10:49am: Graziano provides the last four Giants moves, reporting in a pair of tweets that the team has also cut safety C.J. Barnett and defensive tackle Everett Dawkins, as well as placing wideout Marcus Harris and safety Cooper Taylor on season-ending injured reserve.
10:27am: Vacchiano adds two more names to the list of Giants’ cuts (via Twitter): Travis Harvey (WR) and John Sullen (G). The team still has to part ways with four more players by this afternoon.
9:26am: In addition to McManus and James, the Giants have cut the following players, according to reports from Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News and Conor Orr of the Star-Ledger:
- Spencer Adkins, LB
- Justin Anderson, LB (waived-injured)
- Jerome Cunningham, TE
- Emmanuel Dieke, DE
- Xavier Grimble, TE (waived-injured)
- Kyle Sebetic, S
- Ross Weaver, CB
The seven additional cuts bring the Giants’ roster count down to 81.
8:34am: The Giants’ first wave of roster cuts is underway, and one of the team’s first moves will settle the kicking battle in New York. According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, the Giants have informed Brandon McManus that Josh Brown will be the club’s kicker, with McManus being cut. Additionally, defensive back Charles James will be waived, according to Dan Graziano of ESPN.com (via Twitter). James announced that move himself this morning, via Instagram.
McManus, 23, may have lost the Giants’ kicking competition to the veteran Brown, but he has a big leg, having reportedly made a 75-yard field goal in training camp, as well as frequently putting kickoffs 10 yards out of the end zone, writes Bill Pennington of the New York Times. He’ll have to make it through waivers to become a free agent, so we’ll keep an eye out this week on whether another team decides to put in a claim for him.
As for James, he spent last season with the Giants and only saw two total defensive snaps, but was a frequent contributor on special teams — he recorded six overall tackles in kick and punt coverage. Graziano tweets that New York would have liked to delay its decision on James, but recent injuries on the offensive line have forced the team to change its plans.
The Giants have yet to announce these transactions, but figure to make them official later today when they finalize the rest of their cuts. The team will have to part ways with 13 more players by this afternoon’s roster cutdown deadline.
giants are fucking idiots…