What North Jersey sports fans can expect from NJ/NY pro and college teams in 2025

Sports is a way of life across North Jersey. From college to the pros, everyone has a rooting interest.

Unfortunately, our two NFL teams have not had a lot of success in recent years, and significant changes are on the horizon. But our baseball, basketball and college teams are on the rise.

Here’s what to expect in 2025.

• NEW YORK GIANTS: Who will be the starting quarterback next season? That’s the question that looms over the entire franchise. The Giants essentially had two players in that role for more than two decades (Eli Manning and Daniel Jones), and, despite another handful of spot starts due to a bungled benching (Manning) and injury (Jones), this truly represents a new chapter. All eyes will be on April’s NFL draft, where the Giants could opt to select Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders, the son of Hall of Famer Deion, or Miami’s Cam Ward. Could there be a curveball, and will this regime (general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll) still be the ones to make that decision? When you have a season as bad as the Giants had in 2024, the winds of change tend to swirl through the Meadowlands.
• NEW YORK JETS: There will be a new regime in 2025, as both head coach Robert Saleh and GM Joe Douglas were fired during an underwhelming 2024 season. Owner Woody Johnson has to find the right management to end the longest playoff drought (14 seasons) among the four major North American professional sports leagues. As for the quarterback position, 41-year-old Aaron Rodgers showed he is nowhere near his MVP level of years past. Whether it be with their first-round draft pick or tabbing another veteran player, it’s evident the Jets will have a new starting quarterback in 2025. 

• NEW YORK YANKEES: After a 15-year pennant drought, the Yankees made it back to the World Series in 2024, and they’ll be reloading for another try this summer. Manager Aaron Boone has no contractual guarantee beyond 2025 as he enters his eighth season as manager, with the Yanks still seeking their first world championship since 2009. So the pressure is back on Boone, GM Brian Cashman, and captain Aaron Judge and company to produce another long October run.
• NEW YORK METS: The Mets played through a best-possible scenario in the 2024 season, using a collection of successful one-year contracts to surge to the National League Championship Series for the first time since 2015. Now, with aspirations of competing with the best teams in Major League Baseball and with the addition of Juan Soto, the Mets are set on fulfilling their quest to regularly contend for the World Series. It’s the new standard for the franchise led by owner Steve Cohen and team president David Stearns.
• NEW YORK KNICKS: Expect the Knicks to be serious contenders when the NBA playoffs begin this spring. They are already one of the most explosive teams in the league, with a defense that’s getting better — and will continue to get better when Mitchell Robinson, an elite rim protector, comes back from injury. So look for Jalen Brunson and the Knicks to secure a top-four seed in the Eastern Conference and make some noise in the postseason, with an appearance in the conference finals, at least, a reasonable expectation.
• RUTGERS FOOTBALL: This is going to be a year of transition for the Scarlet Knights, who will see many of their biggest-impact players leave to pursue the NFL. Rutgers will have holes to fill on both sides of the ball, and that’s where the experience that some of its younger players gained this past season will be beneficial. The Scarlet Knights will also face a gantlet of a schedule in 2025, with games against powerhouses Oregon, Ohio State and Penn State.