The New York Giants wrapped up their preseason on Saturday night in a 10–6 loss against the New York Jets. With their three exhibition matches checked off, the Giants are now turning their attention to the regular season.
The first order of business for general manager Joe Schoen will be to reshape the roster and finalize the 53-man squad. All NFL teams need to trim their rosters down to just 53 players by Tuesday. The G-Men took their first steps toward reaching that goal by releasing 10 players on Sunday.
The Giants have cut 10 players from their roster
According to Paul Schwartz of The New York Post, the following 10 players were released by the Giants on Sunday:
DL Kyler Baugh, CB Breon Borders, CB Christian Holmes, DB Clayton Isbell, WR John Jiles, RB Joshua Kelley, LB Trey Kiser, RB Lorenzo Lingard, OL Marcus McKethan, and WR Ayir Asante.
Only one of the players released on Sunday is a former Giants draft pick. Marcus McKethan was drafted by the G-Men in the fifth round of the 2022 NFL Draft. He’s appeared in just 16 career games and made five starts for Big Blue last season. However, the third-year guard had not shown enough during the summer to secure a roster spot for the upcoming season.
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Ayir Asante was one of the more exciting undrafted free agents that the Giants signed this offseason. However, making the roster was always an uphill battle for Asante as he was competing in a deep wide receiver room. Asante’s best chance of making the roster was by way of special teams. But after fumbling on a kickoff in the preseason finale, releasing Asante became an easy decision for the front office.
Joshua Kelley was signed a couple of weeks ago as the G-Men dealt with injuries in their backfield. The veteran rusher had started games for the Los Angeles Chargers in the past, however, his chances of making this roster were always slim. The Giants have some young and exciting running backs on their team that were almost guaranteed to win roster spots over Kelley from the onset.
The Giants have begun their roster trimming but still have a long way to go ahead of Tuesday’s deadline. More roster cuts are to come and possibly even some acquisitions. As players get released all across the league, the Giants will be mindful of potential talents hitting the waiver wire as they look to reinforce their roster in time for the regular season.
