HEADLINES

Gary Brightwell

Minor NFL Transactions: 5/30/24

May 30th, 2024 at 7:55pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s minor moves:

Kansas City Chiefs

New York Giants

Malik Herring was an exclusive rights free agent, meaning he was all but destined to return to Kansas City. The former UDFA has spent the past two seasons with the organization, compiling 16 tackles and 1.5 sacks in 14 games. Herring also got into all four playoff games this past season.

Elijah Riley joins the Giants after having appeared in 30 games with the Eagles, Jets, and Steelers. He got into a career-high 13 games with Pittsburgh this past season, finishing with 12 tackles while earning the majority of his snaps on special teams. Gary Brightwell was a sixth-round pick by the Giants in 2021, but he struggled to carve out a role behind Saquon Barkley. Brightwell’s tenure in New York will end with the RB having collected 256 yards from scrimmage.

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/20/23

December 20th, 2023 at 7:13pm CST by Ely Allen

Wednesday’s minor transactions:

Arizona Cardinals

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Denver Broncos

  • Designated to return from IR: OL Alex Palczewski

New York Giants

New York Jets

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Giants Place RB Gary Brightwell On IR

October 28th, 2023 at 11:49am CST by Ben Levine

The Giants are down a key special teamer. The team has placed Gary Brightwell on injured reserve, per Jordan Schultz of Bleacher Report. The third-year player will be required to miss at least the next four games.

Brightwell suffered a hamstring injury during last weekend’s win over the Commanders, and he ended up sitting out practice this week. Brightwell is the second Giants RB to land on injured reserve this week, with Eric Gray being ruled out with a calf injury.

Brightwell was a sixth-round pick by the Giants in the 2021 draft. After barely playing on offense as a rookie, the Arizona product saw a larger role in 2022, finishing with 180 yards from scrimmage and one touchdown on 36 touches. Through seven games this season, the 24-year-old had 66 yards from scrimmage on 14 touches.

Brightwell also had a significant role on special teams, appearing in more than 50 percent of his team’s ST snaps through his first two-plus seasons. Brightwell has 13 tackles on his resume, including one stop this season.

The Giants were busy adding to their RB room this week, signing Jashaun Corbin off the Panthers practice squad and claiming Deon Jackson off waivers from the Browns. One of those two acquisitions will slide in as the RB3 behind Saquon Barkley and Matt Breida.

Giants Sign 13 UDFAs

May 13th, 2022 at 9:00am CST by Adam La Rose

The Giants have become the latest team to announce their UDFA signings. Here are the players they have brought in to fill out their offseason roster:

Before the team confirmed these signings, reports had come out regarding guaranteed money for some of them. The biggest investment was made into Hinton, who will receive $100K in base salary, coupled with a $15K signing bonus, per Dan Duggan of the Athletic (Twitter link). In three seasons with the Wolverines, he played a rotational role, making a career-high 32 tackles this season for the Big Ten champions.

Duggan also reports that Corbin will likewise receive $100K in base pay, along with a $10K signing bonus. After two years at Texas A&M, he transferred to Florida State. His first year with the Seminoles saw him produce 516 scrimmage yards and five touchdowns, but he took a step forward this season. In 2021, he led the ACC in yards per carry with 6.2, showcasing on a number of occasions his home-run ability with long touchdown runs en route to earning Third-Team all-conference honors. He will compete with Antonio Williams, Gary Brightwell and Sandro Platzgummer for the final spots on the depth chart behind Saquon Barkley and Matt Breida.

Giants Place T Matt Peart On IR

December 30th, 2021 at 2:23pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Giants will not have one of their tackles available for a while. While they placed Matt Peart on IR on Thursday, the second-year blocker will be shut down well into the offseason.

Peart suffered a torn ACL during the Giants’ Week 16 game against the Eagles. The 2020 third-round pick was starting in place of Nate Solder, who was out after a positive COVID-19 test.

This could impact the Giants’ plans at right tackle. Solder is due to be a free agent in March, thanks to a reworked contract. His 2020 opt-out changed the Giants’ offensive line approach, sliding Andrew Thomas to left tackle. Peart played 22% of the Giants’ offensive snaps last season and upped that to 43% this year. Peart made five starts this season.

While Peart probably factors into the Giants’ post-2021 plans, his stock will take a hit because of this injury and the franchise being set to move on from GM Dave Gettleman. The Giants have dealt with considerable issues up front this season, having played without interior-line starters Shane Lemieux and Nick Gates. Both starters suffered severe injuries, with Gates’ September setback a possible career-ender. Beyond Thomas, not much is certain about the Giants’ offensive front beyond this season.

The Giants also activated Solder from the reserve/COVID-19 list Thursday but moved tackle Korey Cunningham and wide receiver Darius Slayton to the virus list. Cunningham had replaced Peart at right tackle in Philadelphia. The Giants also placed running back Gary Brightwell on IR.

Minor NFL Transactions: 11/4/21

November 4th, 2021 at 3:43pm CST by Zachary Links

Today’s minor moves:

Houston Texans

Las Vegas Raiders

  • Promoted: WR Dillon Stoner

New York Giants

New York Jets

Washington Football Team

Giants Sign Second-Round DE Azeez Ojulari

May 13th, 2021 at 4:36pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Giants have locked up their second-round pick. Edge rusher Azeez Ojulari has officially signed his rookie contract, the team announced today. They also announced they’ve signed sixth-round running back Gary Brightwell and sixth-round cornerback Rodarius Williams.

Ojulari was expected by many to be a first-rounder, but medical red flags dropped him to 50th overall. If he can stay healthy, the Giants might end up getting a total steal. His upside is sky-high, as he’s coming off a season where he led the SEC in sacks at the age of 20. The Georgia product won’t turn 21 until next month.

Some analysts thought he was the most talented edge rusher in the draft when he first declared back in January. He’s got good size and explosiveness and finished with 9.5 sacks, 12.5 tackles for loss, and four forced fumbles in only 10 games in 2020. He should get plenty of playing time as a rookie.