For the New York Giants, this offseason feels less like routine maintenance and more like the first page of a long-awaited rewrite. Because this isn’t only about adding talent. It’s about defining what the Giants will be under John Harbaugh and who helps set that tone.
Isaiah Likely and the Giants’ Blueprint for a John Harbaugh Revival
While the Giants have many needs to address this offseason, one of their biggest is offensive weapons. While they have an elite wide receiver in Malik Nabers, who made the Pro Bowl in his second season in 2024, he lost most of 2025 after tearing his ACL and meniscus in October. While he is on track to return for the start of the season, quarterback Jaxson Dart needs help.
If you’re looking for a move that feels intentional rather than impulsive, start with Isaiah Likely, according to Jared Dubin of CBS Sports.
“The Giants could bring over a familiar face from Baltimore, along with John Harbaugh. Jaxson Dart has some weapons over there, and an elite one in Malik Nabers, but could definitely use more, and having a tight end who can work the middle of the field and stretch the seam would benefit him moving forward,” Dubin wrote.
The former Baltimore Ravens tight end comes into the 2026 offseason with 15 career touchdowns and a repertoire that suggests he’s been ready for a larger job. For four seasons, he operated in Baltimore’s tight-end-centric system, developing under Harbaugh’s watchful eye while sharing the space with Mark Andrews. Now, with Andrews extended and Likely expected to hit the open market, league chatter increasingly frames his departure as a matter of when, not if.
The appeal for New York is layered. Harbaugh not only coached Likely; he understands exactly how to use him. In Baltimore, tight ends weren’t emergency outlets. They were structural beams in the offense. Two-tight-end sets created matchup dilemmas, forced defensive substitutions, and gave quarterbacks defined reads over the middle of the field. That philosophy doesn’t disappear just because the zip code changes.
Rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart has arm talent, and Malik Nabers already looks like the kind of playmaker who tilts coverage before the snap. But young quarterbacks need more than fireworks outside the numbers. They need trust over the middle.
The Giants’ current tight end room, featuring Theo Johnson and Daniel Bellinger, has intrigue but not yet inevitability. Neither has consistently forced defensive coordinators to lose sleep. Pairing Likely with Johnson could recreate the layered tight-end dynamic that made Baltimore’s offense so adaptable: one player occupying attention, the other exploiting it.
On paper, his 74.4 PFSN TE Impact grade suggests room to grow. But context matters. Sharing targets behind an established Pro Bowler limits opportunity. In an expanded role, with a quarterback who benefits from tight-end volume and a coach who prioritizes the position, that ceiling could rise quickly.
