One of the New York Giants' offseason additions doesn't seem to have a future with the team.
The New York Giants entered the NFL offseason knowing they had to address the defensive tackle position. Then, Dexter Lawrence requested a trade, and the Giants obliged.
Suddenly, New York went from needing another interior defender alongside of Lawrence to a full-blown crisis in the trenches, and the Giants have responded in kind.
New York has signed three veteran defensive tackles this spring, having landed DJ Reader, Shelby Harris and Leki Fotu. It also selected Bobby Jamison-Travis in the sixth round of the NFL Draft and signed Anquin Barnes as an undrafted free agent.
It's also important to remember that Darius Alexander — who showed some promise during the second half of 2025 — is returning for his sophomore campaign.
Chances are, the Giants won't be keeping more than four defensive tackles. Reader, Harris and Alexander are all locks, which leaves just one spot remaining.
So, who will earn that final slot?
The contestants do not exactly constitute an embarrassment of riches. Foku is a journeyman, Jamison-Travis is largely unathletic and Barnes went undrafted for a reason (although the 6-foot-5, 340-pound Colorado product is intriguing).
While all three players will be fighting for a job in camp, I will say this: I don't really see a spot for Foku on Big Blue.
New York added Foku before it came to terms with Reader, so he was likely an insurance policy at worst and an experiment at best.
Leki Fotu. Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images.The Giants needed another defensive tackle all along — even before subtracting Lawrence — because they had to address their porous run defense. Foku absolutely does not help with that.
In fact, Foku has long been one of the worst run-defending DTs in football.
The 27-year-old entered the league with the Arizona Cardinals in 2020 and has posted Pro Football Focus run defense grades of 39.1, 40.7, 37.9, 40.7, 38.1 and 46.6, respectively, over his first six seasons.
I understand that PFF is not a be-all-end-all, but let's be real here: when you consistently grade that poorly in one area, it's not a coincidence or an outlier; it's a pattern.
Foku split the 2025 campaign between the Las Vegas Raiders and Houston Texans, having logged 11 tackles and a sack in eight games.
His most productive campaign came with the Cardinals in 2023, when he posted 28 tackles, five tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks in 11 contests. He also spent 2024 with the New York Jets, but missed the majority of the season due to injuries.
The Giants would be better off handing the final defensive tackle slot to a young player with some potential. Personally, I like Barnes for that last slot, but New York has a bit more invested in Jamison-Travis because he was a draft pick.
Regardless, Foku should absolutely not be on the Giants' roster next season, and it would not be shocking if he gets cut long before the 2026 campaign begins.
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