New York Giants 2024 Training Camp Preview: CB Deonte Banks
The New York Giants spent a first-round pick on Maryland cornerback Deonte Banks in the 2023 NFL Draft for two main reasons: value and need. The ideal way to draft is to draft the best player available at a position of need, and if that position happens to be a premium position, then it’s even better.
The Giants have long lacked an outside cornerback who could match up with any wide receiver and win. Banks presented the film and the physical traits that NFL coaches and general managers dream of with a .
His 2023 season didn’t go exactly according to plan. Still, he put out enough positive film to show that with some more development and technical improvements, he could be trending toward becoming a legitimate top-flight cornerback on the outside.
Banks will find playing in a new defensive system interesting, but the aggressive sophomore has the opportunity to make more plays on the ball.
DEONTE BANKS, CB
Height: 6-2
Weight: 200 lbs.
Exp: 2 Years
School: Maryland
How Acquired: D1-23
2023 in Review
Banks was a rookie in 2023 who had games in which he showed the potential to become a legitimate top cornerback for an NFL team. However, he struggled to put performances together consistently.
Banks hit the rookie wall hard, especially in the middle part of the season, when he allowed from Weeks 1 through 10. During that time, Banks also came away with the first interception of his career.
The film and stats tell the story of Banks struggling to win consistently as a rookie. However, additional context tells you that few rookies have been asked to do as much as Banks was asked to do in his first NFL campaign.
In a modern NFL where most teams now have multiple receivers who can produce, Banks was frequently asked to play one-on-one, man-to-man coverage on the outside. He did so to the best of his ability, and while he mostly held up, he’d probably be the first to tell you that there is plenty of work he still has to do to become the player his talent says he can be.
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Contract/Cap Info
Banks signed a standard rookie four-year deal worth a fully guaranteed $13,579,404. That currently makes Banks the 46th-highest-paid cornerback in the NFL, but would also leave the Giants with a hefty cap hit of $7,672,458 if they were to try and cut ties with him, which they are not likely to do.
Given that Banks was a first-round pick, his contract also holds the stipulation of that fifth-year option. After Banks’ third season (2025), the Giants will have the opportunity to exercise Banks’ fifth-year option for the 2027 season.
The fifth-year option would allow the Giants to keep Banks for another year while paying him the average salary of the top ten highest-paid cornerbacks in the NFL. The option gives the Giants longer control over Banks while paying him top-flight money and giving both sides time to negotiate a long-term deal.
There’s no reason to think the Giants won’t exercise that option.
2024 Preview
The tools are there for Banks to develop into what he was drafted to do, which is to become a high-quality starting outside cornerback who shadows the opposing offense’s top wide receiver.
This season (assuming there are no trades), the Giants are scheduled to face Justin Jefferson, Terry McLaurin, CeeDee Lamb, Amari Cooper, DK Metcalf, Ja’Marr Chase, AJ Brown, Devonta Smith, Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Tee Higgins, Chris Olave, and Michael Pittman Jr. That’s a scary-looking string of top-shelf, proven receivers.
As already noted, Banks was solid enough as a rookie, even showing some flashes of being a legitimate No. 1 shutdown cornerback. With Adoree’ Jackson gone this year, the stakes are higher for Banks, but there is no reason to believe he won’t be up for the challenge.
Cutting down on penalties will be important for Banks’ development, too, as he drew eight flags last season (12 total, eight of which were accepted), as many rookie cornerbacks do when they play press-man coverage frequently.
When the Giants drafted Banks in 2023, he seemed like a perfect fit for then-defensive coordinator Wink Martindale: A press-man cornerback with elite athletic traits who could come in and be an upgrade while also learning on the job.
Fast-forward to 2024, Martindale is now the defensive coordinator for the defending national champion Michigan Wolverines, while the Giants have hired Shane Bowen from the Tennessee Titans to run their defense.
While the two defensive systems are about as different as they come, they both lean into Banks's strengths. He should have the same opportunity to run vertical with receivers, but this time, he will do so in zone coverage rather than Martindale’s man defense.
This year, learning to protect himself–Banks plays a physical game–will also be a key for him. He missed the last two games of 2023 with a shoulder injury, so if he can find a happy medium between being physical and being smart in his tackling, that will also go a long way toward his improvement.
BRANDON OLSEN
Brandon Olsen is the founder of Whole Nine Sports, specializing in NFL Draft coverage, and is the host of the Locked On Gators Podcast.