Odell Beckham Jr. has made the Giants’ initial 53-man roster and his No. 13 jersey is now available. Wide receiver Jalin Hyatt was among the cuts that the Giants made to get down to the roster limit. Hyatt was a 2023 third-round pick, but he only caught 36 passes over his first three NFL seasons. The Giants also waived or released quarterbacks Brandon Allen and Jake Haener; wide receivers Braxton Berrios, Dalen Cambre, Xavier Gipson, Isaiah Hodgins, and Kobe Prentice; defensive linemen Anquin Barnes, Ben Barten, Marlon Davidson, Leki Fotu, Josh Topou, and Zacch Pickens; linebackers Trace Ford, Khalid Kareem, Chandler Martin, Darius Muasau, Caleb Murphy, and Anfernee Orji; defensive backs Ugo Amadi, Beau Brade, Art Green, Raheem Layne, and J.T. Woods; offensive linemen Jarrod Gray, Brenden Jaimes, Jake Kubas, Evan Neal, Lucas Patrick, and Ryan Schernecke; running backs Damon Bankston, Grant Finley, and Eric Gray; tight ends Tanner Conner and Josiah Deguara; and kicker Ben Sauls. Cornerback Korie Black was placed on injured reserve and designated for return
The Green Bay Packers will have a second opportunity to acquire running back Damon Bankston, who was recently released by the New York Giants. Bankston is known for his speed, having run a 4.43-second 40-yard dash
The Giants have begun reducing their roster to 53 players. They announced eight cuts ahead of Sunday’s 6 p.m. ET deadline. The Giants will cut CB Ugo Amadi, RB Damon Bankston, TE Josiah Deguara, DL Leki Fotu, WR Isaiah Hodgins, OL Brenden Jaimes, LB Anfernee Orji and WR Kobe Prentice. Hodgins has spent the past 3 1/2 seasons with the Giants, making 66 catches for 708 yards and eight touchdowns. The moves come the day after the Giants wrapped up the preseason with a 23-6 victory over the Jets. The claiming period for players placed on waivers at the roster reduction will expire at 1 p.m. ET on Monday. The Giants are fifth in the claiming order. Teams can then establish a practice squad of 17 players, as long as one player qualifies and is designated as an international player
A handful of undrafted players always excite New York Giants fans during the spring and summer, and a few generally make the 53-man roster. With rookies having already reported for training camp, let’s look at which undrafted players could emerge with roster spots. Zvada has a clear lead over Ben Sauls for the placekicking job entering training camp. Zvada made all 13 of his field-goal attempts during mandatory minicamp, the only times media saw him kick this spring. Veteran Jason Sanders was already released, and Ben Sauls had an inconsistent spring. In an NFL where field-goal attempts from beyond 50 yards, and even 60 yards, are becoming more commonplace, a young placekicker with the ability to make those types of kicks can be an asset. Zvada made 10 of 12 kicks from beyond 50 yards in college, including 7 of 7 in 2024, with a long of 56 yards. Does he have 60+ in game conditions in his arsenal? Maybe we will find out. If Sauls continues to struggle early in training camp, it will be interesting to see if the Giants bring in veteran competition for Zvada. Currently, Daniel Carlson and Brandon McManus are among the available veteran kickers. Mann is the only true long-snapper on the 90-man roster after the Giants released journeyman Zach Triner . The long-snapping job probably belongs to Mann until he gives the Giants reason to look elsewhere. Cam Skattebo , Tyrone Tracy, and fullback Patrick Ricard are locked into roster spots. Veteran Devin Singletary probably is, as well. Can Bankston, 23, show enough upside to take a practice squad spot away from Dante Miller , 27, or Eric Gray , 26? The Giants thought enough of Schernecke, a Division II right tackle who played at Kutztown, to give him $282,500 in guaranteed salary to sign with them. That is the equivalent of a full season’s practice squad salary. Schernecke worked mostly with the third team in the spring, though he did serve as second-team right tackle when Josh Ezeudu missed some time with an elbow injury. With players like Marcus Mbow , sixth-round pick J.C. Davis, and even Ezeudu appearing to be ahead of him on the depth chart, Schernecke is likely ticketed for the practice squad. Gray, 6-foot-7, 318 pounds, is a former Australian rubgy player who just took up football in 2025. Gray won’t make the 53-man roster. A practice squad spot with an exemption as part of the International Pathway Program seems like a likely outcome. Primarily a nose tackle, the 6-foot-5, 330-pound Barten seems to have a tall mountain to climb to make the roster. The Giants have D.J. Reader, sixth-round pick Bobby Jamison-Travis, and veteran Josh Tupou at nose tackle. Like Barten, the 6-5, 340-pound Barnes profiles as a nose tackle. Perhaps the two undrafted rookies are competing for one practice squad spot. In a profile of Barnes, Chris Pflum wrote : Barnes Jr. has the traits to be a real find and a UDFA gem if he can learn to finish his rushes. As it stands now, his disruption and ability to open holes for the Giants’ hyper-athletic linebackers could make Barnes Jr. a player to watch this summer
