The Giants enter the 2025 season navigating something of a balancing act.
By drafting Jaxson Dart in April, the Giants invested in their not-so-distant future, identifying the 22-year-old quarterback as a franchise cornerstone whose development is paramount for a team still seeking “the guy” six years after Eli Manning’s retirement.
But after last season’s 3-14 disappointment, there’s also heightened pressure on head coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen to win more games.
Co-owner John Mara made that crystal clear in January when, upon retaining Daboll and Schoen, he told reporters, “I’m going to have to be in a better mood this time next year than I am right now.”
It’s a tricky tightrope to walk, but after an eventful offseason in which Schoen imported considerable young and veteran talent, it’s time for the Giants to prove they’re no longer a circus.
“I like the team,” Schoen said Wednesday, a day after settling on the Giants’ initial 53-man roster. “I like the chemistry. I like the leadership. We had a good training camp. We had a good spring. Now, we’re two weeks away and we have to go out and do it.”
When the Giants open the season at Washington on Sept. 7, they’ll do so with Russell Wilson at quarterback.
Wilson, 36, signed a one-year contract worth up to $21 million this spring, giving the Giants an established quarterback whose leadership has earned rave reviews.
Now entering his 14th season, Wilson is a Super Bowl champion and 10-time Pro Bowler, but the Giants are his fourth team in five years.
A calf injury limited Wilson to a career-low 11 games last season with the Pittsburgh Steelers. His 2,482 passing yards were the fewest of his career, while his 16 touchdown passes tied a career low.
The Steelers went 6-5 in games started by Wilson, but they lost each of their final four regular season games, then suffered a first-round playoff exit.
As much as this is a make-or-break year for the Giants, it’s a prove-it season for the veteran Wilson.
“No matter how much praise we get, how much criticism people try to say beforehand or whatever it may be, it’s just we’re in the midst of it right now, and we have unbelievable belief in our locker room, what we’re capable of,” Wilson said Wednesday.
Wilson represents the biggest change to a Giants offense that ranked 31st in the NFL in scoring (16.1 points per game) and 30th in total offense (294.8 yards per game).
The hope is Wilson can elevate a young receiving core headlined by Malik Nabers, who shined with 109 catches, 1,204 receiving yards and seven touchdowns as a rookie, despite a revolving door of quarterbacks in Daniel Jones, Drew Lock and Tommy DeVito.
“When your quarterback is able to pick apart a defense as good as Russ is, know what’s going on, know where he wants to go with the ball, it makes the receiver’s job a whole lot easier,” Nabers said.
Of course, it’s far from guaranteed that Wilson will be the Giants’ starter all year.
Daboll remains resolute that Dart will develop behind Wilson, but it’s atypical for a first-round quarterback to sit for long.
Of the 15 quarterbacks drafted in the first round since 2021, all but two started by Week 6 of their rookie year. The only exceptions came last season, when Atlanta’s Michael Penix Jr. took over in Week 16 and Minnesota’s J.J. McCarthy missed his rookie year due to a knee injury.
The buzz around Dart only grew this summer, when he passed for 372 yards and three touchdowns and added 52 yards and another score on the ground over three preseason games.
Still, it’s not clear if Dart is even the immediate backup to Wilson, considering Jameis Winston — who signed a two-year, $8 million contract in the offseason — remains in the mix, too.
“I feel like whenever my number is called then I’m gonna go out there and I’m gonna play my game,” Dart said after the preseason finale.
“That’s just my mindset any time I touch the field. Obviously, Russ is the starter. He’s gonna do amazing. He’s had such a great camp and has played at an elite level. My job is just to be the best teammate and be ready whenever it is.”
Dart is the first quarterback the Giants have drafted for Daboll, who helped develop Josh Allen as Buffalo’s offensive coordinator from 2018-21.
Daboll’s future with the Giants may very well be tied to the development of Dart, though another last-place finish could complicate things.
After leading the Giants to a 9-7-1 record and a postseason win in his first season as the Giants’ head coach in 2022, Daboll has endured back-to-back losing seasons and is 18-32-1 overall in the role.
“There’s still a lot of things that we need to focus on to continue to improve on,” Daboll said Wednesday. “I like the players that we have. I like the coaches that we have. We’ve got to go out there and do it.”
Making matters more difficult for the Giants is that they have the NFL’s hardest schedule, based on last year’s records. The Giants’ 2025 opponents went a combined 166-123 (.574) in 2024.
After opening the season in Washington, the Giants are set to face the Dallas Cowboys on the road in Week 2; host the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 3; and get the Los Angeles Chargers at home in Week 4. Two of the Giants’ first eight games are against the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.
But the Giants appear better equipped to confront some of those high-octane offenses, thanks in large part to a revamped defense.
Rookie pass rusher Abdul Carter looked the part of the No. 3 overall pick all summer, forming a fearsome defense front with Dexter Lawrence, Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux.
The Giants also invested heavily in their secondary, paying big money to sign No. 1 cornerback Paulson Adebo and standout safety Jevon Holland.
“We’ve just been able to acquire more and more and more guys that have those [leadership] traits and qualities that we covet,” Schoen said. “The more of those guys you can have that are going to do things the right way and are unselfish and true pros, that can be contagious for some of the young players and can elevate everybody.”
The true barometer for a successful season might not come down to wins and losses for the Giants. Another three-win season won’t cut it, but the Giants can show marked improvement even without transforming into a playoff team.
For the first time in a couple of years, there is reason for optimism.
“You don’t want to get too high too early,” Wilson said. “I believe in just staying right here through the high moments, the tough moments, the great ones, the preparation moments, just understanding what we’re getting to, and just kind of let it build up and get ready to rock and roll.”
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