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Aaron Robinson

Giants Sign OL Greg Van Roten

July 30th, 2024 at 6:10pm CST by Adam La Rose

6:10pm: Van Roten inked a one-year deal worth up to $3MM, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. The veteran will earn the entirety of that total if he appears in at least 50 percent of his team’s offensive snaps.

10:15am: Greg Van Roten‘s recent Giants visit has produced a deal. The veteran lineman signed on Tuesday, as first reported by Art Stapleton of NorthJersey.com. Head coach Brian Daboll has since confirmed the move.

Van Roten met with the team last week, and his visit clearly went well. The 34-year-old will now compete for playing time at guard as the Giants continue to sort out a number of starting spots up front. Left tackle Andrew Thomas and center John Michael Schmitz are set to remain in their respective places in 2024, but both guard positions and the right tackle gig are yet to be determined.

Jon Runyan Jr. came to the Giants after his new team outbid the Jets in free agency. The former Packers starter is set to handle first-team duties, although Daboll said that with Van Roten now in the fold, Runyan could be used at left (rather than right) guard. Much will depend on the performance of free agent signing Jermaine Eluemunor and the health of Evan Neal with respect to the right side of the line being worked out, but Van Roten will now be in the mix. The latter is a veteran of 71 starts, including 17 last year with the Raiders.

To make room for Van Roten, the Giants waived cornerback Aaron Robinson. One of several recent third-round cornerback additions, Robinson made 11 appearances and four starts during his first two years in the league. He missed the 2023 campaign in its entirety while recovering from ACL and MCL tears. The 25-year-old joined Neal in beginning training camp on the reserve/PUP list, and today’s move suggests he has a long way to go in recovery. Daboll’s most recent comments on Robinson pointed in that direction, and it would thus come as a surprise if a team were to make a waiver claim.

The Giants entered Tuesday with roughly $11.5MM in cap space. Today’s moves will lower that figure to an extent, but Van Roten settled for a low-cost deal last offseason. Doing so again could pave the way to a starting gig in New York, a team in need of improvement at multiple positions up front in 2024. They will have a number of options to choose from once the unit is fully healthy.

Minor NFL Transactions: 7/23/24

July 23rd, 2024 at 8:25pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

  • Signed: OT Julién Davenport

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

  • Reverted to IR: WR Jared Wayne
  • Released from IR: WR Jaxon Janke

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Latest On Giants’ Cornerback Situation

May 12th, 2024 at 11:47am CST by Sam Robinson

After a short-lived slot experiment last year, Adoree’ Jackson returned to his traditional boundary role for the Giants. But the team has not re-signed the veteran cornerback, who played out a three-year deal in 2023. The Giants may be in the market for mid-offseason help.

But the team has some in-house candidates to replace Jackson. An early favorite may well have emerged. Brian Daboll mentioned Cor’Dale Flott as a player the team believes in, per the New York Post’s Paul Schwartz, signaling a potential position change for the primary slot corner.

The Giants drafted Flott in the 2022 third round and have mostly deployed him as a slot piece, but with Jackson out of the picture, the team may be grooming the LSU alum for perimeter work. Flott, 22, played 518 defensive snaps last season. That work came for a Giants team that featured Jackson opposite 2023 first-rounder Deonte Banks. The latter will be one of New York’s starting outside corners to begin the season; Flott may well be the other.

Pro Football Focus did not grade Flott well in 2023, slotting him 101st at the position. The 6-foot-2 cover man did drop his completion percentage-allowed (as the closest defender) number from his rookie year, lowering it from 63% in 2022 to 59.6%. Flott will need to hold off the likes of Nick McCloud and Tre Hawkins. The latter, a sixth-round pick out of Old Dominion, impressed during the Giants’ 2023 training camp — to the point the Giants kicked Jackson inside to accommodate the rookie. But Don Martindale quickly benched Hawkins, scrapping the training camp experiment and moving Flott into a central role.

As for how the Giants will address the slot position, Schwartz adds third-round rookie Andru Phillips may be positioned to take over. Phillips will receive “every opportunity” to win Big Blue’s slot job. The team re-signed veteran slot player Darnay Holmes, but after it chose Phillips 70th overall, the former appears an insurance option. A Banks-Flott-Phillips trio appears the Giants’ preferred path, though offseason and training camp work could certainly change that.

