An Early Guide to Helping Jaxson Dart and Fixing the New York Giants in 2026

In a 2025 season that has been mostly lows, Monday night's blowout loss to the New England Patriots was a new nadir for the New York Giants.

At 2-11 for the season, the Giants currently sport the worst record in the NFC. Head coach Brian Daboll has already been shown the door, and general manager Joe Schoen could follow.

There has been one silver lining, though. From all indications, Big Blue's decision to trade up in last April's draft and select Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart was a sound one.

The No. 25 overall pick is just 2-6 as a starter, but despite little being around him, he has completed over 63 percent of his passes for more than 1,500 yards and 11 scores against just three interceptions. He has added some electrifying plays on the ground, although the young signal-caller needs to learn that discretion is the better part of valor.

At this point, the rest of this season is just playing out the string and trying to keep Dart in one piece. The team's focus should already be on 2026—on building a competitive team around the player the Giants believe is the quarterback of the future.

And there's a blueprint Schoen (or his successor) should follow to get the G-Men back into contention in the NFC East.

Get the Right Head Coach

Many fans would probably like to see the Giants focus the search for a new head coach on an offensive mind; someone who can develop Dart and best utilize the team's young offensive talent like running back Cam Skattebo and wide receiver Malik Nabers.

The problem is there really isn't a Ben Johnson in this cycle. There are a couple of potential offensive coordinators who could be solid first-time head coaches in Seattle's Klint Kubiak and Buffalo's Joe Brady, but they haven't had the sort of success Johnson had in Detroit. Most of the offensive minds with head coaching experience carry some degree of baggage after flaming out in the past.

The Giants just faced such a coach in New England's Josh McDaniels. Pittsburgh's Arthur Smith, Washington's Kliff Kingsbury and Kansas City's Matt Nagy are all OCs who have run NFL teams in the past. But none ran those teams especially well.

Mike McCarthy is likely the best option should the Giants go the retread route. Should the former Dallas Cowboys HC want to return to coaching, he has shown some ability to develop quarterbacks and had far more NFL success than the other names listed here.

AP Photo/Matt Patterson

As important as Dart's development is, the Giants also have to fix a defense that sits 30th in total defense and scoring defense and ranks dead-last against the run.

So, if the Giants want to go the shiny new toy route with a first-timer, a defensive coach such as Chris Shula of the Rams or Jesse Minter of the Chargers would make more sense.

No matter which way the Giants go, the ability of the new head coach to assemble a staff is going to be as important as their acumen. This is a team with big-time deficiencies on both sides of the ball.

Given that, McCarthy may well be the best option available, although Shula is an intriguing option, especially after the time he has spent under Sean McVay.

Who's up for some offensive osmosis—and poaching some assistants from one of the league's best teams?

Fixing the Roster, Part 1: Free Agency

Once the Giants settle on a new head coach, attention will turn to free agency. There is no shortage of holes on New York's roster, whether it's at wide receiver, along the offensive line or in the secondary.

The problem is the Giants don't have a ton to spend in free agency in 2026—per Over the Cap, the team only has about $17.3 million in cap space next year.

The team doesn't have much in the way of in-house free agents it should prioritize retaining. Wide receiver Wan'Dale Robinson has stepped up with Malik Nabers out with an ACL tear, and the fourth-year pro is on pace for his first 1,000-yard season. He's earned a new contract, although he should be a relatively hot commodity on the open market and could command $15 million a season or more in free agency.

AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura

The Giants can free up more cap space with some cuts and restructures (every team does it every year), but they probably won't be big spenders come next March. The wiser route would probably be addressing needs at less expensive positions or with Tier 2 free agents.

Think players like New Orleans Saints cornerback Alontae Taylor or Cleveland Bowns linebacker Devin Bush—guys who can capably fill a need without breaking the bank.

Fixing the Roster, Part 2: The Draft

Where the Giants will really have a chance to make major upgrades to the roster will be at next year's draft. And provided New York stays near the top of the draft order, the first course of action is easy enough.

The Giants need to trade down. Maybe more than once.

Much like the only team picking ahead of them (Tennessee Titans), Big Blue have their quarterback of the future in Dart. There really isn't a player at a major position of need for New York who merits the second overall pick.

And while this year's crop of quarterbacks isn't especially knee-buckling, there are plenty of QB-needy teams out there who will spend draft season trying to convince themselves Alabama's Ty Simpson or Oregon's Dante Moore is the guy.

The Giants could drop a few spots and still address the offensive line with Miami tackle Francis Mauigoa, who some pundits believe projects as a guard in the NFL. They could drop back even farther and add a wide receiver opposite Nabers in USC's Makai Lemon, or add talent at cornerback with a player like LSU cornerback Mansoor Delane.

AP Photo/Lydia Ely

All those positions are needs for the Giants.

The Dart trade cost New York their third-rounder in 2026, so adding some Day 2 capital in a trade would be a wise course of action. The Giants need quantity almost as much as quality, and players like Penn State cornerback A.J. Harris, Utah tackle Caleb Lomu and Alabama linebacker Deontae Lawson are all Day 2 prospects with the potential to become starters early in their professional careers.

It may not look like it given their record, but the Giants have some pieces to build around—the most important being a promising young quarterback in Dart.

Now the team has to walk a tightrope of sorts, balancing being aggressive in adding around him while he is still on a rookie deal with filling a myriad of needs on both sides of the ball.

Step 1 is finding the guy to lead the team next year (as groan-inducing as it will likely be from fans, a steady hand like McCarthy is Big Blue's best bet). Then it's making best use of their limited cap resources and that high draft pick. It's too early to definitively call edge-rusher Abdul Carter a bust, but it's been a rocky first season and the Giants cannot afford to whiff on high picks right now.

Get Dart a coach. Get him help on offense and a defense that can occasionally make a stop. Do that, and there will be just one more step in propelling the young quarterback toward more success in Year 2: Convince him to stop trying to get himself decapitated.