Year one under head coach Brian Schottenheimer for the Dallas Cowboys ended at MetLife Stadium in a meaningless Week 18 game where both the Cowboys and hosting New York Giants were out of the playoffs already. As we continue to look ahead to year two for Schotty in 2026, this season will begin where the last ended – at the Giants. Already, the stakes feel higher for both teams in Week 1 than at any other point last season.
It will be the Cowboys’ second straight appearance to begin a season on Sunday
Night Football, although last year had the distinction of being the league’s kickoff game on a Thursday night at the defending champion Eagles. This time around, it will be the Giants breaking in a new head coach, though hardly a first-time one as John Harbaugh makes the trip up from Baltimore to New Jersey following 18 seasons at the helm of the Ravens.
This offseason’s hiring of Harbaugh instantly added a heightened sense of credibility and competitive expectation that the Giants have sorely been lacking, and putting these things to the test against the Cowboys should be something they’re chomping at the bit to do. Week 18 last season snapped a nine-game losing streak for the Giants against the Cowboys, and things get even uglier for the Giants when zooming out further beyond that nonconsequential win. The Cowboys have won 15 of their last 17 against the Giants and 21 of 26 going back to 2013.
With training camp being the next big date on the calendar to evaluate all of the teams around the league, the consensus outlook for the NFC East remains that the Cowboys with Dak Prescott and Eagles with Jalen Hurts are still a step above the rest in this division. The Cowboys are banking on offensive continuity rather than any shiny new toys in the chest for Schottenheimer and Klayton Adams to keep Prescott in this position. The Eagles are the foil to this with a host of personnel changes as well as yet another OC being the voice in Hurts’ helmet, and the Giants and Commanders are both hungry to establish their young but injury-prone quarterbacks into this race as soon as possible.
Can the Giants be the latest team with a young, dual-threat, and healthy quarterback to make a meteoric rise in the standings, or will the Cowboys new-look defense be enough of a difference maker to stay ahead of them? How much concern can the Giants pass rush cause the Cowboys offensive line right out of the gate in 2026? Let’s look at some of these questions and more with our preview of the Giants at large.
Giants Key Free Agent Signings/Departures
* SIGNED IN FREE AGENCY
- TE Isaiah Likely
- LB Tremaine Edmunds
- WR Darnell Mooney
- OL Jermaine Eluemunor (Re-signed)
- WR Calvin Austin
- CB Greg Newsome
- SAF Jason Pinnock
- OL Daniel Faalele
- FB Patrick Ricard
- SAF Ar’Darius Washington
* DEPARTED IN FREE AGENCY
- WR Wan’dale Robinson
- CB Cordale Flott
- TE Daniel Bellinger
Following coaching changes as a precursor for how free agency will shake out has become a very good way to predict player movement in recent years. Certainly Cowboys fans that followed the recent seasons when Dan Quinn served as defensive coordinator, and then stayed in the division as a head coach for the Commanders, and took a host of former Cowboys with him, can relate. For the Giants, Harbaugh wasted no time bringing in former Ravens like Faalele, Ricard, Likely, and Washington.
Former Giants head coach Brian Daboll is now with the Titans, and also signed away former Giants players like Robinson, Flott, and Bellinger, all listed above.
The Giants had given plenty of attention to their defensive front prior to Harbaugh, but linebacker had been a position that handicapped them for numerous seasons in a row, and a lack of being able to maximize the pass rush has led to disappointment in the secondary as well. Marrying this pass rush on the verge of having a lot of wasted potential with a restocked secondary will be a goal early for Harbaugh. Tremaine Edmunds is a solid, veteran addition at linebacker to get things going the right direction in the middle of the defense again as well.
On offense, the Harbaugh effect will most likely be felt with the Giants trying to also re-establish a healthy Cam Skattebo in the backfield at running back. The additions of Likely, Austin, and Mooney give them some additional size and speed at the skill positions too. Just how prepared this team is to win in the trenches on both sides of the ball will be very interesting to compare right from the jump in September against a Cowboys team that made better play along the line of scrimmage their mission in year one under Schottenheimer, and will be working the rest of this summer to build off of the progress they’ve made here.
Giants 2026 Draft Class
- Round 1, Pick 5: EDGE Arvell Reese
- Round 1, Pick 10: OT Francis Mauigoa
- Round 2, Pick 5 (37 Overall): CB Colton Hood
- Round 3, Pick 10 (74 Overall): WR Malachi Fields
- Round 6, Pick 5 (186 Overall): DT Bobby Jamison-Travis
- Round 6, Pick 11 (192 Overall): OT J.C. Davis
- Round 6, Pick 12 (193 Overall): LB Jack Kelly
The Ravens were known as one of the best drafting teams for decades, the better part of two such decades coming under Harbaugh. Positioned with two picks in the top ten for his first draft with the Giants, New York wasted no time continuing to build this team in their new coach’s image with a pick for both the defensive and offensive line at five and ten, respectively.
