Giants tender cornerback Nick McCloud

The New York Giants have tendered restricted free agent (RFA) defensive back Nick McCloud.

The New York Giants chose to place a tender on restricted free agent defensive back Nick McCloud before the new league year began on Wednesday afternoon.

The Giants are thin in the secondary heading into this offseason and retaining McCloud is a wise move. He played just six games last season but was a key contributor in 2022 when he played 14 games with eight starts, recording seven passes defensed and 1.5 sacks.

Last season, McCloud played in all 17 games with three starts. He had one interception, forced three fumbles, and had three recoveries. He played 28 percent of the defensive snaps and 76 percent of the snaps on special teams.

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Giants snap the curse, dominate Eagles to close out 2023 season

The New York Giants wrapped up their 2023 season with a 27-10 thumping of the Philadelphia Eagles, finally ending an ugly string of losses.

The New York Giants hosted the defending NFC Champion Philadelphia Eagles at MetLife Stadium on Sunday afternoon in their 2023 regular season finale.

MetLife was rife with Eagles fans and empty seats. Philly came into the game with a chance to win the NFC East. The Giants were simply there to play the role of spoiler.

Veteran wide receiver Sterling Shepard, possibly playing his last game for the Giants, represented the team as one of the game-day captains at midfield before the game.

Here is how things played out…

Giants vs. Eagles: 5 biggest storylines for Week 18

The New York Giants face the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 18. Here are the five biggest storylines to follow for this contest.

The New York Giants (5-11) host the Philadelphia Eagles (11-5) in the 2023 regular-season finale at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on Sunday afternoon.

Here are five storylines to follow before kickoff in Week 18.

5 Giants were snubbed from the 2024 Pro Bowl Games

New York Giants NT Dexter Lawrence is headed to the 2024 Pro Bowl Games but five of his teammates were arguably snubbed.

The rosters for the 2024 Pro Bowl Games were announced on Wednesday and only one New York Giants player made the list.

For the second season in a row, defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence was honored as a member of the NFC squad.

There were other Giants, however, who were under consideration that did not make the list.

Here are four players who just missed the honor this season.

Giants-Rams Week 17: Offense, defense and special teams snap counts

The New York Giants lost their Week 17 game against the Los Angeles Rams. Here are the snap counts on offense, defense and special teams.

The New York Giants could not overcome themselves on Sunday, falling to the Los Angeles Rams, 26-25, in a game that featured countless self-inflicted wounds.

It was a maddening display of Murphy’s Law — whatever could go wrong, did go wrong. And it was a theme that played out over all four quarters.

The Giants cost themselves with several huge penalties, missed kicks, dropped passes, poor throws, bad play calls, and just about everything and anything else you could think of.

Here are the snap counts that contributed to the Giants’ most recent defeat.

Offensive snaps: 74
Defensive snaps: 62
Special teams snaps: 30

Wide receiver Sterling Shepard took just five snaps in what’s likely his second-to-last game as a Giant and he dropped a pass that hit him right in the hands. That is not an ideal way to end a career so, hopefully, he gets one final opportunity in Week 17.

With Deonte Banks out, it was Nick McCloud who got the nod, taking all 100 percent of the snaps (joined, once again, by safety Xavier McKinney and linebacker Bobby Okereke). Rookie Tre Hawkins remains relegated to special teams play.

Safety Dane Belton saw 46 snaps in place of the injured Jason Pinnock and certainly made that pay off.

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Pro Bowl voting: Giants’ Dexter Lawrence still on the outside looking in

Pro Bowl voters aren’t sold on New York Giants NT Dexter Lawrence, who is still outside the top-10 at his position in the NFL (and NFC).

New York Giants nose tackle Dexter Lawrence is the NFL’s highest-graded defender through 14 weeks and is now considered in the Aaron Donald class.

In fact, some have begun to argue that Lawrence has eclipsed Donald as the league’s best interior defender.

Lawrence’s Pro Football Focus grade is actually up to 93.2 and he leads San Francisco 49ers edge rusher Nick Bos (93.1) by a hair.

Even beyond the analytics, Lawrence’s dominance is evident. You can turn on the film of any Giants game this season, pick any random defensive snap and the odds are very much in your favor that you’ll witness Sexy Dexy destroying someone. Or perhaps even multiple blockers.

Despite his utter domination of everything across from him and every single metric supporting what the film shows, NFL fans aren’t sold. Not even a tiny bit.

