The New York Giants clearly seem to be a team on the rise in the NFL, which made them an attractive landing spot for new head coach John Harbaugh after his long tenure in Baltimore came to an end. 

Harbaugh and general manager Joe Schoen hit the path together early, looking to rebuild a team with an exciting young offensive core and a severely underrated defense. In free agency, the Giants brought in players familiar with Harbaugh from his time with the Ravens in Isaiah Likely and Patrick Ricard.

They replaced Bobby Okereke by signing Tremaine Edmunds and added a veteran kicker in Jason Sanders. They also re-signed offensive tackle Jermaine Eluemunor and cornerback Greg Newsome II. Most of these moves are less than earth-shattering, but an anonymous league executive had some choice words when asked about the Giants’ transactions, according to a recent article from Mike Sando of The Athletic. 

“We liked Isaiah Likely, they know him well. He is a good No. 2 (tight end). I’ve never been a huge fan of Edmunds. We were looking at linebackers, and that was not someone we spent a lot of time on. Nothing they did really scares you”, said the source. 

The Giants are still being overlooked heading into 2026

Obviously, this is just one person’s opinion, but it could easily be one that is shared by many others around the league. There is some debate that Edmunds is not an upgrade over Okereke, but to suggest that nothing the team has done really scares you is something that the team should be able to use as fuel going forward. 

Schoen and Harbaugh will likely skim right over that comment and pay it no attention, at least publicly, but that is the kind of thing that could also be used as early motivation to kick things off in 2026. 

The Giants have missed the playoffs in each of the last three seasons, winning only 13 total games in that time. The team will be left with that stigma until it can start winning games, but Harbaugh has an incredible track record of success and could get this team going in the right direction as soon as this season. 

That move, the decision to bring in Harbaugh, should scare other teams. The man has a .614 career winning percentage and he missed the playoffs just six times in his 18 seasons in Baltimore. 

Many teams will share the belief of this executive when the 2026 season kicks off. The Giants should write this quote down in the locker room and let it build an early fire. 

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