Will Johnson – © USA TODAY Sports Images
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GIANTS CUT ROSTER TO 53 PLAYERS…
The New York Giants made 22 roster moves on Saturday in order reduce the roster to 53 players as required by the NFL.
The Giants waived or terminated the contracts of the following players:
- QB Logan Thomas
- RB Andre Williams
- WR Geremy Davis
- WR Darius Powe
- WR Anthony Dablé
- OL Adam Gettis
- OL Dillon Farrell
- OL Ryan Seymour
- DE Stansly Maponga
- DT Jermelle Cudjo
- DT Louis Nix
- LB Brad Bars
- LB Ishaq Williams
- CB Donte Deayon
- CB Michael Hunter
- CB Leon McFadden
- S Justin Currie
- S Andrew Adams
The Giants placed the following player on Injured Reserve:
- FB/TE Will Johnson (burner)
The Giants waived/injured the following players:
- OL Emmett Clearly (finger)
- OL Jake Rodgers (ankle)
As expected, place kicker Josh Brown was placed on the NFL’s Reserve/Suspended list for a 2015 domestic violence incident. He will be eligible to return to the team on September 12th, a day after the first regular-season game.
“Football is a people business,” said Head Coach Ben McAdoo. “Building relationships, developing chemistry and improving in our game. When you approach it that way, it makes this time of year even harder because you develop those relationships with these players, and you’re all working together toward the same goal. That’s the way it goes in this business. You can’t take everybody with you, especially at the beginning. But they’re fine young men, they handled themselves well, and we wish them the best moving forward.
“It was a challenge. We let a lot of good players go, some who will be playing for other teams. And at some point you may see some of them back here. It was tough. It wasn’t just one position. You wanted to make sure you did what was best and took the best 53 and rounded out the roster the best way you can. But there were some good players we had to let go.
“I’m very comfortable with two quarterbacks on the roster. Eli (Manning) has played a lot of football. Ryan (Nassib) is a guy who had some ups and downs of late, but he’s a guy we have confidence in. He can put the players around him in a position to be successful and take advantage of it.”
The most surprising cut was running back Andre Williams. “Andre is a guy that played some good football for us,” coach Ben McAdoo said. “We’re going to miss him. It was another one of those really tough (roster) decisions to make. We feel that with Rashad (Jennings), Shane (Vereen), Orleans (Darkwa), Paul Perkins, and Bobby Rainey, we have some versatility there to play all three downs, and on special teams as well.”
With Will Johnson placed on Injured Reserve, the Giants currently have no fullbacks on the roster. “It’s unfortunate that it’s come to this,” McAdoo said. “(Johnson) came in and played some good ball for us. He’s a guy that we think highly of… We’ll do (fullback) by committee.”
Wide receivers Tavarres King and Roger Lewis both made the 53-man roster over wide receiver Geremy Davis.
“Roger and T.K. are two guys that really took a big jump,” McAdoo said. “They hit the ground running in the offseason, made tremendous strides and got better and improved. They pushed each other along with the rest of that group. There was great competition in that group. Geremy was a guy we drafted here that we think very highly of. Sometimes, you have to make those tough decisions.”
Offensive center/guard Brett Jones, the former Canadian Football League player who spend the entire 2015 season on Injured Reserve with a knee injury, also made the team.
“Brett has made some big jumps, some big gains,” McAdoo said. “It’s a shame what happened to him last season. He’s been able to rebound. He’s a great student of the game. He’s a guy that has improved tremendously and will add some versatility inside for us… We look forward to getting (recently re-signed) Will (Beatty) out there on the practice field and getting his legs underneath him. He’ll be working hard to get in football shape and playing multiple positions for us.”
Rookie undrafted defensive end Romeo Okwara also man the 53-man roster. “He really came on in camp,” McAdoo said. “He really didn’t do a lot in the offseason because he had a hamstring injury. But he bounced back. He takes his coaching well and he really plays with a great amount of energy and passion… I think we have a nice group of defensive ends. (Olivier Vernon, Jason Pierre-Paul, Owamagbe Odighizuwa, Kerry Wynn, and Okwara) all have some value inside, and they can play inside and outside for us. They can play the run and play the pass. It’s a good group.”
Others to make the squad were safety Mykkele Thompson and cornerback Trevin Wade. “Mykkele is a guy who showed up and made some plays for us on special teams,” McAdoo said. “Wade really played tremendously the other night and took advantage of his opportunity vs. a great quarterback and a great offense, and showed very well.
“The roster is a living, breathing organism. It never stops changing. There’s always movement in the roster. Things are always moving.”
RYAN MALLECK WAIVED OFF OF INJURED RESERVE…
The New York Giants have waived tight end Ryan Malleck off of Injured Reserve. The Giants waived/injured Malleck and then placed him on Injured Reserve with a burner earlier this week. The Giants signed Malleck as an undrafted rookie free agent after the 2016 NFL Draft.
UNIFORM NUMBER CHANGES…
The following New York Giants players have changed their uniform jersey numbers:
- CB Eli Apple: from #28 to #24
- RB Paul Perkins: from #39 to #28
- OT Will Beatty: from #64 to #65
- DT Montori Hughes: from #79 to #99