With fan voting for the 2024 Pro Bowl Games inching closer to its deadline (December 25), Lawrence isn’t among the top vote-getters. Even worse, he’s not even among the top 10 at his position in the NFC.

“Dexter Lawrence not being in there doesn’t make any sense to me. Dex is one of the most dominant defensive players in the league. Him not being in there, you’ve got to do better Giants fans, for sure,” running back Saquon Barkley told the New York Daily News.

Similarly, Barkley is also outside the top vote-getters at his position in the NFC.

“I can get why I’m not in the top 10, missing three games, and there are a lot of backs that are playing well, and it’s the first round of it,” Barkley said.

Four Giants are in the top 10 at their position, however. And that includes a newcomer from the previous update: Special teamer Nick McCloud.

McCloud is fourth in the NFL and third in the NFC in special teams votes. Meanwhile, punter Jamie Gillan is fourth in the NFL and second in the NFC, linebacker Bobby Okereke is seventh in the NFL and second in the NFC, and edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux is fifth in the NFL and third in the NFC.

Once fan voting concludes, NFL players and coaches will then cast their Pro Bowl votes, accounting for two-thirds of the total vote.

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Stock up, down after Giants’ 14-7 win over Commanders

Whose stock is up and whose is down following the New York Giants’ Sunday afternoon victory over the Washington Commanders?

The New York Giants ended a four-game losing streak on Sunday, taking down the Washington Commanders by a score of 14-7 at a very windy MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Big Blue’s defense stole the show, recording six tackles an an interception of Sam Howell, while the offense started hot and then sputtered.

With the win, the Giants improved to 2-5 on the season and kept their slim (and fading) playoff hopes alive.

Whose stock is up and whose is down after the Week 7 win? Let’s take a look.

Giants report card: How we graded Big Blue in Week 7 win

The New York Giants defeated the Washington Commanders, 14-7, in Week 7 and the Giants Wire team grades reflect that performance.

The New York Giants came out victorious against the Washington Commanders in Week 7.

Big Blue picked up a much-needed divisional win, 14-7, in East Rutherford, New Jersey on Sunday. With the win, the Giants improve to 2-5 but remain in the gutter of the NFC East. Nevertheless, this was a big step in the right direction for New York as they hope to save their season.

Here’s a quick breakdown of what we saw during the game and how we graded the Giants in this win.

Giants injury update: D.J. Davidson activated from PUP

The New York Giants have activated DT D.J. Davidson from PUP and offered updates on several other injured players, including Collin Johnson.

Prior to practice on Monday, New York Giants defensive lineman D.J. Davidson passed his physical and was activated from the physically unable to perform (PUP) list.

Davidson joins a suddenly deep group of interior defensive linemen, including rookie Jordon Riley, who played well in his NFL preseason debut.

Wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson (knee) and cornerback Aaron Robinson (knee) remain on PUP with no timetable for return, although general manager Joe Schoen previously implied that Robinson could be activated this week.

The news on wide receiver Collin Johnson, who suffered a knee injury against the Detroit Lions, was also somewhat positive. His issue does not appear to be long-term.

“I don’t think it’s long-term, but I’m not a doctor, either,” head coach Brian Daboll told reporters.

Johnson will not practice on Monday but right tackle Evan Neal (concussion) will take a step forward. He will participate in the non-contact portion of practice as he works his way back. However, Neal remains in concussion protocol.

Meanwhile, offensive linemen Devery Hamilton (leg) and Tyre Phillips (unknown), running back Gary Brightwell (ankle), linebacker Cam Crown (unknown), defensive lineman Ryder Anderson (triceps), and defensive back Nick McCloud (stomach) will not practice.

Finally, cornerback Cor’Dale Flott (abdominal) will practice after leaving Friday night’s preseason game against the Lions early. Nose tackle Rakeem Nunez-Roches (groin) will also practice.

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5 Giants with most to gain in preseason matchup vs. Lions

These 5 New York Giants could gain the most with a strong performance against the Detroit Lions on Friday night in Week 1 of the preseason.

The New York Giants open their 2023 preseason schedule on Friday night when they face the Detroit Lions at Ford Field.

The Giants’ roster has just a few position battles to focus on and they will be decided on the field. But there are other things to watch such as the 53-man roster.

For some players, they will need to play well to stick while others are fighting their way up the depth chart.

Here are five Giants players who have the most to gain in the game.