Giants Officially Announce Signing of Renaldo Wynn: Following up on yesterday’s “News and Notes” update, the Giants have officially announced that they have signed DE/DT Renaldo Wynn. He was reportedly signed to a 1-year deal.
“Renaldo is a solid veteran who can give us some snaps on the inside or the outside,” said General Manager Jerry Reese. “He’s a real team football player who will give us some depth and competition at a couple of different positions, so we’re excited to see what he can do for us. We always like to add defensive linemen. We’re still not sure what (DE) Michael (Strahan) is going to do as far as retirement goes. If Michael does retire it gives us a veteran who can play end and tackle. It gives us more veteran depth, instead of having too many young guys.”
“I drafted Renaldo coming out of Notre Dame and he has the versatility to play both tackle and end, which is very attractive,” said Head Coach Tom Coughlin. “We played against him when he was in Washington. Renaldo has always been a very smart, durable guy who can play multiple positions. He’s a good solid team guy and an outstanding character guy who is great for the locker room. He works well with young players. He’s a steady, heady player. Quite frankly, in our situation, we’ll be a player down if Strahan does retire and we have to protect ourselves.”
“(His ability to play end or tackle is) very valuable,” Coughlin said. “We’ve seen that with Justin Tuck. Renaldo can play the run on first and second down – he doesn’t have to come in only on pass downs. He played inside last year, so he can defend against the run.”
Because Wynn was signed after June 1, he will not factor into the Giants’ chances for compensatory picks in the 2009 NFL Draft. Free agents signed after June 1 do not count in the compensatory pick formula used by the NFL. This offseason, the Giants have signed LB Danny Clark (Houston Texans) and S Sammy Knight (Jacksonville Jaguars). The Giants have lost S Gibril Wilson (Oakland Raiders), LB Kawika Mitchell (Buffalo Bills), LB Reggie Torbor (Miami Dolphins), and DT William Joseph (Oakland Raiders). Since QB David Carr was waived by the Carolina Panthers, he does not count with respect to the formula either.
Giants Place LB Keith O’Neil on Reserve/Retired List: The Giants announced yesterday that they have placed LB Keith O’Neil on the Reserve/Retired List.
