Paulson Adebo did not give the New York Giants their money’s worth in 2025 after signing a three-year, $54 million contract with $38.5 million guaranteed.
Signed to be the Giants’ No. 1 cornerback, Adebo had just one interception, eight passes defensed, his worst passer rating against since 2022 (98.2), and the worst completion percentage against of his five-year career (66.3).
Yet, Adebo lands at No. 6 on our list of most important Giants for 2026.
Why?
Because Adebo, entering his age-27 season, played
like a top 10 NFL shutdown cornerback in the two seasons before signing with the Giants.
- In 2023 with the New Orleans Saints, Adebo had four interceptions and 18 passes defensed in 15 games. He had career bests in passer rating against (62.7) and completion percentage allowed (55.0). Pro Football and Sports Network ranked Adebo as the 10th-best cornerback in the league that season.
- In 2024 with the Saints, Adebo had three interceptions in seven games before suffering a broken leg. His passer rating against was 70.8, and his completion percentage against was 59.1. PFSN ranked Adebo as the seventh-best cornerback in football while he was on the field. Adebo was No. 95 on SB Nation’s top 101 NFL players list entering last season.
That is the player the Giants paid for. It is not the player they got. PFSN ranked him as the No. 41 cornerback in the NFL last season.
What happened?
In writing about Adebo being No. 95 on the SB Nation list, Doug Farrar might have issued a foreshadowing. He wrote:
What’s interesting about the fit with the Giants and defensive coordinator Shane Bowen is that Bowen isn’t a big fan of press coverage – Big Blue played it on just 33% of their snaps in 2024, the third-lowest rate in the NFL – and Adebo is at his best when pressing opposing receivers. The Saints played press on 79% of their snaps last season, tied with the Jacksonville Jaguars for the NFL’s second-highest rate (behind only the Kansas City Chiefs). Last season, when pressing his opponents, Adebo allowed seven catches on 17 targets for 92 yards, no touchdowns, one interception, three pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 34.2.
Adebo isn’t limited to press coverage, which bodes well for his new home, but the overriding point is that when healthy, he’s become one of the game’s best aggressive pass defenders.
I don’t have the data on how much press coverage the Giants played last season. Safe to say, though, that it wasn’t close to 79%.
Another big difference for Adebo is that in his two terrific seasons with the Saints, he stayed almost exclusively at left cornerback. In 2023 and 2024 with New Orleans, his best years, Adebo played a total of 12 snaps at right cornerback and 76 in the slot.
With the Giants in 2025, he was often asked to travel with the opposition’s best wide receiver. He played 242 snaps at right cornerback, obviously not where he is most comfortable. That was likely out of necessity because of who the Giants had opposite Adebo at cornerback, but it was not the best use of Adebo’s skills.
The defense is now coordinated by Dennard Wilson, who was a safety as a player. During a recent chat with the media, defensive backs coach Addison Lynch promised that the scheme would match what the players do best.
“You have to be multiple enough to be able to work against these great offensive coordinators and quarterbacks that you face,” Lynch said. “But I think it’s more in tune with their skill set and what they’re good at.
“It’s going to give them a better opportunity to play some good football.”
On the Giants’ Huddle podcast, Lynch told John Schmeelk that cornerbacks “have to be able to cover aggressively on an island. That’s what we’re gonna do.”
Schmeelk referred to Wilson’s scheme as “quarters-based” with man-to-man concepts behind it. Lynch indicated that playing aggressively, which fits Adebo’s style, is a “requirement” in Wilson’s scheme.
With questions at the opposite cornerback spot and uncertainty about how good the Giants will be at safety, they need Adebo to be the player they signed him to be. If the coverage scheme is as advertised, it might give Adebo a better chance to be that player.
