NFL: Pittsburgh Steelers at Baltimore Ravens
Peter Casey

The Giants needed someone who could help attract coverage away from Malik Nabers. They got a mismatch tight end who could do exactly that and has experience working with new head coach, John Harbaugh.

Isaiah Likely has signed a three-year deal with the Giants that could earn him up to $47.5 million with incentives. The contract makes Likely one of the highest-paid tight ends in the league, but it doesn't clinch him as one of the top Fantasy tight ends in the league. He'll get drafted for sure as a speculative pick and early-season starter, but not in the same tier as Kyle Pitts, Sam LaPorta, or Tucker Kraft.

Make no mistake, Likely is an athletic tight end who provides matchup problems for opposing defenses. His signing in New York is an indication that the Giants will follow one of the league's hottest trends and deploy multiple tight ends often -- much like the Ravens did for years. It's easy to assume Likely will pair with Theo Johnson, who had an amazing opportunity to lead the Giants tight ends in 2025 because of Nabers' season-ending knee injury.

Based on the Giants roster as things stand at the onset of free agency, particularly with Wan'Dale Robinson leaving the team for Tennessee, Likely has a shot to be second on the team in targets. And if Nabers happens to struggle to return to form, Likely could even be the team leader. That's the good news.

The bad news -- the first pieces of bad news -- is that the Giants figure to address their receiving corps through the draft and perhaps in free agency as well, and there's no sign of Nabers being slow in his recovery from his late September torn right ACL and meniscus.

Likely also isn't the only capable tight end on the Giants roster. Theo Johnson was a frequent target of Jaxson Dart's last year, not just because of his effectiveness and versatility, but really because he had ample opportunities in the wake of Nabers' injury. Though they are different types of tight ends -- Johnson more physical and Likely more explosive -- they will figure to both play a lot and take target share away from each other. 

The next piece of bad news involves new Giants offensive coordinator Matt Nagy. We've been in this position before: With Chicago, Nagy signed Trey Burton to a large contract with $22 million guaranteed in 2018, and Burton went on to average 9.2 PPR points on 4.8 targets per game. That's not awful, but Burton was drafted with higher expectations. In fact, the only tight end in Nagy's eight seasons of being an offensive coordinator to average more than 10 PPR points per game was -- duh -- Travis Kelce, which he accomplished in 2017, 2023, 2024, and 2025. 

And the final piece of bad news was actually given in the second sentence of this story: Likely has experience working with new head coach John Harbaugh. If Harbaugh knew Likely was capable of being a major factor in the passing game, we probably would have seen it at some point between 2022 and 2025. Instead, Likely never did more than flash big games on occasion. One of them -- the season-opener in 2024 -- was believed to be a breakout game that would lead to a breakout season. Instead, Likely followed up his 12-target, nine-catch, 111-yard, one-score game against the Chiefs with only three games with 10-plus PPR points in 15 games, then had just two 10-plus-point outings in 14 games in 2025. Harbaugh knows what Likely is capable of, and based on their time together in Baltimore, that might mean a limited amount of work compared to other TEs around the league.

This isn't to suggest Likely got overpaid, or that he'll be an awful Fantasy pick. He's just not a player you should reach for. You should expect Likely to be in that third tier of tight ends that you'll draft with high hopes but not with a top-80 selection. That's the same group as Jake Ferguson, Oronde Gadsden II, Dalton Kincaid, and, more than likely, rookie Kenyon Sadiq.