Giants Sign CB Amani Oruwariye

MARCH 28: After being on the extension radar during the 2022 offseason, Oruwariye landed a Giants deal worth barely the league minimum. The Giants are giving the fifth-year corner a one-year deal worth $1.2MM, Dan Duggan of The Athletic tweets. By no means is Oruwariye guaranteed a roster spot; this deal includes just $52.5K guaranteed.

MARCH 23: Cornerback unavailability plagued the Giants in 2022, and the team did not address the position during the first week of free agency. Big Blue will bolster the spot on the market, however.

Former Lions corner Amani Oruwariye is signing with the Giants, Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com tweets. The ex-fifth-round pick served as an every-down player in Detroit during the 2020 and ’21 seasons, before seeing his snaps reduced last year. The Giants will gauge the Penn State product’s form this offseason, adding him to their Adoree’ Jackson-fronted corner crew.

In 2021, Oruwariye intercepted six passes and deflected 11 more. That put him on the radar for a potential Lions extension. But Dan Campbell‘s team ended up limiting Oruwariye’s playing time during his contract year, thus reducing his earning potential. The 26-year-old cover man played just 50% of Detroit’s defensive snaps last season.

This will undoubtedly be a low-cost accord. Pro Football Focus rated Oruwariye as the league’s worst cornerback last season, slotting the 6-foot-2 defender 118th out of 118 qualified players at the position. Oruwariye allowed a 106.1 passer rating as the closest defender in coverage and yielded a 64% completion rate; both numbers came in far higher compared to his 2021 marks. This Giants pact will represent a chance for a bounce-back offering.

The Giants waited until after the draft to cut ties with James Bradberry last year, and they did not make a notable addition to replace him. Former third-round pick Aaron Robinson won the job opposite Jackson out of training camp but went down early in the season with an injury that kept him out the rest of the way. The Giants also lost Jackson to an MCL sprain; he ended up missing seven games but returned in time to match up frequently with Justin Jefferson in the team’s wild-card win. Jackson is going into a contract year, and the Giants — this Oruwariye addition notwithstanding — are likely to continue exploring cornerback additions.

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