Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
The New York Giants have a deep and talented group of wide receivers but there are still many questions and concerns.
The New York Giants wide receivers group is currently a huge question mark at the moment. Injuries, inconsistency and a poor offensive game plan plagued the unit lat season.
This year, with a new approach on offense under first-year head coach Brian Daboll and coordinator Mike Kafka, the air is said to be clear again to throw the football.
The unit has a new position coach in Mike Groh, who will try to marshal up this once promising group.
Here is a quick preview heading into training camp.
A breakdown of the contracts the New York Giants have handed out to free agents, as well as details of restructures and pay cuts.
The New York Giants and general manager Joe Schoen entered the new league year and free agency with very little money to spend. The idea was to clear upwards of $40 million in salary cap space while hunting for bargains on the open market.
Through a week and a half, the Giants have fared relatively well. They’ve been unable to trade either cornerback James Bradberry or running back Saquon Barkley, but they’ve found other ways to clear room.
New York has also added a number of new contracts, including multiple offensive linemen. But only one of them was a big-ish money signing.
Here’s a quick look at the basic contracts for all new signees, as well as some information on restructures and pay cuts.
Note: New details will be added as they become available.
The New York Giants have waived TE Kaden Smith and re-signed WR David Sills.
The New York Giants have waived tight end Kaden Smith, creating an additional gap at the position.
Smith, 24, played in nine games in 2021 before being placed on inured reserve with a knee injury. He was claimed by the Giants off waivers in September of 2019 after being cut by the San Francisco 49ers, who selected him in the 6th round out of Stanford in that spring’s NFL draft.
As a rookie with the Giants, Smith caught 31 passes for 268 yards and three touchdowns and appeared to develop a rapport with fellow rookie, quarterback Daniel Jones.
But Smith couldn’t build on that relationship. He only caught 21 passes for 145 yards in his next 24 games and, now, becomes expendable.
Smith was scheduled to earn $2.54 million this year, all in salary, so his release will increase the Giants’ salary cap space by that amount.
The Giants now have just three tight ends under contract for 2022 — Jake Hausmann, Rysen John and Chris Myarick.
Meanwhile, the team also announced that wide receiver David Sills, who was an impending exclusive rights free agent, has been re-signed.
Finally, the Giants made the signing of offensive lineman Matt Gono official.
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The New York Giants have placed RT Nate Solder and NT Danny Shelton on Reserve/COVID-19 and activated six others, including Isaiah Wilson.
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The New York Giants have placed veteran offensive tackle Nate Solder and nose tackle Danny Shelton on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. Neither will play on Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles.
In place of Solder, Matt Peart is expected to start at right tackle.
“Matt did some good things in the game (last week). He’s done some things he’s got to clean up as well, same with all of our other players. There are some positives that we’ve got to keep building on,” head coach Joe Judge told reporters on Wednesday. “He is making some strides. I’m pleased with the way he’s working and the attitude he comes out here with.”
Austin Johnson, who is currently listed as questionable with a foot injury, will likely see increased snaps in place of Shelton.
With two new players landing on the Reserve/COVID-19 list, the Giants activated four COVID-19 replacements: defensive backs Darqueze Dennard, defensive tackle David Moa, wide receiver David Sills and offensive lineman Isaiah Wilson.
Wilson was not expected to be an activation this year but with numbers dwindling, the team had no choice.
Finally, in some positive illness-related news, the Giants have activated linebacker Cam Brown and rookie cornerback Aaron Robinson. Brown will resume his starting role on special teams and with Adoree’ Jackson still ailing, Robinson will likely start in Week 16.
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The New York Giants have protected WR David Sills, LB Trent Harris and two other practice squad players.
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The New York Giants have announced their practice squad protections ahead of a Week 9 game with the Las Vegas Raiders and wide receiver David Sills was among the four.
Sills has bounced around a bit this year, joining the Giants’ 53-man roster at one point before being waived and then re-signed to the practice squad. He’ll likely be a Sunday elevation with Sterling Shepard expected to miss time and other receivers banged up.
In addition to Sills, the Giants also protected linebacker Trent Harris, defensive back Jarren Williams and cornerback Ka’dar Hollman.
Harris was both a protection and an elevation a week ago. He is an elevation candidate in Week 9 as well. Meanwhile, Williams and Hollman are both first-time protections this season.
This is the first week all year that defensive lineman David Moa has not been protected.
