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The New York Giants had been fielding calls for kicker Ryan Santoso this week, which was all part of their master plan.
Because of the presence of kicker Graham Gano and punter Riley Dixon, Santoso was never going to crack the 53-man roster. As a result, the Giants wanted to net something for him as opposed to releasing him outright.
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“He can do whatever. Ryan can punt, kick — I’m serious, he’s very talented and he’s punted in NFL games before, he’s kicked off, he can kick field goals, so Ryan is a very talented young man,” special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey said last week. “Ryan has great upside, he’s a good man, he works his tail off. That’s what this league is all about, it’s about competition and hopefully Ryan can do enough where he can get a job, whether it’s here or somewhere else.”
Trader Dave Gettleman made that happen.
The Giants have sent Santoso to Gettleman’s former team, the Carolina Panthers, in exchange for a seventh-round conditional pick in the 2022 NFL draft. But the deal does come with an asterisk.
Santoso must appear in two regular-season games for the Panthers in order for the pick to make its way to East Rutherford.
The #Giants get a draft pick for K Ryan Santoso, as a conditional 7th goes to NYG if he’s on the roster for two games. https://t.co/728kduZc8g
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 26, 2021
The 6-foot-5, 258-pound Santoso entered the league as an undrafted rookie out of Minnesota in 2018. He has spent time with the Detroit Lions and Tennessee Titans, as well as the Montreal Alouettes of the CFL (two stints).
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