The Giants have used a third-round pick on a corner in three of the past four drafts. The first of those, Aaron Robinson, has seen his career skid off track. Commandeering the starting outside job opposite Jackson in 2022, Robinson — chosen 71st overall in 2021 — missed all of last season due to injury. Robinson suffered ACL and MCL tears in October 2022 and landed on the Giants’ reserve/PUP list last season. Daboll’s latest assessment of the former starter does not bode well; the third-year coach said Robinson remains with the Giants’ rehab group at this point in the offseason.

If the Giants are to consider veteran assistance, Jackson joins some other notable names available. Patrick Peterson and Stephon Gilmore are available ahead of their age-34 seasons. Younger options include Steven Nelson, J.C. Jackson, Ahkello Witherspoon and ex-Giants Fabian Moreau and Eli Apple.

WR Cole Beasley, CB Amani Oruwariye Land On Giants’ Practice Squad

August 30th, 2023 at 2:14pm CST by Sam Robinson

AUGUST 30: Beasley will be staying with the Giants. The expected practice squad addition came to fruition Wednesday, and the team also will retain Oruwariye on a P-squad deal. With Wan’Dale Robinson uncertain to play in Week 1, Beasley profiles as a depth piece familiar with Daboll’s system.

AUGUST 29: Cole Beasley‘s unretirement continued into this year, and the former Bills starter caught on with Brian Daboll‘s team. But the Giants will not keep Beasley on their initial 53-man roster.

Both Beasley and cornerback Amani Oruwariye will be cut Tuesday, per the New York Daily News’ Pat Leonard. Both players signed one-year deals this offseason. Beasley, however, remains in the Giants’ plans. He is expected to remain with the team — likely on the practice squad — to start the season, NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo tweets.

Additionally, the Giants will move Aaron Robinson from the active/PUP list to the reserve/PUP list, Leonard adds. This will shelve the third-year corner for at least four games. One of the Giants’ Week 1 starters last year, Robinson suffered an early-season knee injury in 2022 and has not practiced since. The Giants have made other plans at corner, being prepared to start rookies Deonte Banks and Tre Hawkins alongside veteran Adoree’ Jackson.

Oruwariye is not in those plans, it appears. The former Lions starter has gone from potential Detroit extension recipient to a player that needed to accept a low-level deal this offseason. The Giants did not see enough from the former fifth-round pick. Oruwariye intercepted six passes in 2021 but took a big step back last season, leading to the Lions moving on from the Bob Quinn-era draftee.

The Giants have now axed two members of their slot receiver brigade, though it does not appear Jamison Crowder is in the team’s plans going forward. The team brought in Beasley this summer, completing a reunion with Daboll, Buffalo’s offensive coordinator for most of Beasley’s tenure with the AFC East club. Beasley, 34, sticking around as an emergency option/gameday elevation candidate would ensure some system familiarity — for a team that made a few changes to its group.

The Beasley and Crowder moves leave Sterling Shepard, Darius Slayton, Parris Campbell, Isaiah Hodgins, Wan’Dale Robinson and third-round pick Jalin Hyatt on the roster. The Giants are activating Robinson from the active/PUP list. Beasley’s presence also offers insurance, as both Shepard and Robinson are coming off ACL tears.

Minor NFL Transactions: 7/25/23

July 25th, 2023 at 7:43pm CST by Ben Levine

With a number of teams preparing for the start of training camp, a long list of players were placed on inactive lists today. We’ve compiled all of those and today’s other minor moves below:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Las Vegas Raiders

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Washington Commanders

Free Agents

Isaiah Wilson hasn’t had an NFL gig since he was released by the Giants in January of 2022. NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero tweets that the free agent lineman was slapped with a three-game suspension, but it’s uncertain what led to the temporary ban. Wilson was a first-round pick by the Titans in 2020 but got into only one game with Tennessee before getting shipped off to Miami. He was waived by Miami after showing up late to his team physical, and his practice squad stint with New York only lasted one season.

Max Garcia is an experienced addition to the Saints OL room, with the veteran having most recently started seven of his 12 appearances with the Cardinals in 2022. The 31-year-old has 59 games of starting experience, although Pro Football Focus was iffy on his production last year (63rd among 77 qualifying offensive guards).