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The New York Giants have re-signed wide receiver David Sills to their practice squad.
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Two days after releasing him from their 53-man roster, the New York Giants have reunited with wide receiver David Sills.
The team announced on Wednesday that Sills, 25, had been re-signed to the practice squad.
The 6-foot-3, 211-pound Sills originally signed with the Buffalo Bills as an undrafted rookie out of West Virginia in 2019. After being waived by the Bills as a part of final cuts, he was signed to the Giants’ practice squad a day later.
Sills was briefly promoted to the Giants’ active roster in 2019 but did not appear in a game. In 2020, he dealt with injury and COVID-19 issues, which lingered through December.
Coming off a hot summer, many believed Sills stood an outside chance to make the active roster this past August. However, the Giants opted to waive Sills and sign him to their practice squad before adding him to the 53-man roster last week.
Sills made his NFL debut in a Week 7 victory over the Carolina Panthers. He took 27 snaps on offense and eight on special teams but dropped the only pass that went in his direction.
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New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones and kicker Graham Gano each etched their names into the history books in Week 7.
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The New York Giants upset the Carolina Panthers, 25-3, on Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium largely on the back of quarterback Daniel Jones.
Jones completed 23 of his 33 pass attempts for 203 yards and one touchdown. He also rushed the ball eight times for 28 yards and hauled in one impressive reception for 16 yards.
The spread-out performance was a rarity in the NFL. In fact, Jones became only the third quarterback in league history with 200+ passing yards, 25+ rushing yards and 15+ receiving yards in a single game.
Here’s a look at some of the other records and stats from Sunday’s Week 7 game:
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Darius Slayton, Daniel Jones and Azeez Ojulari were the highest-graded New York Giants in a Week 7 victory over the Carolina Panthers.
The New York Giants stormed back after a slow start on Sunday and eventually cruised to a 25-3 victory over the Carolina Panthers. It was their first win at MetLife Stadium this year and the first in front of fans in nearly two years.
It’s also a reprieve for the organization. Had they lost again and fallen to 1-6 on the season, heads would have rolled. And while 2-5 isn’t much better, 2-2 over their previous four games is an easier pill to swallow.
Leading the charge in Week 7 was wide receiver Darius Slayton, who earned a Pro Football Focus grade of 84.8 in his return from injury. Just behind him was quarterback Daniel Jones, who earned the team’s second-highest grade at 80.4.
Other notable offensive grades include wide receiver Dante Pettis (75.1), left tackle Matt Peart (61.0) and running back Devontae Booker (55.6).
The lowest-graded Giants on offense was wide receiver David Sills (44.3).
Defensively, it should come as little surprise that rookie edge rusher Azeez Ojulari led the way with an 80.3 (min. 20 snaps). Linebacker Benardrick McKinney earned a 90.6 on 11 snaps.
Elsewhere on defense, notable grades include cornerback Adoree’ Jackson (77.9), defensive end Leonard Williams (72.4) and cornerback James Bradberry (70.8).
The lowest-graded Giants on defense were linebacker Reggie Ragland (50.5) and cornerback Darnay Holmes (43.9).
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The New York Giants have protected LB Benardrick McKinney, WR David Sills and two other practice squad players in Week 7.
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The New York Giants announced their practice squad protections ahead of a Week 7 game with the Carolina Panthers and newly signed linebacker Benardrick McKinney was among the four.
The 28-year-old McKinney, who the Giants added earlier this week, was originally a second-round pick of the Houston Texans in 2015. After six years with the team, he was traded to the Miami Dolphins in a swap that included a 2021 seventh-round pick in exchange for defensive end Shaq Lawson and a 2021 sixth-round pick.
Miami eventually released McKinney on August 31 as a part of final cuts.
In addition to McKinney, the Giants also protected tight end Chris Myarick, defensive tackle David Moa and wide receiver David Sills.
Myarick and Sills are first-time protections, while Moa has been protected all seven weeks this season.
It’s a near certainty that both McKinney and Sills are elevated for Sunday’s game.
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The New York Giants trimmed their roster to 53 men on Tuesday and these were the six most surprising cuts.
The New York Giants trimmed their roster from 80 men to 53 men on Tuesday in accordance with the NFL’s deadline.
It’s always a tough day across the league, but that’s the nature of business at the NFL level. Still, it’s somber and not something coaches or players enjoy.
The day also comes with more than a handful of surprises. So let’s take a look at six from East Rutherford.
