New York Giants: Answering Biggest Offseason Questions

So while there’s no doubt the roster needs improvement, Harbaugh has not minimized the importance of attitude adjustment.

“That definitely is at the heart of what we're going to try to do,” Harbaugh said in early April. “Try to be excited about every single day, try to approach the day, as my dad would say, with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind.

“That's what it is. It's just a bunch of people coming together to build something together that is a team, plays like a team, plays like a team better than any other team. If you do that, then you have a chance to be the best team because the best team is the team that plays the best.”

Did the Giants do enough to improve on defense?

There are several key additions to a Giants defense that struggled mightily in 2025 … and one massive departure. The Giants were 26th in scoring defense last season, 28th in total yards allowed and 31st against the run — and that was with Dexter Lawrence, perhaps the best defensive tackle in football. Unhappy with his contract situation, Lawrence demanded a trade this offseason and was shipped to the Cincinnati Bengals in exchange for the 10th overall pick in the draft.

“It could be credibly argued that he’s as valuable as any other defensive player in the NFL today,” Athlon Sports’ Doug Farrar wrote about Lawrence when the trade went down.

While Lawrence will be missed, the team added several new pieces. They added veteran inside linebacker Tremaine Edmunds and cornerback Greg Newsome in free agency, drafted a player that many thought was the best defensive prospect when they got Ohio State’s Arvell Reese with the fifth overall pick, then added Tennessee cornerback Colton Hood in the second round.

With expected improvement from last year’s No. 3 overall pick Abdul Carter and Brian Burns coming off a career-high 16.5 sacks, the potential is there.

"Our defense is pretty flexible, position-less you might call it," Harbaugh said after the Giants drafted Reese. "We'll have an opportunity to move those guys around. But he'll [Reese] line up next to Tremaine and he'll be in the A gap, the B gap, the C gap, the D gap, off the edge. He'll be moving around with all of our guys. Abdul [Carter] and Brian [Burns] and Kayvon [Thibodeaux] and Tremaine.

"We'll be running games and picks and stunts and different things like that on passing situations, and he's good in coverage as well, he's a versatile player. He's a young player. He's gotten better every single year, playing off the ball and on the ball, so he does both. Probably why he was our highest rated non-quarterback player in the draft. He's an exciting player. We are fired up to have him."

Have the Giants done enough to help Jaxson Dart?

Even before Harbaugh’s arrival, Giants fans were encouraged when Jaxson Dart ended up starting 12 games as a rookie, completing 63.7% of his passes for 2,272 yards with 15 touchdown passes and five interceptions, adding 487 rushing yards and nine rushing touchdowns. The downside was that Dart’s rushing prowess came with a dangerous penchant for inviting hits. Dart was no stranger to the concussion protocol last season, something the team would love to better avoid.

While some insiders thought the best thing the team could do to help Dart was to bring in more offensive weapons for him, the Giants thought it would be better to improve the offensive line. Even with his scrambling ability, Dart was sacked 35 times last season. Overall, the Giants tied for 24th in the NFL with 48 sacks allowed.

So with the 10th overall pick that was acquired in the Lawrence trade, the team drafted Miami Hurricanes o-lineman Francis Mauigoa. A right tackle for much of his college career, Mauigoa will likely take over at right guard.

"When you see him physically, he's got this boxy, dense build," said Giants GM Joe Schoen. "He looks like a guard, and then you watch him slide his feet and you're like, OK, well, he can certainly play tackle as well. So, obviously, having brought [right tackle] Jermaine [Eluemunor] back, we thought he would slide in to right guard and it'd be an easy transition for him. At his pro day, you could see the athleticism, the quickness, the bend. There's no doubt in my mind or the staff's mind that he would be able to do it."