Giants 2025 Offseason Report Card: Grading every key free agency move

With free agency well underway we’re going to provide some analysis and assign grades to the moves made by the Giants.

After last season’s free agency went poorly, with some key departures, Big Blue made a much more encouraging start this year by addressing their biggest need and adding two starters in the defensive backfield.

Here’s what we think of what they’ve done:

QB Russell Wilson: Agreed to one-year deal worth up to $21 million

The Giants' patience paid off, as they landed the veteran Wilson on a reasonably-priced one-year deal to complete their makeover of the quarterback room. The 36-year-old is a 10-time pro bowler, including in 2024, as he showed he still has plenty left in the tank by leading the Steelers to the postseason. Head coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen will now be hoping he can do the same for the Giants.

With the improvements they've made to their defense already and more talent to be added in the draft in April, Wilson joins a Giants team that looks capable of being more competitive than anticipated in 2025 -- at least on paper.

This also gives the Giants flexibility in the draft. While they could still draft a quarterback, they now no longer need to consider giving up valuable draft capital to ensure they land one of the two top quarterbacks or reaching for whoever they consider to be the third-best quarterback prospect. They can now, instead, focus on bringing in another weapon for Wilson, further upgrading the defense or reinforcing the offensive line.

Grade: A

CB Paulson Adebo: Agreed to three-year deal worth up to $54 million

Adebo is still only 25 and he established himself as a quality starter during his four years with the Saints.

Adding him should ease some of the pressure on former first-round pick Deonte Banks, who struggled at times as he was forced to constantly cover opposing teams’ top targets. The former third-round pick Adebo has intercepted 10 passes in his career, including three in just seven games last season, which was two more than any Giants player managed. 

The only concern here would be that Adebo is returning from a broken leg and has committed 28 penalties the past three seasons but, on balance, it’s a massive upgrade that should improve the team.

Grade: A-

S Jevon Holland: Agreed to three-year deal worth up to $45 million

Holland was viewed as the best safety on the market by many. And while $45 million seems like a huge financial commitment, it’s arguably a potential bargain. Other free agent safeties such as Tre'von Moehrig and Cam Bynum signed considerably bigger deals. Pro Football Focus had projected Holland to earn over $20 million per year.

The reason they were able to get Holland at that price was probably influenced by the fact that he had a down year in 2024 after grading out as one of the best safeties in the league the previous two seasons. However, it’s another huge upgrade that fills one of their biggest holes and brings them another potential leader who is yet to hit his prime at 25 years old.

Grade: A-

QB Jameis Winston: Agreed to a two-year deal worth $8 million

Winston is an exciting, if erratic, player with a gunslinger attitude. Throughout his career, he's shown that he can rack up numbers, is not afraid to turn the ball over and can rally a squad with his infectious personality. You can win games with Winston, but whether you can win enough games to contend is another matter. Ideally, he's someone you'd rather have as your backup than as the starter. 

Reports indicate that the Giants are not yet done at the quarterback position, which stands to reason given the fact that Tommy DeVito is the only other quarterback under contract. Winston's deal isn't really for starter-level money, so a veteran could still be signed to start ahead of him. However, if they end up going down the draft route, he gives them a temporary starting option as a stop-gap. 

Time will tell exactly what Winston's role will be in 2025, but this was a necessary addition and one of the better options available in terms of value and flexibility.

Grade: B-

DT Roy Robertson-Harris: Agreed to a two-year deal worth $9 million

Robertson-Harris was a recent cap casualty, but he’s a player with plenty of starting experience. He moved into more of a rotational piece last year, but started all 34 games in 2022 and 2023 for the Jaguars. He has 19 career sacks, albeit without ever having more than 3.5 in any one season, and should help the run defense.

The veteran 31-year-old likely moves into a starting position on the current depth chart due to the Giants’ lack of depth on the defensive interior. However, it’s apparently an extremely deep position in this year’s draft, so further reinforcements could be on the way.

Grade: B-

DE Chauncey Golston: Agreed to terms on a three-year deal worth $19 million

The 27-year old Golston is a former third-round pick and is coming off a season where he recorded a career-high 5.5 sacks. He started the last 13 games due to injuries on Dallas' defensive line, and produced well with a larger workload than he had seen in the past.

