Should the New York Giants re-unite with old friend Prince Amukamara?

The New York Giants are extremely thin at the cornerback position, with DeAndre Baker on the commissioner’s exempt list and Sam Beal opting out of the 2020 season. There’s currently a void at the number two cornerback spot, which the Giants are monitoring closely but haven’t found a supplement for.

They currently have a bevy of undrafted free agents, and late-round draft picks competing for starting reps. This isn’t the most motivating situation, as the Giants will be taking a massive risk with any of the available options on the roster.

The thought initially was that second your player Julian Love might fill-in at CB2, but with Xavier McKinney fracturing the fifth metatarsal in his left foot, Love will have to now play free safety for a majority of the 2020 season. This leaves players like Corey Ballentine, Prince Smith, Brandon Williams, and Chris Williamson as potential options.

The New York Giants have another option to consider:

However, the Las Vegas Raiders released former first-round pick, Prince Amukamara, on Monday morning. Amukamara was originally drafted by the Giants back in 2011 but failed to become an elite player at his position.

Nonetheless, he was a solid contributor and has had an adequate nine-year career up to this point. In 2019, he turned 30 years old and played for the Chicago Bears. He racked up 53 combined tackles, 10 passes defended and logged a 66.2% completion rate against. He allowed two touchdowns.

While his completion percentage was quite lofty, he limited receivers to just a 57.3 completion rate in 2018. The Bears took a significant step back last year with Mitchell Trubisky struggling and the offense providing little support. He has also been relatively healthy the past few years, playing in no fewer than 14 games since 2016.

He signed a one-year, $1.05 million deal with the Las Vegas Raiders this offseason, indicating he would be an extremely cheap fix.

Aside from his price-tag, his veteran experience would make him a suitable fill-in at CB2. While there’s only two weeks before the regular season starts, his experience in the NFL should allow him to adapt quickly. In a primary man coverage scheme under Patrick Graham, Amukamara would be asked to line up and shadow the opposing wide receiver two. I believe this would be an efficient option for the Giants and provide more competition in the secondary.