{"id":178818,"date":"2025-08-27T04:31:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T04:31:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/178818\/"},"modified":"2025-08-27T04:31:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T04:31:12","slug":"whats-set-what-could-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/178818\/","title":{"rendered":"What’s Set, What Could Change?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New York Giants<\/strong><\/a> unveiled their initial 53-man roster on Tuesday, a roster that, as usual, included a few unexpected moves, a few disappointments, and a few eyebrow-raising additions.<\/p>\n

Such was the challenge, though, for general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll in taking what was perhaps the deepest 90-man training camp roster the pair has had in their four years with the club and trimming it down.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Joe and the personnel staff do a great job of evaluating players,\u201d Daboll said Tuesday in his only comments addressing the work done on the roster.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a fluid situation right now. We\u2019re still having numerous conversations about various topics. A lot of players will get cut.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Daboll declined to get into specifics about the roster or what might be coming next once waiver claims are processed, deferring comment until Wednesday afternoon when he and Schoen have a joint press briefing scheduled.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So until then, here is what we think about the initial 53-man roster, which is sure to look different by this time on Wednesday.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The only \u201cmild\u201d surprise is that the Giants weren\u2019t able to find a trade partner for Tommy DeVito. I had wondered if they might look to keep four quarterbacks for an extra 36 hours to light a fire under a potential trade partner\u2019s seat, but that didn\u2019t come to fruition as teams around the league knew that it was just a matter of when DeVito would be waived.<\/p>\n

I do not expect him to go unclaimed. It\u2019s just a shame that the Giants put two-plus years into developing him into a decent QB2 option and aren\u2019t going to have anything to show for it.<\/p>\n

\"Running<\/p>\n

Running back Dante Miller was a surprise cut by the NY Giants. \/ Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

I truly thought Dante Miller was going to make this team, though our very own sage, Bob Folger, in his preseason finale review of the players<\/strong><\/a> who took part in the preseason finale, had his doubts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

My question regarding this group is whether there might be plans to add another running back, given that Cam Skattebo was on a pitch count in the preseason finale after experiencing a setback with his hamstring.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I guess that a running back will get added to the practice squad, but given some of the overload at other position units, there could certainly be a place for a fourth running back to be added as insurance.<\/p>\n

I thought Greg Dulcich would beat out Chris Manhertz for a roster spot. But once Elijah Chatman (more on him in a bit), who dabbled at fullback, was cut, that signaled to me that the Giants might stick with Manhertz.<\/p>\n

The only thing I am keeping an eye on is if the Giants ask Daniel Bellinger to take a pay cut. Bellinger is in the final year of his rookie deal, but thanks to performance escalators, he\u2019s carrying a $3.406 million base salary this year as part of a $3.6 million cap hit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the highest of the four tight ends on this team, and a bit too rich for a guy who right now projects as the TE2.<\/p>\n

This position had several surprises. First, there was the decision to keep Collins, whose preseason game showing was largely defined by the 80-yard reception, with not much else to note. <\/p>\n

Perhaps they view him more for special teams, but I thought the Giants would stick with returner Ihmir Smith-Marsette, who led the team in both punt and kickoff return average yardage this summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I still wonder if, at some point, the Giants will move Collins off the roster and onto the practice squad, perhaps replacing him with another receiver (no, not Gabe Davis). I don\u2019t see the Giants having six receivers active on game day, and I think that spot could be best served by filling in another area.<\/p>\n

Either way, I\u2019m not overly wild about the depth at this position. Nabers is likely to have his practice reps managed throughout the coming year, and Slayton and Robinson are good receivers. Beyond those three, the depth just seems a little shaky.<\/p>\n

A couple of surprises here. First, there is the injury to Joshua Ezeudu, which has landed him on IR with a designation to return. That opened the door for Aaron Stinnie to make the roster.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The decision to keep Austin Schlottman, a reserve interior offensive lineman who last year missed the bulk of the season after suffering a broken leg in the week leading up to Kickoff weekend, likely makes him the first guy off the bench if there\u2019s an injury to anyone on the interior.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This is also probably a sign that the Giants don\u2019t want to have to move Greg Van Roten around if they don\u2019t have to, especially if they don\u2019t view Evan Neal as being ready to handle first-team reps at guard.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

James Hudson will be the swing tackle\u2013and I wouldn\u2019t be surprised, by the way, if he starts the first game or two while Andrew Thomas continues to round out into football shape after spending most of the summer on PUP completing his rehab for his foot.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Defensive<\/p>\n

Defensive tackle Elijah Chatman was a surprise roster cut by the NY Giants. \/ Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

It was disappointing that the Giants couldn\u2019t find a way to keep Chatman, considering all the first-team work he received with the defense and his decent snaps at fullback. However, the Giants needed the roster spot for other defensive positions, which we\u2019ll address momentarily.<\/p>\n

Initially, I also thought the team might move on from Rakeem Nunez-Roches. As time went on, I backed away from thinking that, as it\u2019s evident, the coaches love Nacho\u2019s leadership and locker room presence.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I personally would have kept a sixth defensive lineman here, especially given Darius Alexander’s lagging development after missing the spring. I\u2019m sure someone from the group cut will be back on the practice squad.<\/p>\n

Nothing to see here, to be honest. I hope that Trace Ford, who I thought had a nice preseason \u2013 he finished as the defensive leader in pressures \u2013 returns on the practice squad.<\/p>\n

Board and Flannigan-Foweles both made this team for their special teams prowess. Frankly, I\u2019m a tad surprised that Flannigan-Fowles made it, considering he didn\u2019t play all preseason long. <\/p>\n

That has me wondering if inside linebacker is at the top Schoen\u2019s to-do list as far as the waiver wire goes, and if Flannigan-Fowles might be a candidate to land on IR once the waiver wire shuffle begins.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t think the Giants would keep this many cornerbacks, and I still don\u2019t think they will have this many by the time waiver wires are done. My biggest surprise\u2013and in retrospect, it probably shouldn\u2019t have been\u2013 was Korie Black making the roster.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Black dealt with an injury in the summer but was able to return to play. Still, I thought perhaps, because of the time missed, he might be the first Schoen draft pick not to make the 53-man roster and instead be moved to the practice squad. I suppose that could still happen.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There\u2019s little chance the Giants roll into the regular season with just three safeties. I do think Paige will land back on the practice squad, but I must admit that I was surprised the Giants didn\u2019t hang onto Layne until another option was found.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

No surprises here, as once Gano showed he could hit the 50-yarders again, any semblance of a competition that might have existed between him and McAtamney was over.<\/p>\n

What happens next with the NY Giants? Find out! Follow and like\u00a0us on Facebook<\/strong><\/a>. Visit our\u00a0YouTube channel<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0for the latest videos. Want to send a question in for our mailbag?\u00a0You can do so here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The New York Giants unveiled their initial 53-man roster on Tuesday, a roster that, as usual, included a…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":178819,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-178818","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-city","11":"tag-newyork","12":"tag-newyorkcity","13":"tag-ny","14":"tag-nyc","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-united-states-of-america","17":"tag-unitedstates","18":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","19":"tag-us","20":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115098858365864301","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=178818"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178818\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/178819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=178818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=178818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}