It’s July 2, and the Giants are in that familiar summer holding pattern: the players and coaches are away from the facility, and the conversation shifts to what this roster could become once camp opens. Around the league, the early-summer chatter has plenty of New York flavor, from Jaxson Dart’s development to the shape of the tight end room and a few other roster notes worth watching.
One of the more interesting points floating around is the idea of a second-year leap for Dart. PFF’s scrambling-quarterback rankings put him at the top after he turned more than half of his scrambles into first downs or touchdowns as a rookie. The takeaway there is simple: his confidence as a runner grew as the season went on, especially once he got more comfortable extending plays outside the pocket.
That’s not the only place where the Giants are drawing attention. SI.com ranked Brian Burns and Abdul Carter as the league’s fifth-best pass-rushing duo for 2026, calling it a bit of a future hedge but backing it up with the numbers.
Carter finished his rookie season with four sacks, but he also recorded 23 quarterback hits, tied for 13th in the league. He was also more disruptive late in the year, with 14 of those 23 QB hits coming over the final six games.
Burns, meanwhile, is still operating like one of the NFL’s premier edge threats. After New York acquired him from Carolina and signed him to a five-year, $141 million extension with $87.5 million guaranteed, he delivered a second-team All-Pro season with a career-high 16.5 sacks, 22 tackles for loss and 31 quarterback hits.
Those marks ranked second, third and fourth league-wide.
There’s also some optimism on the ground game. Andrew Thomas has been talking up the running game, and ESPN’s look at the Giants pointed to a healthier Cam Skattebo as a real plus for the backfield.
Skattebo and Tyrone Tracy Jr. give New York two solid options, with Tracy averaging 4.3 yards per carry in his first two pro seasons and topping 1,000 total yards in both. Skattebo, for his part, flashed with seven total touchdowns in eight games.
Harbaugh described him this way: “I thought he was just what you saw, a downhill runner, a tone-setter type runner. He’s a tough tackle.
That’s what you look for,” Harbaugh said. “How many guys can make yards when they’re not supposed to make yards on their own?
It seems to me he was that kind of guy at Arizona State and the exact same guy that I saw on tape last year. You guys know better.
You watched him up close and personal. He’s a top tier back, and he’s planning on playing that way this year.”
Elsewhere, there’s a cautious view of the Giants’ 2026 outlook from CBSSports.com, which projected them to go under 7.5 wins at -110. The piece acknowledged the appeal of optimism, especially with the wins left on the board last year and the likely upgrade at head coach, but questioned whether the offense will be ready to push for a winning record in Dart’s first year under Matt Nagy. It also noted that if Dart gets hurt, Jameis Winston would take over, and Winston is the kind of quarterback who can make big plays for either team on every drive.
The Giants are also getting a little offseason recognition for the tight end room, though the source material only notes that it’s a topic being stacked up and evaluated as the summer rolls on. And while fans wait for training camp to get here, The Giants Foundation already has a date circled on the calendar: its annual 5K Race and Kids Run will be held Sunday, November 8, at 9:00 a.m. at MetLife Stadium. Net proceeds benefit The Giants Foundation, the one-mile fun run returns for its second year, and the event will wrap with a 100-yard Kids Run for ages 6 and under at 10:30 a.m., with participants running out of the Giants home tunnel, across the field and into the end zone.
For now, the Giants are in that quiet stretch of the calendar, but the conversation around Dart, Burns, Carter, Skattebo and the rest of the roster keeps building anyway.
In Other News...
Giants Tight End Outlook Just Took A Turn Fans Will Notice
Heading into training camp, the tight end picture around the NFC East has started to come into focus, and the Giants are landing in a better spot than they did a year ago. In a fresh division-wide evaluation, their group was graded second overall, behind only the Eagles, with the assessment leaning heavily on how much more complete the room now looks from top to bottom.
The appeal is not just about one player carrying the load, either. Theo Johnson is expected to claim a significant share of the snaps, while Thomas Fidone II could emerge as a useful option if the depth chart gets tested, and Chris Manhertz still gives the room a familiar veteran presence as a blocker. For a team that has spent plenty of time searching for reliability at the position, that kind of structure is a noticeable shift even before the pads come on. [Read more 🡒]
Giants Just Reached The Offseason Turning Point That Will Define Jaxson Dart
The offseason has already pushed the Giants to a crossroads, and the organizations latest moves show how seriously it is treating the developmental runway for Jaxson Dart. New head coach John Harbaugh gives the roster a steadier hand, while the team has tried to stack the deck around its young quarterback by adding help on both sides of the ball and using premium draft capital to land linebacker/edge rusher Arvell Reese and offensive tackle Francis Mauigoa.
Still, the real pressure point is what comes next, because Darts growth will be shaped as much by who is available around him as by his own talent. The Giants are still monitoring Malik Nabers as he works back from injury, and they have fortified the line and defense with veterans like Jermaine Eluemunor, D.J. Reader, Shelby Harris and Tremaine Edmunds, but the bigger question is whether all of those pieces can come together quickly enough to make this reset matter for the quarterback they want to build around. [Read more 🡒]
Eli Manning Sees One Defining Test For Jaxson Dart In Year 2
The Manning Passing Academy marked its 30th year with a bigger footprint than ever, including expanded events and an NFL Films crew on hand to document the weekend. Eli Manning used the milestone setting to talk about how the academy has grown, while also keeping an eye on the Giants present and the way Jaxson Darts development fits into the next stage of his career.
For Manning, the real test in Darts second NFL season is the kind of progress that comes when a quarterback has to carry more than raw talent. The academy has long included sessions designed to help college passers get ready for professional football, and Dart now faces the same sort of steep climb, with command, preparation and the day-to-day demands of being the guy all taking center stage as the Giants look for the next step. [Read more 🡒]