Giants Move Forward After Roster Cuts
It was time to fish or cut bait on some players yesterday at Timex. The Giants surprised us with some of their choices, but overall, they are a better team today than they were after the New England game Thursday night.
The trade on Friday night with Minnesota solved two desperate needs – backup QB and punt returner – and allowed the team to keep some players they were planning to collect playbooks from.
The final cuts were predicated on who could help the club best on special teams, a unit that had been lacking clarity and synergy all summer. That is why WR Derek Hagen, the heir apparent to Domenik Hixon, was released. He did not distinguish himself in Hixon’s roles.
Tom Coughlin seemed almost apologetic when speaking about some of the team’s decisions. It was evident he did not want to send Andre Brown and Bear Pascoe packing, but this is the NFL and a team is only as strong as its weakest link.
In reality, both could end up back with the team on the practice squad. It doesn’t appear that many teams would want to take a flier on Brown, who is one year removed from an Achilles tear. Pascoe was a camp wonder, but he could not translate that success when placed in game situations.
DT Jay Alford was perhaps the hardest of the cuts Coughlin had to make.
“It was competitive at that spot this year,” Coughlin said. “Even though we still feel like we have a ways to go to have the front that we say we have, it was a very difficult choice to have to make. Based on the competitiveness at the spot and the ability to rank the guys in terms of their production, we really didn’t, in all fairness, have a lot of choice.”
The arrival of QB Sage Rosenfels made Rhett Bomar expendable. The Giants are seeking to recapture Bomar’s services for the practice squad should he clear waivers. Coughlin has been supportive of the second-year QB throughout his tumultuous summer.
“Bomar’s progress has been outstanding,” Coughlin said. “He’s worked very, very hard. He did receive a lot of attention, he did make progress and he did show us what he can do.”
Some of the retained are surprises, and I am not referring to WRs Victor Cruz and Duke Calhoun who rightly established themselves in preseason.
RB DJ Ware, TE Travis Beckum and LB Gerris Wilkinson were three whose Giant careers laid in the balance for most of yesterday, but the team decided to afford them all another opportunity. All three have spotty health histories and many thought the Giants would give up the ship on one or all of them.
Ware over Brown was about a push in my book. If Ware can run back kicks and be a productive third-down back, then this was the right move. If he can’t, then the Giants might want to look elsewhere.
Beckum over Pascoe was not a popular decision. Beckum spends most of his time out of uniform, and when he is in uniform, the Giants have ambiguous ideas on how to use him. Pascoe was the ultimate team player, taking all the reps in camp while the other four TEs on the roster convalesced.
Alford blew out his knee last year and could not put two consecutive days of practice together. The team is placing its chips on rookie Linval Joseph at DT and also felt Dave Tollefson was too good to cut, so Alford became the victim of a numbers game.
The practice squad should be announced today. With any luck eight of the departed will be back, but the Giants may not be done. With only two tight ends – and one of them Beckum – the team may still be looking to fine tune.
Click here for Giants’ 53-man roster
