The New York Giants have not even put pads on yet and they have already lost a defensive line starter for the entire season. Roy Robertson-Harris tore his Achilles tendon at a Thursday OTA workout, sources told ESPN, and is expected to miss the 2026 season.
The injury happened in non-contact. Robertson-Harris was taking first-team reps at the indoor facility when he reached for the back of his right leg early in the practice. He was helped off the field. The MRI came back the next morning and the news was as bad as it gets for a 32-year-old defensive lineman.
The Timing Is Brutal
The Giants have spent the offseason rebuilding the interior of their defensive line. They traded Dexter Lawrence II to the Cincinnati Bengals last month for a package built around the No. 17 pick in the 2027 draft. Lawrence was the heart of the defense for half a decade. The Giants moved him because the front office decided the rebuild had to start somewhere.
Robertson-Harris was supposed to absorb most of Lawrence’s snaps at nose tackle while rookie Walter Nolen, drafted in the second round out of Ole Miss, developed alongside him. With Robertson-Harris out, that plan collapses.
The Giants are now looking at a defensive line rotation built around Nolen, second-year tackle Elijah Chatman, and whatever veteran they can scrape off the free-agent market. Linval Joseph is still available at age 37. Sheldon Day is on the market. Neither moves the needle.
The Front Office Just Caught a Break Too
The same day Robertson-Harris went down, the Giants and general manager Joe Schoen agreed to a multi-year contract extension. Schoen is 46 and has been on the hot seat for two years after the team missed the playoffs in consecutive seasons. The extension was a vote of confidence from ownership.
Schoen is going to need every bit of that goodwill now. The Lawrence trade has not aged well in the 48 hours since the Robertson-Harris injury. The Giants have a young roster that needed veteran leadership on defense and just lost their most experienced lineman.
The good news, such as it is, is that Robertson-Harris’s deal contained injury protection language that keeps him under contract through 2027 with a salary structure the Giants can manage. He will likely spend the season rehabbing and aim for a return next training camp. He is not a guy the team wants to release.
Why the Defensive Line Was Already a Question
The Giants finished 23rd in defensive DVOA last season. The pass rush was decent thanks to Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeau on the edges, but the interior was a problem. Lawrence took on double teams every snap and Robertson-Harris was the only other player capable of beating one-on-one blocks consistently.
Now both of them are gone. Burns and Thibodeau are going to face slide protections every dropback because there is no inside threat to honor. Quarterbacks are going to step up in the pocket and find their checkdowns. Running backs are going to gain yards before they get touched.
This is the kind of injury that can derail a whole season for a team that did not have much margin to begin with. The Giants were projected by most sportsbooks at 6.5 wins before the news. Vegas is probably moving that number to 5.5 by the end of the week.
What Schoen Has to Do
The Giants have to add a body. Roster cuts around the league will produce some options in late August. Sheldon Rankins is out there. Folorunso Fatukasi was released by the Jaguars last month. Neither is a Pro Bowler, but either one would be an upgrade over the current depth chart.
The trade route is also open. Teams with deep defensive lines are going to be looking to sell mid-tier veterans for late-round picks. Schoen has the assets after the Lawrence deal. He has the cap room.
And he definitely has the motivation. The Giants cannot afford another lost season.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
