This one was easy to foresee.
Trying to locate a pathway to lead for wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson back to the Giants was not a wasteful endeavor, as the team wanted the player and the player did not discount staying with the team.
There was always the feeling, though, that the Giants would not be the highest bidder for Robinson and that his greatest NFL advocate — Brian Daboll — would do everything in his power to get Robinson to Tennessee.
The start of NFL free agency arrived at noon Monday, when teams were officially allowed to begin negotiating with players.
Clearly, the Titans and Robinson had more than an inkling that they were meant for each other.
The Giants’ leading receiver in 2025 will move on to Nashville, running routes for Daboll, his former head coach and, now, his current offensive coordinator, on a four-year, $78 million deal with $38 million guaranteed, according to NFL Network.
The Giants braced themselves for this, realizing Robinson’s eventual new contract was going to exceed what they established as his value.
They were never going to approach nearly $20 million a year for him. It is believed they were willing to go as high as $14 million per year to retain the 25-year-old Robinson, but the Titans — with $92 million in salary cap space, second in the league to the Raiders —anted up more to get him.
Daboll was instrumental in the Giants selecting the diminutive Robinson in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft, and Daboll was instrumental in alerting his new boss, Titans head coach Robert Saleh, that he needed Robinson operating out of the slot to make his passing attack go.
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And so, the Giants need to replace the 92 receptions and 1,014 yards — both team highs — Robinson contributed last season. In his four years, Robinson had 268 catches, 2,465 receiving yards and nine touchdowns.
He also was a calming presence in the locker room, a team-first battler who was pained by all the losing he endured with the Giants. He is well-versed in Daboll’s system and will be expected to be an inviting target for quarterback Cam Ward in his second NFL season the way he was for Jaxson Dart as a rookie.
Daboll always believed in the 5-foot-8 Robinson, even after he tore his right ACL six games into his NFL career.
The Giants’ offense, now under the direction of offensive coordinator Matt Nagy, is not expected to prioritize using a short slot receiver, making Robinson less of a must-sign than his past production would indicate.
They have much work to do for their wide receiver corps to keep any opposing defensive coordinator up at night.
Malik Nabers is coming off a torn right ACL that limited him to less than one-half of football with Dart in 2025. The Giants have Darius Slayton returning for an eighth year with the team but he is coming off a sub-standard season.
The Giants need Nabers to return to full health — the expectation is that he will be ready prior to the start of the season — and likely need to add both a No. 2 and No. 3 receiver, with free agency providing one avenue and the upcoming NFL draft another.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
