New York Giants: Leonard Williams shows up to training camp injured

New York Giants, Leonard Williams
Anthony Rivardo (edit)

The New York Giants started off training camp with a bit of bad news. This past week, left tackle Nate Solder opted out of the 2020 season, leaving fourth overall pick Andrew Thomas to fend at left tackle. They did sign Cameron Fleming to act as reserve talent, but he might be thrust into a starting position at the beginning of the season.

However, the bad news doesn’t end there as Leonard Williams showed up to training camp already injured. According to Jordan Raanan of ESPN, the Giants decided to go with the 80-man roster for camp.

Wide receiver Da’Mari Scott was the second Giant to opt-out and the team placed Williams on the designated non-football injury list.

The Giants placed the franchise tag on Williams this off-season, which will count $16 million against the cap. Showing up with a hamstring injury does not offer optimism for the fan base, who have been extremely hostile over the decision to trade for Williams in the first place. Gettleman offered a third-round pick to the Jets for his services, when he was going to be a free agent at the end of the season anyway.

In 2019, Williams posted 26 combined tackles, 11 quarterback hits, and 0.5 sacks over 33% of defensive snaps. He was expected to be a focal point in the interior of the line, and while he should be ready for the regular season, he will lose essential training time to get his body in shape.