million in additional cap room.
At the very least, the Giants figure to enter the offseason with just north of $30 million in total cap space, after making no-brainer cuts.
They can absolutely make a Pickens contract work if they want to — and if he wants to sign with them. Yes, Nabers’ presence surely would be a factor for Pickens. But if the Giants pay enough, they can land him.
Pickens began his career — as a Steelers second-round draft pick — with encouraging outputs. He gained 801, 1,140 and 900 yards over his first three seasons, with four, five and three touchdowns, respectively.
But at times, he was a massive headache and an immature pain the neck for Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, who does not suffer fools. So in May, the Steelers traded him to Dallas for the final year of his rookie contract.
Pickens has done quite well there, with 764 yards and six touchdowns in nine games. Coming out of last weekend, his 84.9 yards per game ranked fourth in the NFL. Someone will pay him a lot of money next year, assuming he continues to play well this season.
Already in 2025, Pickens has games of 168, 134, 82, 79 and 78 yards. Quite obviously, the Giants are not getting that sort of production from Slayton, whose best showings this year are 62 and 61 yards — the only times he has cracked 50 so far.
Pickens has scored a touchdown in five games. Slayton is still stuck on zero touchdowns for the year.
No one would dispute that Slayton (who will carry an absurd $16 million cap number next season) does not measure up to Pickens.
The only question is this: Would the Giants spend on Pickens?
Clearly, it’s not ideal for the Giants to again throw significant money at a receiver next offseason, after Schoen just foolishly made a two-year, $26 million commitment to Slayton leading into 2025.
But if Schoen gets fired along with Daboll, a potential run at Pickens would be the new GM’s call. And any GM knows an ascending quarterback like Dart doesn’t stay on his affordable rookie deal forever.
The key is trying to build around that quarterback while he is still a relatively cheap part of your roster.
So don’t be surprised if the Giants spend aggressively in 2026, regardless of whether Schoen is back.
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.