Giants land massive trade back haul and load up Jaxson Dart with new weapons in latest 7 round 2026 NFL Mock Draft

The New York Giants' 2025 season has been highly disappointing, as they've stumbled to a 2-10 record.

However, the 2026 offseason is the most pivotal the franchise has had in a long time. Now that they have a young nucleus led by a potential star quarterback in Jaxson Dart, the Giants could shock the NFC East. With the right draft strategy, they can rapidly improve.

To help Giants fans look ahead to what could go down in April, I produced a seven-round 2026 Mock Draft with Mock Draft Database's simulator. I then called upon my colleague and NFL Draft analyst Ryan Roberts to evaluate my draft class. Here were the results.

Giants 2026 Mock Draft

To kick off the mock, I accepted a trade offered by the simulator and received a massive haul of picks. That then equipped me to attack multiple key positions of need.

TRADE: Giants 2026 2nd overall pick for Steelers 2026 17th overall pick, 81st overall pick, 99th overall pick, 133rd overall pick, 231st overall pick, 2027 1st round pick and sixth round pick

R1 Pick 16: Maki Lemon, WR, USC

R2 Pick 34: Brandon Cisse, CB, South Carolina

R3 Pick 81: Dillon Thieneman, S, Oregon

R3 Pick 99: Eli Stowers, TE, Vanderbilt

R4 Pick 102: Dontay Corleone, DT, Cincinnati

R4 Pick 133: Xavier Chaplin, OT, Auburn

R5 Pick 142: Daylen Everette, CB, Georgia

R6 Pick 182: Anto Saka, EDGE, Northwestern

R6 Pick 191: Justin Jefferson, LB, Alabama

R7 Pick 231: Jaheim White, RB, West Virginia

Ultimately, the Giants' priority needs to be trading back if they're sitting at second overall. Unless they'd consider drafting another EDGE rusher with Arvell Reese potentially on the board, none of their needs could be addressed that early. In this mock draft, I was offered a massive haul to let the Pittsburgh Steelers trade up to find their next quarterback. Considering the dire state they're in, offering a gigantic bounty of picks is plausible.

The trade back effectively set me up to address depth at key positions the Giants currently lack. That will be the most significant impact of orchestrating a trade to move it to a later first-round pick.

Adding Makai Lemon in the first round creates what would be a dangerous receiving unit for Jaxson Dart. Having Malik Nabers, Wan'Dale Robinson, and now Lemon would equip Dart to have a productive second season in the league. Additionally, I was able to add two additional weapons with Eli Stowers and Jaheim White. Stowers is a fluid mover who can contribute as an auxiliary piece alongside Theo Johnson. White is a shifty space killer who would be a solid third running back.

Next, the Giants need to rework their secondary. I was able to accomplish that by drafting a new outside cornerback to compete for a starting job in Brandon Cisse and a strong safety to improve the run game in Dillon Thieneman.

The only position I was disappointed in was my lack of quality picks in finding more offensive linemen. Xavier Chaplin is a solid backup tackle with the potential to become a starter. The Giants will need to be aggressive in free agency to rework the group.

Lastly, the selections of Daylen Everette, Dontay Corleone, Anto Saka, and Justin Jefferson address the Giants' thinnest position groups. Adding these guys to the mix would at least provide youth to positions with very few impactful backups.

Draft grade

Ryan Roberts' Grade: A-

"The New York Giants are a clear trade-back candidate right now in the 2026 class due to quarterback Jaxson Dart already being in place. Putting talent around him has to be the main priority, and clearly it was for DeLeone in this latest mock draft. Getting Makai Lemon to pair with Malik Nabers when he returns from injury is huge, as well as getting a value with Eli Stowers down the board. That would be something diverse passing game options for the talented quarterback.

My only criticism would be to potentially attack the offensive line earlier in the draft. Andrew Thomas is a very good left tackle when healthy, but he is unavailable way too often. Right tackle is also a spot that can be upgraded in a big way. This would force the Giants to have to really attack the need in free agency, and potentially target someone like Braden Smith from Indianapolis.

With the Giants lacking playmakers on the backend of their defense, the additions of Cisse and Thieneman would be rock-solid investments. Overall, I really like the decision to trade back and the value found in this draft overall. This would put the next Giants head coach in a good spot as he tries to rebuild the organization to prominence."

This story was originally published by A to Z Sports on Nov 25, 2025, where it first appeared in the NFL section. Add A to Z Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.