{"id":289899,"date":"2026-06-29T14:24:37","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T18:24:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=289899"},"modified":"2026-06-29T14:24:37","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T18:24:37","slug":"giants-2026-roster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2026\/06\/29\/giants-2026-roster\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is the Weakest Position Group on the New York Giants’ 2026 Roster?"},"content":{"rendered":"

During the offseason, the New York Giants 2026 roster has added several free agents. New head coach John Harbaugh and general manager Joe Schoen have not been shy about spending, as evidenced by bringing back Odell Beckham Jr.<\/a> According to Over the Cap<\/a><\/em>, New York has spent $195,177,500 this offseason. That is the sixth-most in the NFL. While the team has made major upgrades, what is the weakest position group on the Giants 2026 roster?<\/p>\n

Heading into the new season, the team has some questions to be answered defensively. Cornerback is arguably the weakest position group on the Giants 2026 roster. Starters from the 2025 season left a lot to be desired. Additionally, New York has added new faces to the cornerback room through the NFL draft and free agency. Will cornerbacks be the reason why the Giants’ defense struggles in 2026?<\/p>\n

What Is the Weakest Position Group on the New York Giants’ 2026 Roster?<\/h2>\n

Who is projected to start at cornerback for the Giants?<\/h3>\n

The top cornerback for the New York Giants in 2026 is Paulson Adebo. Ahead of the 2025 season, Adebo signed a three-year, $54 million extension<\/a>. He is on the books for a $24 million cap hit in 2026. That makes Adebo the highest-paid player on the Giants 2026 roster. Last season, Adebo started all 12 games he appeared in for New York. The 26-year-old missed five games due to a sprained MCL. Adebo will be the Giants’ top cornerback for 2026; however, he needs to step up and improve his production.<\/p>\n

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At the end of June, most sites have veteran cornerback Greg Newsome II as the other starting corner alongside Adebo. Newsome signed a one-year deal with the Giants this offseason. The 26-year-old is set to enter his sixth professional season. He started 11 of the 12 games he appeared in for the Cleveland Browns<\/a> in 2025. There is another surprise player who could compete for a starting cornerback role in 2026.<\/p>\n

Recently, Giants defensive backs coach Addison Lynch spoke highly of Deonte Banks<\/a>. Lynch mentioned that Banks has been putting in extra work, both on and off the field. The 25-year-old was the 24th overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft by New York. Over three seasons, Banks has appeared in 45 games and made 35 starts. He lost his starting role in 2025. If he plays at a high level during training camp and preseason, Banks could earn his starting role back. Do Adebo, Newsome, and Banks strike fear in opposing teams?<\/span><\/p>\n

Can this rookie play a large role at cornerback on the Giants 2026 roster?<\/h3>\n

With the 37th overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft, the Giants selected cornerback Colton Hood out of Tennessee<\/a>. New York had a first-round grade on Hood and was able to pick him in the second round. It’s worth mentioning that Hood’s uncle Roderick played 10 seasons in the NFL. Growing up, Hood learned and trained under his uncle to reach the position he holds today.<\/p>\n

On top of that, coach Harbaugh coached his uncle with the Philadelphia Eagles<\/a> for five seasons. Hood still has a lot to learn, but he possesses the skills and traits to be a long-term starter in the NFL. The rookie might have to wait for his number to be called.<\/p>\n

What other corners could play a valuable role for the Giants?<\/h3>\n

Compared to other NFL rosters, the Giants’ cornerback depth is weak. New York’s secondary has been an issue for several years. Despite the roster struggles at corner, a few players could be valuable in 2026. The first is former third-round pick Dru Phillips. He played in all 17 games for the Giants in 2026 and made eight starts. For the last two seasons, Phillips has primarily played nickelback for New York.<\/p>\n

Veteran cornerback Ar’Darius Washington could prove to be a solid depth piece for the Giants in 2026. Washington spent the first five seasons of his professional career with Harbaugh and the Ravens. The 26-year-old has followed his former head coach to New York. Phillips and Washington are depth pieces the team hopes to count on. How will the Giants’ depth at cornerback fare in 2026?<\/p>\n

Main Photo Courtesy of Kirby Lee – Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

During the offseason, the New York Giants 2026 roster has added several free agents. New head coach John Harbaugh and general manager Joe Schoen have not been shy about spending, as evidenced by bringing back Odell Beckham Jr. According to Over the Cap, New York has spent $195,177,500 this offseason. That is the sixth-most in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5802,"featured_media":289995,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36,20],"tags":[931,7300],"class_list":["post-289899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-news","category-giants","tag-john-harbaugh","tag-new-york-giants-news"],"modified_by":"Drew VonScio","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5802"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=289899"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289899\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":289996,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289899\/revisions\/289996"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/289995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=289899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=289899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=289899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}