NY Giants cut Corey Coleman, add wideout via waivers

The NY Giants released former first-round draft pick Corey Coleman on Sunday and added a wideout via waivers from the Browns.

While it’s not as shocking as the NY Giants moving on from linebacker Ryan Connelly, I don’t think many people envisioned Big Blue moving on from wide receiver Corey Coleman.

By all accounts, Coleman had been impressive during training camp – for whatever that’s worth – and he holds a lot more pedigree than most of the other players he was battling it out with as a former first-round draft pick of the Cleveland Browns.

It was thought that you could just about pencil in Coleman as the team’s WR4, but now, the former Baylor Bear is free to sign anywhere he would like as a vested veteran. There’s a chance that the NY Giants bring him back after moving Xavier McKinney and David Mayo to injured reserve as the depth chart only features five wideouts at the moment.

It’s a risky game to play if Joe Judge and Jason Garrett actually envision Coleman as part of the team’s future, but Big Blue went out and claimed another former Cleveland Brown as an insurance policy when they claimed Damion Ratley off of waivers on Sunday.

Get to know new NY Giants wideout Damion Ratley

Most NY Giants fans had been campaigning for the team to go out and get recently released receiver Hakeem Butler, but Dave Gettleman and Joe Judge instead went off the grid and brought in a player that wasn’t on anyone’s radar in Damion Ratley.

Ratley jumped onto the NFL radar late in his college career after spending his first two years of eligibility at a junior college before putting together two decent seasons at Texas A&M. He did enough for the Browns to spend a sixth-round pick on him in the 2018 draft and made the team in 2018 and 2019.

Billed as a speedster and a deep threat, Ratley has put up 25 receptions for 344 yards and a touchdown in his first two NFL seasons, and that lone touchdown was an impressive 46-yard deep bomb that he showed impressive ball-tracking skills on.

Via @BrownSpiderCLE on Twitter:

At 6’2”, Ratley instantly becomes the tallest wideout on the entire NY Giants roster which is really saying something. He’ll likely spend most of his reps on the outside as the Big Blue offense is already flush with smaller, quick, shifter slot guys.

Ratley may have been buried on the depth chart in Cleveland behind some very talented guys, but it’s a solid sign that he was able to make that roster at all with all of the established players the Browns had at wideout.

There’s still the possibility that the NY Giants bring Coleman back or go out and grab another free-agent wideout, but as of right now, Ratley has a great shot at landing the WR4 role and getting legitimate snaps in this offense.