The New York Giants cut the roster down to 53-men on Saturday afternoon, and some of the decisions made were confusing, as they usually are. Releasing WR T.J. Jones after a stellar preseason performance was one head-shaking move, but the third quarterback spot was where most questioned the outcome.
General manager Dave Gettleman and head coach Pat Shurmur elected to drop second-year passer Kyle Lauletta, who showed flashes of quality behind Eli Manning and Daniel Jones this preseason, in favor of Alex Tanney, an NFL journeyman.
Why this move by the New York Giants makes little sense:
You could make the argument that the Giants don’t even need three quarterbacks, let alone two veterans and a rookie. Keeping Tanney essentially gives the Giants another seasoned voice in the locker room with experience, but shouldn’t they be confident that Eli Manning already provides that?
Jones seems to have most of the intangible traits down pat, but Tanney’s purpose is more of a water-boy, spoon-feeding Jones where he needs additional support. Lauletta would have been the better option only due to his better performance and potential to be Jones’ perennial backup.
Similar to Ryan Nassib over the years for Manning, Lauletta could have played a similar role, and his 453-yards and four scores should have justified that. Additionally, it’s hard to believe that Jones will act as the No. 3 passer behind Tanney this season in case of injury or other scenarios.
Realistically, the Giants don’t need any more than two quarterbacks on the roster. Could it be the familiarity Tanney has with the system? Personally, that isn’t even a realistic factor to consider given the lack of talent he has in the first place. The Giants wouldn’t possibly be able to win any games with Tanney as the featured option. So, in conclusion, we can say, this move makes little to no sense, and Lauletta, unfortunately, saw the short end of the stick.