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A few weeks ago, John Harbaugh was talking about the passing game the Giants want to utilize in 2026 and how that related to his vision for what type of wide receiver he prefers lining up in the slot.

“To me, it doesn’t really matter what type of slot receiver you use,” Harbaugh said.

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“It just depends on how you build that game plan you’re talking about. So I just think whoever’s in those positions just needs to be really good at what they do, and then we’ll figure out how to use it.”

The Giants knew they might have to figure out what to do at slot receiver if Wan’Dale Robinson left in free agency — always a strong possibility. And so, they moved quickly to find a much bigger target when they agreed to terms with tight end Isaiah Likely, who was with Harbaugh in Baltimore the past four years.

Likely gets a three-year deal for $40 million, The Post confirmed.

Not long after securing Likely, they brought in another former Raven, making Jordan Stout the highest-paid punter in the league. Likely and Stout were both 2022 fourth-round picks of the Ravens and now they follow Harbaugh to the Giants.


  Isaiah Likely spent the past four seasons with the Ravens. Getty Images Isaiah Likely spent the past four seasons with the Ravens. Getty Images

The 6-foot-4, 245-pound Likely is not a typical slot target but he is athletic and much more of a pass catcher than he is a blocker. A short slot guy — Robinson is 5-foot-8 — was not going to be a featured role in the system new offensive coordinator Matt Nagy will install with the Giants. It came as no surprise that Robinson joined his former head coach, Brian Daboll, in Tennessee, going to the Titans on a four-year deal worth $78 million. Daboll is the new Titans offensive coordinator.

Likely, 25, has never been a high-volume pass catcher, playing behind or at times alongside Mark Andrews with the Ravens. In 63 games (only 26 starts), Likely totaled 135 receptions for 1,568 yards and 15 touchdowns. He also had two touchdowns in five postseason games. He is not coming off his best season — only 27 catches and one touchdown in 2025 — but he reunites with Harbaugh as an important piece in Nagy’s passing attack.

There were rumblings out of Baltimore that Likely was not entirely keen on Harbaugh.

“I love him,” Likely said last week on the “Up & Adams Show.” “He’s the culture and piece that you need. He’s instilling the discipline to understand that adversity happens and what are you gonna do when it happens? And he’s gonna bring the mantra of, ‘We’re gonna win every game and we’re never going to go into a game thinking less.’ And that’s what I feel like is great for the Giants organization.”

Figure more than one tight end will be on the field more often than not in Nagy’s scheme. Theo Johnson returns for his third season with the Giants and his role as the top target at tight end figures to be challenged by Likely. Chris Manhertz, almost exclusively an in-line blocker, re-signed Monday after playing in all 34 games the past two seasons for the Giants. There is also Thomas Fidone II, the 2025 seventh-round pick, who got into seven games as a rookie and did not catch a pass.

The addition of Likely ended any possibility of Daniel Bellinger returning to the team that made him a fourth-round pick in 2022 and Bellinger quickly moved on, signing with the Titans on a three-year contract worth $24 million to reunite with Daboll.

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