Cor’Dale Flott has been targeted 28 times this season, allowing no touchdowns and a passer rating of 66.5, per Next Gen Stats. pic.twitter.com/uMci3BqPGL

— Big Blue Film Room (@BigBlueFilmRoom) October 11, 2025

Sometimes the best course of action is subtraction rather than addition. That is something the New York Giants are slowly learning as they attempt to return to respectability.

They have moved off of former top 10 pick Evan Neal, a “can’t miss” offensive tackle who missed badly. Neal is still on the Giants’ roster but has not been active for a single game this season.

Another player the Giants need to detach themselves from is cornerback Deonte Banks, a first-round pick who has not played up to snuff. Banks has played just 24.7 percent of the defensive snaps this season, giving way to Cor’Dale Flott, a former third-round pick, who has been on the field 80 percent of the time.

The Giants, curiously, have not named Flott the full-time starter at the No. 2 corner spot despite his increasingly outstanding play.

“I think, like we’ve told you all here, every week it’s going to be a week-to-week evaluation,” defensive coordinator Shane Bowen said on Thursday. “We’re going to need both those guys. We are. We’re going to need them both.

“Again, I think they’ve both shown some good things throughout. There’s been some plays all of us would probably like to have back. But just encouraged with where he was going in the week. That’s what we decided to do, and he showed up and played well for us.”

It’s true. The Giants are thin at cornerback, and to give up completely on Banks seems to be a road they are not prepared to go down, given their history of injuries in recent years. Still, how difficult would it be to name Flott the starter after all we have seen? His interception return against Philadelphia last week was evidence enough of his improving value. Banks has not made a signature play like that since, well, ever.

“Yeah, I think we’ll see,” Bowen said when prodded if he will stick with Flott this week. “We’re working through it, talking through all that as we go. Obviously, Tae had, I won’t even get into that. But, yeah, like week-to-week.”

To the public, it looks like the decision has been made. The Giants just don’t want to admit they are better off through subtraction here.