{"id":810918,"date":"2026-03-14T01:42:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T01:42:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/810918\/"},"modified":"2026-03-14T01:42:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T01:42:20","slug":"greg-newsome-ii-thrilled-to-start-fresh-with-giants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/810918\/","title":{"rendered":"Greg Newsome II thrilled to ‘start fresh’ with Giants"},"content":{"rendered":"

Greg Newsome II wasn\u2019t wasting any time with one-practice-at-a-time clich\u00e9s.<\/p>\n

On the first official day of his new, one-year free agent contract with the Giants<\/a>, Newsome was thinking about proving last year\u2019s dip in performance was a fluke and how to turn his new landing spot into a permanent home.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like this is an opportunity for me to be here long term,\u201d Newsome said. \u201cThere [were other] places that could have had a little bit longer-term deal, but I wanted to be here \u2014 and I wanted to showcase myself in front of the New York fan base, coaches and players. I\u2019m excited to start fresh here now, and hopefully we get something done where I can retire a Giant because that\u2019s what I want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cor\u2019Dale Flott\u2019s free agent departure to the Titans<\/a> (three years, $45 million) leaves a hole at the cornerback spot opposite Paulson Adebo. <\/p>\n

\"GregGreg Newsome II tackles Alec Pierce during the Jaguars\u2019 December 2025 game against the Colts. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Once Flott\u2019s price tag became too rich, the Giants pivoted to upside and found a 25-year-old former first-round pick eager to accept $3 million guaranteed on a deal worth up to $10 million.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m the ultimate team guy,\u201d Newsome said. \u201cObviously, everyone wants to be a starter. My expectation is to try to work as hard as I can to become the starter. But it\u2019s March. My goal right now is to get all the guys together, build this locker room.\u201d<\/p>\n

Newsome\u2019s best seasons were with the Browns, where he battled head coach John Harbaugh\u2019s Ravens twice per year. <\/p>\n

He had as many interceptions as touchdowns allowed (two) and held quarterbacks to a 66.8 passer rating over 14 games in 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I [saw] him having this opportunity to come here, this was one of my first places I wanted to be,\u201d Newsome said before reflecting on the AFC North rivalry. \u201cIt was always a hard-nosed game. That\u2019s the type of person [Harbaugh] is. That\u2019s the type of team that we\u2019re going to be a part of this year. That was something I was definitely super excited about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unable to reach an extension with Newsome, the Browns traded him to the Jaguars in Week 6 of last season and things went south. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Newsome was benched in back-to-back games and finished the season with 50 catches allowed for 624 yards and five touchdowns as well as a 104.9 quarterback rating when targeted, per NextGenStats.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was definitely hard, but [the trade] was something that was needed,\u201d Newsome said. \u201cEverything isn\u2019t going to be peaches and cream in this business. I thought I started off the season on a very high note. To then get traded to a new place, it was definitely challenging to adjust. I didn\u2019t finish the way I wanted to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even then, Newsome had an eye on the Giants as an \u201cup-and-coming team\u201d with quarterback Jaxson Dart\u2019s \u201cenergy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"GregGreg Newsome II is pictured before the Jaguars\u2019 Jan. 11 playoff game against the Bills. Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was growing tremendously last year, so that was something that I wanted to be a part of,\u201d Newsome said. \u201cThen we\u2019ve got a lot of guys on that [defensive] front that can rush the passer and do a lot of great things. In the secondary, we\u2019re all pretty young and have a lot of potential. That was something that really intrigued me.\u201d<\/p>\n

First-year Giants defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson believes in pressing receivers at the line of scrimmage but leaned heavily on zone coverage during his two years calling plays for the Titans.<\/p>\n

Newsome offers inside-outside versatility, but the Giants are penciling him in on the perimeter. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGo behind the scenes with Big Blue\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Giants by Paul Schwartz, a weekly Sports+ exclusive.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The next-best in-house option right now is first-round draft bust Deonte Banks.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy strong suit in Cleveland was playing man-to-man \u2014 getting in people\u2019s face and challenging guys,\u201d Newsome said. \u201cIf you\u2019re not trying to improve on everything, then you\u2019re not trying to be a great player. We\u2019re going to be aggressive, and that\u2019s how I like playing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Newsome is getting married this offseason. <\/p>\n

But he thinks he\u2019s found a second reliable union with the Giants that will bring out the best in him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s mindset first,\u201d he said. \u201cJust being comfortable somewhere \u2014 somewhere where I know that I\u2019m wanted, where I want to be at. I think that\u2019s the beginning. I know I can get back to that [top] form.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Greg Newsome II wasn\u2019t wasting any time with one-practice-at-a-time clich\u00e9s. On the first official day of his new,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":810919,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2067],"tags":[7,519,9041,1917,56,2321,2469,6,89225,2592,9],"class_list":{"0":"post-810918","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-giants","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-giants","10":"tag-greg-newsome-ii","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-giants","13":"tag-newyork","14":"tag-newyorkgiants","15":"tag-nfl","16":"tag-nfl-free-agency-2026","17":"tag-nfl-free-agency","18":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116224994503073927","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/810918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=810918"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/810918\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/810919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=810918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=810918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=810918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}