The New York Giants came to terms on a contract with another veteran wide receiver on March 22, announcing the signing of Zach Pascal on X, “pending a physical.”
Pascal was most recently a member of the Arizona Cardinals for the past two seasons, but Giants fans might better remember him from his time with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2022 and the Indianapolis Colts before that from 2018 through 2021.
On his career, he’s accumulated 2,057 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns, with another 65 receiving yards and 1 touchdown in the playoffs, but Pascal has really made a name for himself as a special teamer.
Per The Athletic’s Dan Duggan, the Pascal signing represents “competition for Bryce Ford-Wheaton, who beat out veteran WR/ST Miles Boykin for a spot last year.”
According to Pro Football Focus, Pascal has logged just under 1,200 special teams snaps on his career. It seems the veteran has also gotten better in this department as he’s gotten older, with his best two ST grades coming in 2023 (72.7) and 2024 (86.4).
Pascal typically appears on all special teams units except for field goal kick and field goal block.
Giants Offering Zero Free Rides in 2025
A noticeable goal of the Giants’ 2025 offseason appears to be building out quality depth at each position, which also means there are no free rides this spring and summer.
That could apply to a former draft pick like Jalin Hyatt more than anyone, considering general manager Joe Schoen’s focus on the wide receiver position in free agency.
Not only did the team add Pascal and Lil’Jordan Humphrey — who could be in direct competition with Hyatt — but they also re-signed WR/returner Ihmir Smith-Marsette and dished out big money in order to retain Darius Slayton. And few covering the Giants expected the latter to actually happen.
Needless to say, these moves don’t instill much confidence in Hyatt, who already appeared frustrated at the end of the 2024 campaign.
After trading up to get Hyatt in round three of the 2023 draft, the deep threat had 373 receiving yards as a rookie. Unfortunately, he followed that up with just 62 receiving yards in year two, getting very limited usage on offense.
Like Humphrey, Hyatt does not contribute on special teams, making him far less useful as a depth piece at wide receiver.
Giants Now Have 9 WRs Under Contract Ahead of NFL Draft
As mentioned above, the Giants have restocked their depth in the pass-catching corps. They could still add to this unit in the NFL draft — with some fans eyeing WR/cornerback hybrid Travis Hunter in round one — but there are nine wideouts under contract as of March 22.
Those players break down into the following groups.
- Projected starters: Malik Nabers, Slayton, Wan’Dale Robinson.
- Backups with no special teams impact: Hyatt, Humphrey.
- Backups that are core special teamers: Ford-Wheaton, Pascal.
- Backups that are return specialists: Smith-Marsette, Montrell Washington.
As the breakdown alludes, this would presumably create camp competitions like Hyatt versus Humphrey, Ford-Wheaton versus Pascal and Smith-Marsette versus Washington — not to mention whichever rookies Big Blue brings in via draft or UDFA market.
This also provides the Giants with much-needed injury insurance, in case any one or two of these wide receivers go down at any point this summer. Schoen has certainly learned from his first couple of seasons on the job in this regard.
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