Following a three-year stint in Cleveland, Terrance Mitchell has spent the past two seasons bouncing around the NFL. He got into 14 games (13 starts) for the Texans in 2021, finishing with 60 tackles and 10 passes defended. He spent the 2022 season with the Titans, finishing with 39 tackles in 11 games (five starts). 49ers fifth-round pick Darrell Luter Jr. is set to miss some time with a knee injury, providing Mitchell with an opportunity during training camp.

Giants CB Aaron Robinson Suffered ACL, MCL Tears

December 9th, 2022 at 1:39pm CST by Sam Robinson

Brian Daboll had said Aaron Robinson was unlikely to return from IR this season. Recent news not only indicates that will definitively not happen but points to Robinson missing the Giants’ 2023 offseason program.

The knee injury Robinson suffered in Week 4 was a torn MCL and partially torn ACL, Dan Duggan of The Athletic tweets. Robinson underwent surgery last month and is staring at a nine-month recovery timetable, Duggan adds. While this provides clarity, it is a major blow to a recent Day 2 pick.

The Giants chose Robinson in the 2021 third round, but the regime that selected him is now gone. Robinson began his career late after rehabbing a core muscle surgery, playing in just nine games as a rookie. After being a part-time contributor (two starts) last season, the Giants greenlit a major role expansion for the Central Florida and Alabama product. Robinson emerged as a starter this season, but a September appendectomy and these October knee maladies — sustained 10 snaps into the Giants’ Week 4 game — figures to set him back.

A training camp return seems the best bet for the 6-foot-1 defender. The Giants have dealt with extensive injury trouble in their secondary — one already depleted by the new regime making James Bradberry and Logan Ryan cap casualties — this season, limiting first-year DC Don Martindale. Adoree’ Jackson suffered an MCL sprain last month; the team’s No. 1 corner will miss a third straight game this week. Third-round pick Cor’Dale Flott also missed a chunk of his rookie season. These issues have left the 7-4-1 team’s corner contingent significantly shorthanded; the team has not won any of the games Jackson has missed. Fabian Moreau, whom the Texans cut after training camp, has become an every-week starter for the Giants.

After the Giants cut Ryan and let Jabrill Peppers sign with the Patriots in free agency, they have seen Xavier McKinney run into injury trouble. An ATV accident has sidelined McKinney for the past month; he remains on New York’s reserve/NFI list. McKinney suffered a broken hand and underwent a procedure to have pins removed from three fingers this week, Duggan adds (via Twitter). The former second-round pick again expressed confidence he will return this season but couched that by indicating he needs more time to heal.

Giants’ Aaron Robinson Unlikely To Return In 2022; DL Nick Williams Done For Year

November 8th, 2022 at 1:16pm CST by Sam Robinson

Pegged to replace James Bradberry in the Giants’ starting lineup, Aaron Robinson has run into multiple issues that have prevented him from doing so for an extensive stretch. It appears the former third-round pick will need to wait a while to reprise his role.

Brian Daboll said Robinson is unlikely to come off injured reserve this season. Defensive lineman Nick Williams, who suffered a biceps injury in Week 9, received a more definitive timetable. Daboll said (via The Athletic’s Dan Duggan, on Twitter) Williams is done for the season. The Giants have six injury activations remaining, but it appears other players will be considered for these spots during the second half and potentially into the playoffs.

[RELATED: Xavier McKinney To Miss Time After ATV Accident]

After dangling Bradberry in trades through the draft, the Giants cut bait in May. This led to Bradberry joining the Eagles and the Giants holding a competition to determine his replacement opposite Adoree’ Jackson. Robinson, whom the Giants chose 71st overall out of Texas in 2021, earned the gig. But he has played in just two games this season.

An appendectomy sidelined Robinson after Week 1. When he returned in Week 4, this knee injury intervened 10 snaps into that game. The Giants have since turned to Fabian Moreau. Although the former Washington third-rounder has bounced around since his rookie contract expired following the 2020 season, he has held down the New York outside job this season.

Moreau played the 2021 season with the Falcons, being charged with a whopping eight touchdowns allowed that year, and his one-year Texans deal this offseason led to an August release. Moreau, 28, caught on with the Giants’ practice squad in late September. Well-versed as a boundary and slot corner, Moreau is allowing just 5.3 yards per target and a 47.4% completion rate; both are easily career-high marks. Should Moreau keep this up, this should earn him consideration to stick around beyond 2022. But cornerback figures to be a position of need in 2023.

