NFL Executives Aren't Buying the Giants' 2026 Hype Yet

There’s a ton of optimism around the New York Giants in 2026. But NFL executives aren’t buying yet.

Executives ranked the Giants the No. 14 team in the NFC, ahead of only the Atlanta Falcons and Arizona Cardinals, in a list compiled by The Athletic’s Mike Sando.

Sando spoke with six unidentified executives and asked them to rank the NFC’s teams. The Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks were the consensus Nos. 1-2, followed by the Giants’ NFC East rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys.

NFL Execs Ranked the Giants 14th Out of 16 NFC Teams

The Giants finished 15th out of 16 NFC teams last season after starting Russell Wilson at quarterback for their first three games, firing their coach midseason, losing Malik Nabers to a torn ACL and meniscus, and ranking 31st in the NFL in run defense.

Yet, no executive had the Giants ranked higher than 10th, and four of the six had them ranked 14th or worse — with one putting them 15th again, behind the Atlanta Falcons, even in John Harbaugh’s first season.

“They have a lot of pieces on defense, and I really liked their draft,” one exec told Sando. “Harbaugh will play everything close, and they’ll be in a ton of one-score games, and we’ll see what happens in the moment of truth. They’re a candidate for those games to play out really well.”

The Giants Can’t Possibly Finish 14th in the NFC

The Giants had the NFL’s toughest schedule in 2025. But that executive may have overlooked that the Giants went 1-7 in one-score games in 2025 and coughed up fourth-quarter leads against the Bears, Lions, Cowboys and Packers — and, of course, their 33-32 loss to the AFC runner-up Denver Broncos.

Harbaugh expects to fix that. Plus, he and general manager Joe Schoen substantially upgraded the roster, especially the wide-receiver room, while adding dynamic tight end Isaiah Likely.

The Washington Commanders were the 14th-best team in the NFC last season and finished with a 5-12 record. Harbaugh has had only one season of fewer than eight wins (2015, 5-11) over his 18-year head-coaching career.

With the Cardinals actively tanking, and the NFC South and the Commanders in disarray, the Giants are in a position to surprise a lot of NFL pundits. Yet, their ceiling will depend on how they answer a few questions.

“I like the Giants’ potential on defense. Abdul Carter, Arvell Reese, Brian Burns,” another exec told Sando. “But then I don’t know how good that secondary is at corner. They lost Dexter Lawrence in the middle. On offense, Jaxson Dart’s health, Cam Skattebo’s health and Malik Nabers’ health are all concerns. There’s a lot of unknown.”