Now that minicamps have concluded, we finally have an official record of all of the contracts that undrafted free agents have signed this draft cycle. Yes, it does take this long for all of the official numbers to be reported in. We’ve touched on some of the numbers that the Green Bay Packers’ undrafted free agents signed for , but now we can compare apples to apples, seeing where they end up on the curve of other players signed at their positions this offseason. Wonder where the Packers’ undrafted players rank at their positions in terms of guaranteed money? You’ve come to the right place. Let’s dive in. $5,000 guaranteed 10th of 12 UDFA quarterbacks In the quarterback market, there were really six players who received big guaranteed money (north of $200,000). Everyone else received $15,000 or less, to put into perspective of how big the dropoff was between that group of six and the second half of the class. The quarterbacks who got significant guarantees were Jalon Daniels , Jack Strand, Luke Altmyer, Joey Aguilar, Miller Moss and Haynes King . Kyron Drones wasn’t given big guarantees, but the Packers have clearly had their eyes on him. He was a pre-draft visitor for the squad. $15,000 guaranteed 18th of 29 running backs 12 running backs made at least $90,000 this class, then there was a pretty significant dropoff after that. Jaden Nixon is roughly in the middle of the pack among running back guarantees, but it’s worth noting that Damon Bankston, an undrafted signee for the New York Giants who took a pre-draft visit with the Packers this offseason, signed for $115,000. Nixon is making just 13 percent of Bankston’s guarantees, so don’t be surprised if Bankston ends up back on Green Bay ’s radar after roster cutdowns. We’ve seen pre-draft visitors start their careers with other franchises and find their way back to the Packers before. $215,000 guaranteed 12 of 66 receivers This was a big spender for the Packers. For perspective, the highest-paid free agent (in terms of guarantees) for Green Bay in 2025 was defensive tackle Nazir Stackhouse , who had $165,000 guaranteed on his rookie deal . Receiver J. Michael Sturdivant, who was projected to be a draft choice by many, got a bit more than that. He’s technically the 12th highest-paid UDFA receiver (in guarantees), but he’s closer to making as much as the second-highest guaranteed receiver ($277,500) than the 15th ($135,000). It was pretty tight at the top of the UDFA receiver market, and Sturdivant was among the top players in the group. $15,000 guaranteed 17 of 30 tight ends R.J. Maryland, son of former Packer Russell Maryland, is making middle-of-the-pack money for a UDFA tight end. Maryland looked like a borderline top-100 pick at one point in 2024 before suffering an ACL tear that required him to wear a long knee brace for the 2025 season. He did not look like the same athlete on film in 2025, but he tested well pre-draft, so Green Bay is probably rolling the dice on a return to form from him. Worth noting here is that the Packers were willing to pay UDFA tight end Eni Falayi at least $125,000 guaranteed , more than eight times what Maryland received, but Falayi failed his physical upon reporting to Green Bay. Since being let go with an injury designation, Falayi has yet to sign with another NFL team. $215,000 guaranteed t-21st of 64 offensive linemen Let’s talk about these two together, since they are making the same money and roughly play the same position. Both Josh Gesky and Dillon Wade project best to guard at the NFL level, but Wade has been a player who has actually been very versatile at the college level, while Gesky was exclusively a guard. For whatever it’s worth, I’ve heard that Illinois’ staff was very high on Gesky (who visited the Packers pre-draft) and were telling scouts that he was a better player than J.C. Davis, who ended up being an NFL draft pick. Early in camp, though, it was Wade who got the nod with the second-team offensive line [... truncated ...]
