Giants Have Three Contenders For CB2 Job

Although Paulson Adebo fell short of expectations in the first season of a three-year, $54MM contract in 2025, he will enter the upcoming campaign as a starter. There is a battle among Newsome, Hood and 2023 first-rounder Deonte Banks for the other spot, per Dan Duggan of The Athletic. For now, Hood is behind Newsome and Banks, according to Duggan.

Newsome has racked up 58 starts in 71 games since the Browns chose him 26th overall in the 2021 draft. He did enough over his first three seasons for the Browns to exercise his $13.38MM fifth-year option for 2025, but Newsome did not finish his contract in Cleveland. The Browns demoted the 6-foot, 192-pounder to a lesser role for most of 2024, and though he got his starting gig back last year, they traded him to the Jaguars for fellow corner Tyson Campbell in early October.

Between Cleveland and Jacksonville, Newsome put together his first 17-game season and totaled 52 tackles, nine passes defensed and the fourth interception of his five-year career. He gave up a 107.5 passer rating on 59 targets, though, and Pro Football Focus ranked his performance a lackluster 88th among 112 qualifiers.

Although the Giants declined Banks’ fifth-year option for 2027 on May 1, their new John Harbaugh-led coaching staff is not ready to throw in the towel on him. Defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson has given Banks consistent first-team work this spring. The 6-2, 200-pounder is a “legitimate contender” to reclaim a starting spot in Year 4 of his career, Duggan reports.

Banks, the 24th pick in the 2023 draft, was a full-time starter over his first two seasons. He didn’t play all that well, however, and then-head coach Brian Daboll briefly benched Banks for a lack of effort in his second season. Last year continued a downward trend for Banks, who lost his starting position to Flott. While Banks still appeared in 16 games, opposing passers roasted him for a 126.7 rating on 37 targets. Unsurprisingly, PFF assigned Banks a poor grade, ranking him the league’s third-worst corner out of 112 qualifiers.

While Hood is not a lock to start immediately, the Giants are hopeful he will emerge as a long-term answer. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have drafted Hood 37th overall. They had multiple chances to trade out of that pick, but a desire to take Hood won out, Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post relays.

After standout showings at Colorado (2024) and Tennessee (2025), there was pre-draft buzz that Hood would follow Mansoor Delane as the second corner off the board. He ended up as the third, trailing the Chiefs’ Delane (No. 6) and the Dolphins’ Chris Johnson (No. 27). Hood has since gotten some first-team reps with the Giants, but he will have to beat out a couple of veterans in order to start from Day 1.