Anthony Rivardo
Jalin Hyatt caught five passes for 35 yards in 2025, played zero offensive snaps in the first two weeks, and sat as a healthy scratch in Week 8. The Giants spent a third-round pick on him in 2023. Three years later, they have spent an entire offseason acting like he doesn’t exist.
New York signed Darnell Mooney, brought back Odell Beckham Jr., traded up in the third round for Notre Dame’s Malachi Fields, and added other veterans like Calvin Austin III and JuJu Smith-Schuster. All of those moves make Hyatt’s path to the 53-man roster even narrower; maybe even impossible.
From Promising Rookie to Afterthought
Hyatt averaged 16.2 yards per reception as a rookie in 2023, a mark that led the Giants and ranked among the best in his draft class. His 23 catches for 373 yards that year framed him as the vertical field-stretcher the offense lacked. The production has fallen off a cliff in every season since.
| Season | Games | Receptions | Receiving yards | Yards/rec |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 17 | 23 | 373 | 16.2 |
| 2024 | 16 | 8 | 62 | 7.8 |
| 2025 | 8 | 5 | 35 | 7.0 |
Two seasons of a combined 13 catches for 97 yards is the résumé of a player the offense stopped trusting, and the falling yards-per-catch shows the deep threat disappeared along with the volume.
The Room Got Deeper While Hyatt Stalled
Malik Nabers is the entrenched WR1, and Darius Slayton is still on this roster. Mooney and Austin III signed in March, Beckham, Smith-Schuster, and Braxton Berrios signed in June, and rookie Malachi Fields, the No. 74 pick the Giants traded up to grab, projects as the big-bodied outside receiver the staff has wanted. Hyatt now sits behind that group while competing with special-teams contributors and camp bodies for one of the final receiver spots.
The Contract Clock Is Out of Time
Hyatt is entering the final year of the four-year rookie contract he signed as the 73rd pick in 2023, which means 2026 is a walk-year audition with no leverage. A depth receiver who has cleared 62 yards once in three seasons does not earn a second contract, and reports last November already had Hyatt seeking a fresh start via trade, per SI. No deal came, and he is back fighting for a job the team keeps drafting and signing over.
The Giants Have Already Told Us the Answer
Three years of snap counts point to the same unsolved problems, and none of them is straight-line speed, which Hyatt has always had. Separation, catch consistency, and the coaching staff’s trust are what buried him on the depth chart. The Giants spent this offseason adding every kind of receiver except the one they drafted Hyatt to be. He has one summer left to change their minds, and the roster math is not on his side.
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