New York Giants 2024 UFA Primer: WR Parris Campbell

Parris Campbell, Wide Receiver

Height: 6-foot-0
Weight: 208 lbs
Age: 26
NFL Exp.: 5 Years
College: Ohio State

The New York Giants have been no stranger to certain wide receivers failing to pan out during their tenure wearing the blue. Wide receiver Parris Campbell became the latest victim of that negative trend in 2023, going from a former No. 2 pass-catching option to a Big Apple debut that barely scraped 100 yards.

A fifth-year player from Akron, Ohio, Campbell signed a one-year deal with the Giants last March to add veteran talent to a receiver room dominated by in-house youth. Before that, the 26-year-old was a rising producer for the Indianapolis Colts, who drafted him 59th overall in the 2019 NFL Draft.

On the collegiate stage with the Buckeyes, Campbell started as a redshirt freshman but proceeded to play in 43 total games and rack up 143 catches for 1,768 yards (12.4 average) and 15 touchdowns. His best campaign came during his senior year in 2018 when he had three games of at least 100 receiving yards and two touchdowns to be named First-team All-Big Ten on top of the other nods in his previous seasons.

Campbell’s first few professional years with the Colts started slowly as the receiver dealt with a series of injuries that limited him to 15 games in his first three seasons. It wasn’t until the 2022 season that he began to show promise in the Colts’ offense, posting 63 catches for 623 yards and three touchdowns in 17 games to finish second on the team leaderboard behind Michael Pittman Jr.

Coming off this career-high showing with a handful of collegiate receiving feats under his belt, the hope for the Giants was to recruit a player that could serve as a potential No. 1 threat on the outside alongside Darius Slayton and elevate his numbers to a new high in the Mike Kafka offense. That did not turn out to be the case, and Campbell could now be viewed as a bad one-year rental and find his career shifting elsewhere.

2023 Recap

One year removed from playing in his team’s complete season for the first time, Parris Campbell returned to his battle with missing games during his Giants debut. He played in 12 games with New York before missing most of the second half of the season and finishing with a mere 20 receptions for 104 yards and an average catch of 5.2 yards for the lowest production since 2020.

In those games he was present, Campbell struggled to get involved and couldn’t move the ball very far when it was placed in his hands. He saw just three games with three or more catches on at least five targets, all finished with 24 receiving yards or less. The rest of his contests had two or fewer receptions and garnered 15 receiving yards, with the last appearance against New England holding -2 yards.

Campbell’s most productive game for the Giants came in Week 3 against the San Francisco 49ers when he hauled in a season-high six catches for 24 yards and a long ball of 7 yards in the 30-12 loss for New York. The only positive was that he never coughed up the football to add further misery to a woeful Giants offense for most of the season.

The Giants did get Campbell some extra opportunities in the special teams department with his kickoff return history going back to Ohio State. Campbell returned eight total kickoffs for a unit that rotated candidates throughout the year, accumulating 191 yards and a long return of 36 yards, beating his number of seven and 175 from Indianapolis.

Why the Giants Should Re-sign Him

With how his 2023 season fared, it is very difficult to advocate for Parris Campbell’s return as a productive No. 1 or 2 level receiving option in the Giants offense. However, his history as a decent kickoff returner dating back to college could offer him a niche to remain engaged in the team’s special teams operations next season.

In his 2016 season with Ohio State, Campbell returned a significant workload of 21 kickoffs for a heaping 584 yards. That stat, followed by another nine returns for 329 yards, would be the largest total of his tenure in Columbus and ranked him as the third-best returner in a single season in Buckeye history.

When the Giants threw him into the mix, Campbell could jumpstart the kick return unit beyond the frugal numbers posted in the first half of the year. The 26-year-old’s eight kick returns 191 yards ousted his slightly lesser total with the Indianapolis Colts and finished as the best sum on the Giants’ special teams leaderboard with an average of 23.9 yards per return.

The Giants have been searching desperately for answers to the special teams woes that have impacted the success of both sides of the ball and were a big reason for a few of the team’s close losses this past season. Missed field goals, muffed football, and poor blocking leading to poor returns will need to be resolved to place the offense in a solid field position and pin the opposition back deep for the defense to bring down the pressure.

If the Giants don’t see Campbell as a piece that can demand the touches and produce in the wide receiver depth chart next fall, they could consider him a good starting option at the kickoff return spot. Sometimes it takes contributing to special teams for a player to rediscover his intangibles and get going in the statbooks again. Campbell needs to find the spark that began to build in Indianapolis.

Why the Giants Shouldn’t Re-sign Him

The New York Giants emphasize improving the skilled positions this offseason and surround Daniel Jones or any other quarterback with a talented and efficient group of playmakers that can power the offense to being competitive with the best in the NFL. Based on his first campaign with the franchise, it doesn’t appear like Parris Campbell has what it takes to meet this glaring need.

Playing for a bad team in the Colts that lacked a competitive wide receivers unit, Campbell was one of two players who took advantage of the situation and became a top target for the offense. However, in every other year with the former organization and his debut with the Giants, he could not get the job done at an abundant rate and forced his teams to look elsewhere for production.

Campbell finished the 2023 season ranked fifth among Giants receivers in the catching leaderboards and was nearly out-produced by roster members designated further down the depth chart. Add in a youth movement, as New York seems to love what they saw from the younger targets in Wan’Dale Robinson and Jalin Hyatt, and Campbell could be worked out of the equation before he even gets a chance to prove himself in training camp.

Campbell’s stint is better viewed as a one-year flier that just didn’t pan out how the Giants had hoped, and they should hit the free agent market or the draft board for a receiver that can fill his disappointing void.

Keep or Move On From?

Considering his inefficiency in 2023 and the chance he is completely worked out of the depth chart on both offense and special teams next summer, it is best if the Giants thank Campbell for his one year of service and look for a more viable option for the 2024 season.

According to Spotrac, about 75 wide receivers are set to hit the free agent market this March, with a handful of names set to be pursued by teams with large enough cap space or other capital to exchange. The Giants are projected to have $37.87 million in cap space for 2024, which should afford them room for the bidding wars.

One name on the radar linked to the Giants is Cincinnati wide receiver Tee Higgins, who has started to fall in the depth chart of a competitive unit with the Bengals. Higgins could command an estimated annual salary within the top four free agents because his statistics rank slower below the league average in several important categories.

That said, he holds the experience and production capabilities that the Giants are seeking for new additions to their offense next season, and that is the key to replacing a dull performance left by Campbell in 2023.