March 11, 2026, 8:00 p.m. ET
The sign of a good head coach is always a strong special teams unit. John Harbaugh, who is entering his first season with the New York Giants, began his coaching career on special teams and holds those units in high regard.
Former Giants Hall of Fame head coach Bill Parcells always said special teams are one-third of the game and should receive as much attention as the offense and defense.
After all, special teams can both win and lose a team’s games. Just ask Harbaugh, whose 18-year tenure as the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens ended on a missed field goal attempt.
Harbaugh is taking no chances with the teams here with the Giants. He saw how disjointed and unorganized they were last season and has been working hard to strengthen things up.
The first to go was punter Jamie Gillan, who Harbaugh replaced with his old punter from the Ravens, All-Pro Justin Stout. Now, he’s bringing in a new kicker in another former All-Pro, Miami Dolphins kicker Jason Sanders.
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Sanders, who missed last season due to a hip injury, will have to fend off veteran Graham Gano and Ben Sauls. The Giants could make things easy for him by cutting Gano, which would also save them $4.5 million against the salary cap.
Harbaugh decided to retain the primary kickoff and punt returner, Gunner Olszewski, but not to keep free agent long snapper Casey Krieter, who signed with Arizona. Gillan has been the holder for the past few seasons, so the Giants could be looking at a whole new kicking operation this season.
Many of the other agreements/signings this week have also been made with special teams in mind, such as linebacker Caleb Murphy, cornerback Art Green, and tight end Chris Manhertz.