Golston isn’t likely to be a starter unless Brian Burns or Kayvon Thibodeaux get hurt, but he should be able to provide the Giants with production off the bench, essentially filling Azeez Ojulari’s spot in the rotation.

Grade: B

OL James Hudson III: Agreed to terms on a two-year deal worth up to $16 million

The former fourth-round pick can play either tackle position, so he’ll be an ideal swing-tackle option for a Giants offensive line that has struggled to cope with injury issues over the past few seasons.

Hudson is still only 26 but missed most of the 2024 season with a shoulder injury that required surgery. His contract includes $4 million in potential incentives, though, so there is likely some injury protection there.

Grade: C

LB Chris Board: Agreed to terms on a two-year deal for up to $6 million

The 29-year old went undrafted in 2018 but has established himself as a key special teams contributor over the course of his career. He will no doubt provide a big upgrade for New York in that area.

The Giants may also hope that he has something to offer as a rotational linebacker on defense. Despite only starting four games so far in his career, Board played over 200 snaps on defense for the Ravens last year and held up well.

Grade: C

T Stone Forsythe: Agreed to terms on a one-year, minimum salary deal

The 27-year old has started 14 games in his career, but has likely been added as a depth option. The Giants are also re-signing Greg Van Roten, enabling Jermaine Eluemunor to compete with Evan Neal for the right tackle role. In that context, this is a solid low cost, low-risk addition.

Grade: C

LB Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles

Flannigan-Fowles brings the Giants more linebacker depth and special teams production, following their signing of Board a few days ago. The 28-year-old has made rotational contributions on a solid 49ers defense in recent years, but has never actually played more than 200 snaps in any season. So, he shouldn't be counted on to make major contributions.

Grade: C-

WR Lil'Jordan Humphrey: Agreed to terms on a one-year deal

This is an under the radar signing that could improve the Giants' depth at wide receiver. Humphrey has never really been more than a third or fourth option in his career so far, but is still only 26 and coming off a season with Denver where he had the best numbers of his career with 31 receptions.

He has good size at 6-foot-4 and showed playmaking ability by averaging 18.5 yards per catch in his first three seasons with the Saints, although he's been more of a possession option recently. This should be another low risk value move giving New York another option to compete with the likes of Jalin Hyatt for a rotational role.

Grade C+

WR Zach Pascal

Pascal is the second wide receiver the Giants added in the space of a few days, although he's most likely just been brought aboard to compete for a special teams role. Having averaged almost 40 catches in four years with the Colts, Pascal has just 19 receptions in the last three years, including none last season. However, he still played almost 300 special teams snaps.

The 6'2" 30-year-old scored a touchdown on a blocked punt in the playoffs a few years ago and has been productive on the coverage units since leaving the Colts. Whether he has designs on reestablishing himself as an offensive contributor remains to be seen, though.

Grade C-

Other Notes

The Giants also brought back a few of their own free agents -- the most significant of which was WR Darius Slayton, who signed a three-year, $36 million deal. This was surprising because he was widely expected to leave, but helps to restore their veteran depth at the position.

DeVito, who was set to be an exclusive rights free agent, is also back. Veteran guard Van Roten also returns on a one-year pact after playing every snap for Big Blue's offense last season.

Overall Grade

It would have been a tough sell for the Giants to convince free agents that they are a contender with a bright future after Daboll and Schoen barely held on to their jobs at the end of a tortuous 2024 season. However, they managed to upgrade all of their biggest weaknesses and even the most expensive contracts they shelled out were reasonable when compared to other top free agents at the same positions.

Wilson still has to prove that he has something left in the tank, but his play over the past two seasons has been a major upgrade over what Daniel Jones and others have provided, so there will be optimism that he will help the team to be much more competitive than last year.

Critics will suggest the Giants could have done more to fill holes on the offensive line and at linebacker and defensive tackle, but these can still be addressed between now and the start of the season and they're still in a stronger position than they were at all three spots.

Heading into the draft, the Giants have several options, so they can further upgrade with the third overall pick and their later selections. If New York can nail the draft having executed a solid free agency plan, this could end up being a very successful offseason that starts to turn the team's fortunes around.

Grade B+