The New York Giants have signed wide receiver Calvin Austin III, the team announced Saturday, adding a versatile and explosive playmaker who spent his first four NFL seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The signing comes just hours after the Giants also agreed to terms with Darnell Mooney, signaling a deliberate effort by New York to overhaul its receiving corps heading into the 2026 season.
Austin, who stands 5 feet 9 inches and weighs 162 pounds, brings a combination of receiving production, rushing versatility and proven special teams ability that gives the Giants options in multiple phases of the game.
What Austin produced in Pittsburgh
Originally selected by the Steelers in the fourth round of the 2022 NFL Draft, Austin played 48 regular season games for Pittsburgh, making 16 starts over the course of his time with the franchise. He accumulated 84 catches for 1,100 receiving yards and eight touchdown receptions during that span, adding 11 rushing attempts for 57 yards and an additional score on the ground. Those numbers reflect a player who was used creatively and produced when given opportunities, even in a role that was not always a featured one.
His most statistically notable individual season came in 2024, when he became the only player in the entire NFL to record both a touchdown reception of at least 50 yards and a punt return touchdown of at least 70 yards in the same year. That dual achievement underscores the genuine big-play threat Austin represents on any given snap, regardless of whether he is lined up as a receiver or positioned in the return game.
A dangerous weapon in the return game
Austin’s value on special teams may be just as important to the Giants as his receiving contributions. He has handled 72 career punt return attempts and scored a 73-yard return touchdown among them, including one memorable score against the Giants themselves in 2024. New York will now benefit from that same speed and explosiveness rather than defending against it.
At his size and with his track background, Austin has the kind of acceleration and open-field ability that makes him a genuine threat to take any return the distance. For a Giants team that has been working to improve multiple facets of its roster this offseason, adding a reliable and dangerous return specialist alongside his receiving value makes this signing particularly efficient.
A decorated college career at Memphis
Before reaching the NFL, Austin built an impressive resume at the University of Memphis that extended well beyond football. He finished his college career ranked second all-time in Memphis history in receiving touchdowns, fourth in receiving yards and fifth in receptions, establishing himself as one of the more productive pass catchers the program has produced.
He also competed on Memphis’s track and field team, where he was part of relay teams that broke multiple program records. That athletic background is not merely biographical color. It speaks directly to the burst and top end speed that have made Austin a legitimate big play threat at the professional level and that the Giants are now counting on to create problems for opposing defenses and special teams units.
What both signings mean for the Giants
Austin’s arrival, combined with the earlier addition of Mooney, represents a significant investment in the Giants receiving corps over the course of a single day. New York now has a veteran with a proven production ceiling in Mooney and a younger, faster option with return game upside in Austin, giving the offense more tools than it had just 24 hours ago.
Both players are on one-year contracts, which keeps the Giants financially flexible while giving the coaching staff meaningful options to work with heading into the 2026 season. How Austin is deployed, whether primarily as a slot receiver, a gadget option in the run game or a focal point of the return game, will depend on how the rest of the roster takes shape before the season begins.