If some of the moves covered in the free agency section above don’t seem like needle movers for the Giants, there is real hope this draft class is the start of a very solid foundation on top of the new players they brought in last year that only produced one more win from three to four in 2025 compared to 2024, but via the eye test had a much better look overall as a Giants team with some fire. Cowboys fans won’t have to think back any further than the overtime thriller that nearly sent the Cowboys to 0-2 from AT&T Stadium a season ago as an example of this.
The Giants had their pick of the lot of Ohio State defenders at fifth overall, and started off the run of these blue-chip prospects going to the NFC East with Reese, before the Commanders drafted Sonny Styles and Cowboys landed Caleb Downs. There was a lot of smoke about Styles being the preferred pick for the Giants leading up to the draft, but after Daboll and the Titans went offense instead of Reese at four, the value on Reese at five was too good to pass up. Reese is a high-floor and higher-ceiling prospect that should be a tough test for the Cowboys situation at tackle in week one, where there is some uncertainty about both Terrence Steele and Tyler Guyton’s ability to consistently hold up.
The rest of the Giants draft screams high value picks all the way through, with Colton Hood having some first round buzz around him before going to New York at 37th overall. Fields is a big-play threat at wide receiver with the strength to win over the middle, an element the Giants should be looking to utilize more in the development of Jaxson Dart. Even their very last pick in Jack Kelly should have a chance to put his name in the hat for who will help turn the Giants fortunes around at linebacker; he has a high-motor with good range and instincts.
Player development has not been a strong suit of the Giants for a while, but by hiring Harbaugh, selecting prospects from top programs with proven production and high floors, and creating the right mix of young players with veteran experience, the framework is in place to solve this player development conundrum and see this team improve rapidly throughout the season. How many of their draft picks are ready to see the field beyond Reese and Mauigoa in week one compared to the Cowboys trying to work in not only Caleb Downs but Malachi Lawrence, potentially Jaishawn Barham, Devin Moore, and LT Overton as well will be a storyline to watch in primetime of Week 1.
Giants 2026 Coaching Changes
* New to staff this season:
- Head Coach John Harbaugh
- Special Teams Coordinator Chris Horton
- Offensive Coordinator Matt Nagy
- Defensive Coordinator Dennard Wilson
- Inside Linebackers Frank Bush
- Secondary/Pass Game Coordinator Donald D’Alesio
- Defensive Line Dennis Johnson
- Defensive Backs Addison Lynch
- Offensive Line Mike Bloomgren
- Quarterbacks Brian Callahan
- Running Backs Willie Taggart
At first glance, this list seems like a daunting amount of change, but on the other hand perhaps a level of change necessary for a team that hasn’t won double-digit games since 2016. The next thing to know about this list is that Wilson, Horton, D’Alesio, Johnson, and Taggart are all carryovers from Harbaugh’s Ravens staff that have followed him, and there are other former Ravens coaches in lesser positions on staff as well.
The Giants will have a CEO-esque head coach that should be adept at handling the dynamic of having a former head coach as offensive coordinator, and another former head coach in the room with his young QB. Matt Nagy was never quite the right fit as head coach of the Bears, but the New Jersey native returns home after three seasons as offensive coordinator under Andy Reid and with Patrick Mahomes at the Chiefs. The motivation to establish himself even further as a top play-caller at a time in the league where quality offensive play callers are worth more than their weight in gold will be there, along with an eclectic mix of personnel to present new looks the Giants haven’t had in some time.
Former Titans head coach Brian Callahan is the other piece to this offensive brain trust as QB coach, who comes with a strong emphasis on running the ball. Pair that with Harbaugh’s direct assistant to the head coach Willie Taggart being the running back coach, and Mike Bloomgren as offensive line coach coming over from the Browns where Harbaugh will also have some familiarity, and Giants fans will absolutely be expecting to hit the ground running when it comes to being a well-coached offense that handles situational football well and puts their talented defense in optimal positions.
The key to that defense will again be the pass rush, where Dennis Johnson is a carryover from the Ravens as DL coach. The Cowboys will see the Giants in Week 1 as we know, with the other matchup in Arlington coming in Week 17. The Giants could look drastically different in both of these matchups, and if they stay healthy and gel as a coaching staff as the season goes on, the Cowboys will surely be hoping they capitalize on the Week 1 opportunity to get the Giants while they’re still sorting these things out before trying to extend their home winning streak against Big Blue to ten.
