Giants, John Harbaugh roasted for $40 million free agent decision

The New York Giants are going to look much different in 2026. 

The team moved on from head coach Brian Daboll and replaced him with the legendary John Harbaugh. Then, the team made some notable moves in free agency in a bid to move out of the NFC East's basement. 

The Giants brought in a couple of wide receivers, Darnell Mooney and Calvin Austin III, and then added linebacker Tremaine Edmunds to the defense, among other moves.

The team also signed tight end Isaiah Likely to a three-year deal worth $40 million, reuniting Harbaugh with one of his former players. Not everybody is a huge fan of that deal, though, and Ethan Woodie of NFL Trade Rumors named it one of the worst moves of free agency.

Likely is now the fourth-highest-paid tight end in the league with the third-most guaranteed money. Regarding the Likely signing, Woodie offered the following:

Likely is not a blocker and doesn’t offer much as an in-line option. He’s essentially a big slot, but without banner receiving production in the NFL. 

Maybe Harbaugh knows something we don’t. He did coach him in Baltimore for four years, after all. And the Giants do have a need in the slot now that Wan'Dale Robinson’s in Tennessee. But this is a pretty crazy contract relative to the rest of the market and you have to assume Likely wasn’t getting this kind of money elsewhere.

As Woodie mentioned, it seems hard to justify this amount of money for Likely. The tight end is now one of the highest-paid at his position despite never catching more 42 passes in a season. 

The Giants did need to add a tight end though, as Daniel Bellinger left to sign with the Titans. Even still, it's hard to think that there wasn't a better option than giving this much money to Likely. 

In 2025, Likely played in 14 games with seven starts and caught 27 passes for 307 yards and one touchdown. In four NFL seasons, Likely has never had fewer than 300 receiving yards, but he's also never reached 500 either. 

Like Woodie said, though, Harbaugh is more familiar with Likely than any of us are. Perhaps the pass-catcher will excel when he's not having to split snaps with another very good tight end. 

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