The Chandler Catanzaro era didn’t last long for the New York Giants special teams group. The Giants were left in an awkward position this offseason by Aldrick Rosas’ sudden legal troubles, and it looked like Catanzaro was a possible replacement, but at the end of the day the Giants found someone else.
Giants released veteran kicker Chandler Catanzaro, per source. Their kicking job belongs to former Panther Graham Gano, who reunites with former Carolina GM Dave Gettleman.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 17, 2020
According to Adam Schefter, the team has moved on from Catanzaro already. The Giants originally picked him up at the beginning of the month, once it was clear that relying on Aldrick Rosas is a bad idea going forward. Rosas was released by the Giants only a few days before they picked up Catanzaro. However, the new addition just wasn’t destined to make it as the actual replacement for the former starter.
The Giants chose to release Catanzaro in favor of Graham Gano, who is currently a free agent. Interestingly enough, Gano isn’t actually on the roster yet. He was last signed to Carolina, the same team the Giants got GM Dave Gettleman from.
Gettleman was GM of the Panthers during some of the time Gano was there. It’s possibly why Gano is the preferred choice right now. Likely, the Giants only gave Catanzaro a chance because he’s already familiar from playing with the Jets for two stints.
As for Gano, his 90.9% field goal percentage from his last season in the league back in 2018 is an improvement over the 70% Rosas had in his slump season during 2019. He’s still a 33 year old that hasn’t been in the league for a bit, so it’s not a perfect signing. But the Giants aren’t making an obvious mistake with this one.
With the kicker question mostly solved, there probably won’t be too much more news about this subject this offseason.