Deonte Banks has not panned out for the Giants, and they have since made other plans at cornerback. A year after signing Paulson Adebo and weeks after their Greg Newsome addition, Banks will not see his contract extended to 2027.
The Giants are making the expected call to decline Banks’ fifth-year option, ESPN.com’s Jordan Raanan tweets. Exercising Banks’ option would have guaranteed him $12.63MM for 2027. Today is the deadline on fifth-year option decisions for the 2023 draft class.
[RELATED: 2027 NFL Fifth-Year Option Tracker]
Also using a second-round pick to add Tennessee corner Colton Hood, the Giants appear to be transitioning away from Banks now that John Harbaugh is running the show. GM Joe Schoen drafted Banks 24th overall in 2023, but the fifth-year GM has lost considerable organizational power and is not a lock to be on the job when the season starts. Banks and Evan Neal not delivering on their first-round draft slots have gone in Schoen’s loss column.
Adebo, Newsome, Hood and slot corner Andru Phillips will be roster locks, The Athletic’s Dan Duggan offers. While the Giants reporter expects Banks to make the team, not including the Maryland alum among the locks is notable. Cor’Dale Flott overtook Banks last year, and while he ended up joining a Titans team that now employs Brian Daboll, the Newsome and Hood additions look to leave Banks as a trade candidate. The Colts inquired about Banks at last year’s deadline, and while he did not a kick-return touchdown in the team’s Week 17 win over a noncommitted Raiders squad, the fourth-year cover man has not shown much as a pro.
The Giants used Banks as a full-time starter in 2023 and ’24. The 2024 season did include an effort-based benching, and that seemed to move him to the wrong track. The team signed Adebo to a three-year, $54MM deal in 2025 and eventually gave Flott the top boundary job opposite the ex-Saint.
Major changes have occurred throughout the Giants’ roster this offseason, as Harbaugh now holds the personnel hammer. Banks does not have ties to this coaching staff, making it realistic he is not on the team’s roster by Week 1. The trade deadline may also be relevant for Banks, in case the Giants — as they did with the underperforming Neal last year — carry him onto their 53-man roster as a backup.
Pro Football Focus has viewed Banks as one of the NFL’s worst CBs throughout his career. The advanced metrics site has ranked him outside the top 105 players at the position in each season, slotting him 110th (third-worst among qualified options) in 2025. The team traded up one spot for Banks three drafts ago and deployed him as a starter opposite Adoree’ Jackson. But the once-promising prospect may need a fresh start soon.
Another Daboll-Schoen special who got called out for doggin’ it. Banks did have a 95-yard kickoff return TD in the Giants’ win at Las Vegas over Christmas.