The Giants made their move on Jameis Winston before Week 1 ever got here.
New York has agreed to a two-year, $13 million extension with its backup quarterback, according to Jordan Schultz, keeping Winston with the team through the 2028 season. The deal comes just days before the opener against Dallas and shows the Giants weren’t interested in letting him drift toward free agency.
Winston had been in the final year of his original contract, a two-year, $8 million deal he signed in 2025, per Spotrac. That first contract carried a modest $3 million cap hit last season. This new extension nearly doubles his annual value and reflects exactly what the Giants are paying for: not the box score, but the presence he brings to the room.
He made only two starts in 2025, stepping in after Russell Wilson was demoted and Jaxson Dart went into concussion protocol. Winston didn’t put up eye-catching numbers in either outing, but that wasn’t the point. Per Schultz, the Giants view him as the best backup quarterback in football and a key part of Dart’s development.
That matters because Dart missed time last season with concussion issues, and New York knows how quickly a season can tilt if the starter goes down. Winston gives them a veteran with real starting experience, someone capable of winning a game if called on and giving the team a legitimate floor behind its young quarterback.
The extension also brings some order to a quarterback room that was anything but settled last year. Wilson opened as the presumed starter, fell to third, and Dart eventually took over. Now the hierarchy is clear: Dart is the franchise piece, and Winston is the experienced insurance policy the Giants wanted to keep in place.
For a team leaning on a rookie-led setup, that kind of stability behind the starter isn’t a luxury. It’s the whole point.
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