Williams has been a starter for most of the season. The Giants added the 10th-year veteran on a league-minimum deal for no guaranteed money just before training camp. The former Steelers seventh-round pick had journeyed the league during his 20s but stabilized his career by becoming a Lions starter during the 2020 and ’21 seasons. Williams, 32, has made 15 tackles and deflected two passes during his first Big Blue season.

Giants Place CB Aaron Robinson On IR

October 4th, 2022 at 8:07pm CST by Ben Levine

Aaron Robinson will miss at least the next four games. The Giants announced today that they’ve placed the cornerback on injured reserve.

It’s been a tough go for the second-year player. Robinson missed Week 2 and Week 3 while recovering from an appendectomy. He returned to the starting lineup for Week 4 and got into 10 defensive snaps before suffering a knee injury in the second quarter. That injury will ultimately cost Robinson the next month-plus.

The 24-year-old defensive back was a third-round pick by the Giants in last year’s draft. He started two of his nine games as a rookie, finishing with 26 tackles and three passes defended. He also missed a chunk of the season while recovering from core muscle surgery.

Robinson was set for a starting role in 2022, and he collected five tackles and one pass defended while appearing in 95 percent of New York’s defensive snaps in Week 1. He had one tackle before exiting Sunday’s game.

Rookie Cordale Flott (calf) and backup Nick McCloud (hamstring) are currently sidelined with their own injuries, so the Giants will have to dig deep for reinforcement at cornerback. The team recently signed Fabian Moreau off the practice squad, and there’s a good chance he’ll slide into the starting lineup opposite Adoree Jackson. The team could also turn to special-teamer Justin Layne or safety Jason Pinnock.

NFC East Notes: Cowboys, Miller, Kearse, Commanders, Eagles, Seumalo, Giants

September 15th, 2022 at 4:22pm CST by Sam Robinson

Being Von Miller‘s hometown team, the Cowboys had a recruiting advantage this offseason. Miller expressed interest in returning to the Broncos, but when that did not happen, he opened the door to a hometown discount with the Cowboys. Dallas’ offer was believed to be the same one it proposed now-Denver-stationed Randy Gregory — five years, $70MM. Miller moved on, choosing the Bills’ three guaranteed years ahead of Rams proposal that would have paid him more in the short term. After Gregory spurned the Cowboys, they opted for a thriftier trip through the pass-rushing market.

“Von Miller is a great football player,” Cowboys executive VP Stephen Jones said on 105.3 The Fan, via Pro Football Talk’s Charean Williams. “I mean, you see them play at that level and especially this early there is a lot of school of thought on older guys like that that when you really get those guys are for more so for the playoffs than it is for the first part, middle of the season. Now, granted, I’m sure there was a little bit of motivation for Von playing for the Rams and winning a Super Bowl to go out there and showcase what he’s all about.

“There is a lot of players that if there was unlimited cap space that you could do things, but that wasn’t a short-term, one-year deal. It was a long-term deal, and we had to not only look at what we’re doing this year but look at what is going to be coming at us here in a year or two. Just made a conscientious decision there that we wanted to go with the direction that we went.”

The Cowboys turned to a committee approach to replace Gregory, re-signing Dorance Armstrong, adding Dante Fowler as a UFA and drafting Sam Williams in Round 2. Here is the latest from the NFC East:

