The New York Giants’ secondary was one of its weakest units this past season. Their young defensive backfield dealt with inexperience and growing pains while the veterans of the group struggled to maintain consistency. Adding talent to the secondary will be one of general manager Joe Schoen’s top priorities this offseason. However, Pro Football Focus argues retaining one of those veteran talents should be a point of emphasis, too.
PFF names Adoree’ Jackson the one free agent the Giants “can’t afford to lose”
PFF’s Dalton Wasserman recently took a look at one 2025 NFL free agent each team “can’t afford to lose” and pointed to veteran CB Adoree’ Jackson for the Giants:
“The Giants are so starved for production at outside cornerback that they may have to bring Adoree’ Jackson back on another short-term contract,” Wasserman argued. “He earned just a 64.5 PFF coverage grade while breaking up five passes in 2024. Those modest numbers represent an upgrade from some of the team’s younger options who have struggled so far in their careers.”
Jackson has been with the Giants since 2021 when he signed a long-term contract to step in as their primary cornerback. He found much success in his first couple of seasons with the team, however, a significant drop off in the quality of his play in 2023 resulted in the team opting not to extend him that offseason. But, after they struggled to collect secondary talent in the 2024 offseason, they re-signed Jackson on a one-year deal just prior to the start of preseason.
The 2024 season was a solid bounce-back year for Jackson. He improved on his career-low 48.6 overall PFF grade in 2023, bringing his score up to a respectable 64.5 overall. His 85.8 run-defense grade was the best of his career thus far. Jackson surrendered only 18 receptions on 33 targets in coverage (54.5%) for 206 yards and two touchdowns in 2024. He was easily the Giants’ best and most consistent cornerback during what was a disastrous season.
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New York needs to upgrade at cornerback
However, despite his solid bounce-back in 2024, re-signing Jackson should not be the Giants’ top priority. Instead, bringing in an outside talent to upgrade the cornerback position would be favorable to maintaining the midline status quo. Jackson could be retained for depth purposes, however, handing him a starting job would not be advisable.
Thankfully, the 2024 free agency class is expected to feature some high-level cornerback options. If there is one position on the defensive side of the ball the Giants should spend big on, it’s cornerback. They need to upgrade with a more reliable veteran presence in the secondary amidst the struggles of third-year CB Deonte Banks.
Jackson could be brought back on a short-term, cheap contract. However, the Giants’ secondary signings shouldn’t start or end there. They need to upgrade the defensive backfield with a legitimate CB1 this offseason.
