dpJohn Harbaugh‘s first Giants offseason brought several wide receiver investments. Most of them came via low-cost free agency additions. Darnell Mooney and Calvin Austin arrived in March, while summer FA fliers Odell Beckham Jr., JuJu Smith-Schuster and Braxton Berrios remain with the team.
Malik Nabers avoided the active/PUP list but has not resumed full practices yet, and the team guaranteed Darius Slayton‘s 2026 compensation upon re-signing the veteran in March 2025. Slayton’s status as a Dave Gettleman draftee who re-signed twice under Joe Schoen may be notable, as the other wideout investment made under Harbaugh is making early progress.
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Third-round rookie Malachi Fields is making strides toward opening the season as the Giants’ No. 2 wide receiver, The Athletic’s Dan Duggan notes, adding none of the other receivers have stood out on this level.
The Giants did plenty to acquire Fields in the draft, making a rare 31-spot trade-up (via the Browns) to land the Notre Dame product at No. 74 overall. Daniel Jeremiah and Dane Brugler’s NFL.com and The Athletic big boards respectively ranked Fields as a top-60 prospect in this draft class, and the Giants will bet on the Virginia transfer-turned-CJ Carr Fighting Irish weapon.
The 6-foot-4 pass catcher topped 800 receiving yards in each of his final two Cavaliers seasons before averaging a career-best 17.5 yards per reception (630 total) in his lone South Bend season. This body of work impressed the Giants, who traded in front of a Dolphins team believed to be interested as well.
With Austin tracking to be Big Blue’s top slot receiver — though, that distinction carries less meaning thanks to the Isaiah Likely and Patrick Ricard additions — Fields’ status will be worth closely monitoring. Slayton is due a $12.25MM base salary this year. That will not be especially easy to trade, but a move closer to the deadline would cut into that number — one an acquiring team would need to take on — considerably. Entering the season, though, the Giants probably feel they need Slayton due to Fields’ rookie status and Nabers’ return from ACL and meniscus tears.
Nabers participated in an 11-on-11 drill today at three-quarters speed, per the New York Post’s Ryan Dunleavy. The rehabbing wideout has resumed running, cutting and jumping, ESPN.com’s Jordan Raanan notes, pointing to a Week 1 return being realistic. Schoen expressed optimism at minicamp Nabers would be ready for Week 1, and no setbacks have occurred since. This would certainly be significant not only for the Giants’ offense but for Jaxson Dart‘s development. Dart and Nabers did not finish a game together last season, with the former No. 6 overall pick going down in Dart’s Week 4 debut.
