Alexander Wilson
Thomas Fidone II is stuck in the worst kind of camp fight. He is talented enough to keep, squeezed enough to lose, and coming off a spring foot cleanup at the exact wrong time.
The Giants expect him to be ready for training camp, which is the good news. The rough part is that the tight end room got crowded while he was working back, and the roster math no longer feels patient.
Thomas Fidone II flashed enough last preseason to make this annoying. He caught eight of nine targets for 39 yards and a touchdown, did not drop a pass, and looked like a developmental player worth carrying if the room had stayed thinner.
Giants have a real tight end numbers issue
Isaiah Likely changes the whole room. Theo Johnson still has a role. Chris Manhertz gives them the blocking profile coaches trust when they are trying to protect the run game and keep the offense on schedule.
That leaves Fidone fighting for air. If the Giants keep four tight ends, he has a clear path. If they keep three, he is probably staring at the bubble unless someone gets hurt or he makes the staff uncomfortable with how well he plays in August.
I would not dismiss him because of the foot. Young tight ends often need time, and Fidone has enough receiving traits to make a staff think twice. But depth charts do not care about sympathy, and this one got meaner in a hurry.
The cap piece does not help his case much
The money is not massive either way, which makes this more about roster utility than savings. Cutting Fidone would save a little over $1 million, with a small dead-money charge attached. Helpful, sure, but it is not the kind of number that forces a decision by itself.
The bigger issue is game-day value. Can Fidone give them enough on special teams? Can he block well enough to avoid being a tell? Can he separate enough to justify keeping a fourth tight end when another position might need the extra spot?
Those are uncomfortable questions for a young player who has barely had time to build momentum. Still, camp is coming, and the Giants are not going to make the tight end room sentimental just because Fidone has intriguing traits.
If he wants the last seat, he probably has to take it loudly. Quiet progress may not be enough this time.
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