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Jaxson Dart was elite with two tight ends on the field in 2025, so John Harbaugh decided to upgrade that position with a player the first-year New York Giants head coach knows well in Isaiah Likely.
Likely is going to be one of the Giants' most important offensive players, which is why Doug Farrar of Athlon Sports deemed him their X-factor for the 2026 season.
The Giants locked in Likely to a massive three-year contract worth up to $40 million with $27 million guaranteed. He only had 27 catches for 307 yards for Harbaugh and the Baltimore Ravens last year, and has only had one season of at least 40 catches and 475 yards (2024).
Isaiah Likely Should Improve the Giants' Offense
The Giants are modeling their offense after the one Greg Roman and Todd Monken ran in Baltimore, which is great because Dart's capabilities lend themselves to a run-first, tight-end-heavy group.
"With two tight ends on the field last season, Giants quarterbacks (primarily rookie Jaxson Dart, with a side of Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston) completed 91 of 140 passes for 1,245 yards, 693 air yards, seven touchdowns, two interceptions, and a passer rating of 106.3 — ninth-best in the league," Farrar wrote. "When you rank 22nd in Offensive DVOA as the Giants did in 2025, you’ll look at any port in a storm from a personnel perspective."
Yet, perhaps more importantly than Likely's physical tools, he is 6-foot-4 and 241 pounds, was his familiarity with Harbaugh.
"Harbaugh is obviously more than familiar with Likely’s oeuvre," Farrar wrote. "The Coastal Carolina alum, selected in the fourth round of the 2022 draft, caught 146 of his 198 targets for 1,744 yards and 17 touchdowns with the Ravens."
With a Bigger Role, Isaiah Likely is Likely to Break Out
The question is, of course, whether Likely can play like the fourth-highest-paid tight end in football, which the Giants are paying him to be.
Likely averaged fewer than two catches and 20 yards per game last season. But there is now an opportunity for Likely to emerge from Mark Andrews' and Zay Flowers' shadows, especially with Malik Nabers' status in doubt.
"The Giants have plenty of opportunity for Likely to carve out a role in the offense," Dan Fornek of FTN Fantasy wrote. "Don’t be surprised if he has a career year as a pass-catcher and finds his way into the top 10 tight end conversation throughout 2026."
So not only is Likely the key to unlocking the Giants' offense. He could be a fantasy-football sleeper as well.
