The New York Giants added a tight end Monday. But they lost a valuable one too.
Free agent tight end Daniel Bellinger signed a three-year, $24 million contract with the Tennessee Titans, rejoining Titans offensive coordinator and former Giants head coach, Brian Daboll in the Music City.
Bellinger was in New York for Daboll’s entire tenure, since the Giants drafted him in the fourth round, with pick No. 122 in 2022. Over his four years with the Giants, Bellinger posted 88 catches for 934 yards and four touchdowns.
Bellinger had 19 catches for 286 yards and two TDs in his last season with the Giants. His yards set a new career high and his TDs tied his career best, which was set in his rookie season.
Bellinger joined now-former slot receiver Wan’Dale Robinson, who signed a four-year contract to also join Daboll and the Titans.
Daniel Bellinger Left the Giants for the Tennessee Titans
At 6-6 and 255 pounds, Bellinger was primarily a blocking tight end and ceded pass-catching duties to Theo Johnson and the team’s wide receivers and running backs the past two seasons.
Bellinger averaged just one target per game amid the Giants’ moribund passing game in 2024 yet still was thrown to less than twice per game in quarterback Jaxson Dart’s rookie season.
So the $8 million annual average value is way more than the Giants would want to pay their No. 2 tight end, especially one who averages slightly more than one reception per game over his career. Though Bellinger has been valuable with Big Blue, his new AAV in Tennessee is now twice the amount of his entire rookie contract.
Plus, with John Harbaugh replacing Daboll, the longtime Baltimore Ravens coach was likely to move on from many of the former administration’s players, which means Bellinger was unlikely to be retained anyway.
The Giants Will Replace Daniel Bellinger With Isaiah Likely
The big news for the Giants on Monday was the signing of former Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely, who will reunite with Harbaugh and give quarterback Jaxson Dart a huge, 6-4 target who is more athletic and way more of a receiver than Bellinger.
Though the Giants gave Likely $40 million over three years, about a $5 million annual average bump from what Bellinger got, the former Ravens TE outperformed Bellinger while playing two fewer games — and sharing the tight-end catch load with Mark Andrews.
Likely is likely to step into his own while exiting Andrews’ shadow, since Andrews is the Ravens’ all-time leader in receptions.
Likely only put up 1,568 yards on 135 catches in his four seasons in Baltimore, but he scored 15 touchdowns and will be reunited with Harbaugh and Greg Roman.
Roman was Likely’s rookie season offensive coordinator in Baltimore — before Todd Monken took over as Ravens OC in 2023 — who joined Harbaugh as an offensive assistant with the Giants, and Likely had 36 catches for 373 yards and three touchdowns in his lone season with Roman.
But Likely and Johnson, who was second to Robinson on the Giants in receptions (45) last year, make a more formidable pass-catching duo for Dart to work in the middle of the field than that of Johnson and Bellinger.
Giants Lose Longtime Pass Catcher to Former Coach’s New Team