  • Brian Robinson continues to make progress after suffering two gunshot wounds on August 28. The rookie Commanders running back attended practice for the first time since being shot in the hip and knee. The third-round pick had a wrap around his right knee but did footwork and agility drills on a side field, per the Washington Post’s Nicki Jhabvala. Robinson is eligible to come off Washington’s reserve/NFI list in Week 5.
  • The Eagles created some cap space this week. They restructured Isaac Seumalo‘s contract, according to ESPN.com’s Field Yates (on Twitter). A $4.62MM chunk of Seumalo’s base salary is now a signing bonus, opening up $3.69MM in cap room. The Eagles now hold nearly $11MM in space, a total that sits sixth in the league. This is Seumalo’s contract year, though four void years are on the deal as well now. The team not doing another deal with the starting guard by the start of the 2023 league year would create a $7.53MM dead-money charge.
  • Second-year Giants cornerback Aaron Robinson will be out for Week 2 due to an appendix removal, Brian Daboll said (via the New York Post’s Paul Schwartz). This likely will be a multigame absence for the first-year starter, Schwartz adds. Robinson, a 2021 third-round pick, played every Giants defensive snap opposite Adoree’ Jackson in Week 1. This depletes an already-thin position group for the Giants, who cut James Bradberry months ago. The team did draft slot option Cor’Dale Flott in Round 3, claimed ex-Steelers third-rounder Justin Layne via waivers and added ex-Washington and Atlanta starter Fabian Moreau to its practice squad. Of the three, Moreau is by far the most experienced option.
  • The Cowboys will be without one of their starting safeties for a while. Jayron Kearse sustained an MCL sprain in Week 1, per Jerry Jones (via ESPN.com’s Todd Archer, on Twitter). Kearse, who impressed as a Cowboys starter last year, re-signed with the team for two years and $10MM this offseason. He is expected to be out between two and four weeks. The Cowboys had a rough Week 1 on the injury front, losing Dak Prescott and Connor McGovern as well. Malik Hooker figures to step into the starting lineup alongside Donovan Wilson.

NFC East Rumors: Eagles’ QB3, Seumalo, Giants, Slayton

August 14th, 2022 at 8:35pm CST by Ely Allen

For much of the pre-draft process, Nevada quarterback Carson Strong‘s name was often mentioned among the top players at the position. At the end of the draft, though, Strong’s name was still on the board and he found himself fielding calls as an undrafted free agent, deciding to sign with Philadelphia for a guaranteed amount of $320,000, the highest amount to any undrafted free agent in 2022.

While many thought the impressive signing bonus essentially guaranteed that Strong would slot in on the depth chart just behind top-two quarterbacks Jalen Hurts and Gardner Minshew, the competition for the No. 3 quarterback seems to gotten away from Strong. An underwhelming offseason has led Strong to fall to fourth on the depth chart behind a late-season waiver claim from last year, according to Bo Wulf of The Athletic.

Reid Sinnett was claimed off waivers in late-October by the Eagles last season. He’s spent time on the practice squads for both the Buccaneers and Dolphins and has had an impressive offseason with the Eagles. Wulf even posits that, if Sinnett can have a strong enough preseason, Philadelphia may want to reconsider hearing some trade offers for Minshew, who has struggled throughout camp in the final year of his rookie contract.

Here are a few more rumors from around the NFC West, starting with another rumor from the City of Brotherly Love:

  • For much of the offseason, the back-loaded nature of Isaac Seumalo‘s contract led those in league circles to consider him a prime candidate to be cut for cap space. It was expected that Philadelphia would have Jack Driscoll and Cam Jurgens compete with Seumalo for the starting right guard job, allowing one of them to take the reins and make it easier to part ways with Seumalo. But, according to Wulf, there is no competition for the position. Despite the troubles many expected from his contract, Seumalo has the starting spot locked down while Driscoll and Jurgens haven’t taken a single rep at right guard this preseason.
  • Giants No. 2 cornerback Aaron Robinson got picked on quite a bit during the team’s preseason win over the Patriots this week. The second-year cornerback opposite Adoree’ Jackson is likely to be challenged pretty consistently throughout the season, and Robinson’s struggles seemed to emphasize the glaring lack of depth at cornerback in New York. This could lead the Giants to be on the lookout for an outside cornerback to add to the room, according to Dan Duggan of The Athletic. This outside help could come in the form of a current free agent or a veteran cornerback that finds himself on the market as roster cuts continue throughout the league.
  • After running with the second- and third-team for most of the offseason, wide receiver Darius Slayton ran with the Giants’ starters in the team’s preseason game this week and was featured exclusively. After leading the team in receiving in the 2019 and 2020 seasons, Slayton emerged as a trade candidate at the beginning of the offseason and, more recently, found himself in danger of getting waived. Despite being feature prominently on Thursday, it still seems that Slayton is not long for New York. In fact, Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post believes that playing Slayton as a starter this week was intended to display him to the trade market in an effort to pump up his value as a trade asset. Look for more Slayton targets throughout the remainder of the preseason if this proves true.
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